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Miss Pettigrew drew everyone's eye as she glided through the room. Her beauty had a sort of timelessness, an understated elegance. Delysia was beautiful, no doubt about it, but Miss Pettigrew was magnetic.
"Oh, Guinevere!" Delysia LaFosse called from across the room, a wide, genuine smile on her face. Miss Pettigrew immediately excused herself from the conversation she was having with a nod and a smile, and the person she was talking to found themselves feeling blessed rather than put out at the loss of their conversational partner.
"Delysia," Miss Pettigrew said as she grew closer, and there was a certain kind of thrill to that smile as she called her friend by her first name.
"I'm sorry to pull you away from your hostess duties," Delysia said in a voice that said she wasn't really sorry, more delighted to see Miss Pettigrew than anything else.
"I thought you were the hostess," Angela said from in the midst of the group surrounding them both. Delysia laughed and Edythe shook her head. Angela had missed the last two parties and so was definitely behind on the gossip.
"Oh no, they're Miss Pettigrew's parties and a splendid job she does with them." Edythe raised her glass at Miss Pettigrew, who blushed in a very flattering way. "Delysia provides the house and Guinevere does all the work. Isn't that right?"
"You make me sound like a complete layabout," Delysia said. She linked her arm with Miss Pettigrew's and smiled charmingly up at her. Those who watched carefully would notice that it was a special kind of smile, one reserved for very few of her acquaintance, and Miss Pettigrew obviously made the cut. "Fabulous job as always, Guinevere."
"You flatter me," Miss Pettigrew said, before she pat Delysia on her hand and looked at the rest of the group. "It's lovely to see you all again, thank you for coming." She kindled the conversation by drawing people out of their shell and then sitting back and listening with a smile. She did not say much in the end, but people found her warm and receptive. Delysia watched this eagerly. Miss Pettigrew really was the most perfect hostess.
"I thought she was Delysia's housekeeper," one of Angela's friends muttered to her when they split away from the group.
"Hush," Angela said. She had noticed Edythe's eagle eye catch on them after this too-loud remark. "Do you want to be thrown out?"
"Delysia and Michael absolutely adore her," Honoria, a new addition to the group, said quietly. "Be careful what you say around her, otherwise you will find yourself cut out."
Angela may be a woman who did not particularly care for Miss Pettigrew and was woefully behind on the gossip after her visit to Paris, but she had some sense. Delysia absolutely could and would hold a grudge against her, and Angela did not want to be exiled from some of the best parties.
"I need a drink," she said and the small group split off from the main, barely missed as they headed towards the bar.
Tony returned from the bar with a drink from Edythe and his own.
"Miss Pettigrew!" he said with evident delight. "If I had known, I would have gotten you a drink. Here, take mine." Miss Pettigrew tried to demur but he insisted, pressing the glass into her hands.
"Tony, why would she want one of your beastly drinks?" Delysia said. "They go straight to anyone's head."
"That's why they're so good," Tony said, without a trace of offense on his face. "And any hostess barely has time to get her own drink."
"That's why I made sure that the most handsome waiter of the lot has a specific job of making sure Guinevere is well supplied." Delysia raised one eyebrow and Tony had to concede the point.
A new addition to the group swelled its ranks. Michael greeted Miss Pettigrew enthusiastically, having been out all day, and then, almost as an afterthought, greeted his wife as well. Delysia barely minded; what she did mind was Michael's companion unseating her from her position on Miss Pettigrew's arm.
"Honestly, Joe," Delysia said with a delicate little pout that did not disguise the delight and amusement in her eyes. "Are you going to kidnap her every time?"
"Until she agrees to run away with me," Joe said, without taking his eyes off Miss Pettigrew's face. He was delighted to see a certain string around her neck. "You're wearing them."
"Of course I am," Miss Pettigrew said, a little flushed from Joe's greeting. It wasn't as effusive as Michael's had been for Delysia, but it was far more impressive for Miss Pettigrew. She was not quite at that level and Joe understood that. "Didn't you say this was just what it needed?"
"A man of sense," Edythe said quietly. Delysia nodded her agreement.
"Is there dancing to be had at this party?" Joe asked Miss Pettigrew. She nodded but said nothing else, obviously still a little struck by the greeting.
"That room, Joe," Delysia said, gesturing with one pale, beautiful hand. Joe excused himself and Miss Pettigrew with a smile, leading over to the door where the faint sounds of a band could be heard.
"Is he still trying to steal Guinevere away from you?" Edythe asked Delysia.
"Of course." Delysia was unsurprised by Miss Pettigrew's charms. "He's going to have to work harder though before I allow that." Edythe and her shared a smile, before they followed the couple. It was time to dance.