“Such a lovely dress. I knew it would suit you, Amelia. I am so glad that His Grace seems to have put some color back in your cheeks. Perhaps all you needed was an overture of peace, hmmm?”
Charlotte followed her from the room, wondering at her words.
Was Amelia ill? Was she trying to end her engagement to this man? How should I proceed? I do not know what to do for the best so that I do not destroy my sister’s life!
CHAPTER 5
Lady Phyllis walked with her daughters, who moved around her like orbiting moons. Amelia walked just behind her aunt and cousins. Her dress was resplendent, perfectly suited to her coloring, and enhanced her beauty. Seth loitered behind the group, but his eyes were drawn to Amelia again and again.
I must regain control of this situation. That encounter at the Prescott Estate was confusing and concerning.
It had not been difficult to flirt with Amelia. It never had been. But she had never responded to his flirtation before. With any other woman, Seth would consider himself to have successfully embarked on a new seduction.
Never has a first kiss been so thrilling. And never has that thrill been so… unwelcome.
Amelia peeked back at him for the tenth time, catching his eye. He could not help but smile, the grin of a rogue, which, he knew from experience, could bring a blush to a woman’s cheeks. It could make a lady drop her gaze demurely, only to return moments later, drawn back to him like a magnet.
“Do you not wish company on your walk, Your Grace?” Amelia asked.
Direct and with a hint of something in her tone. Flirtation? Why? Why now?
“I told you, my name is Seth,” he responded churlishly.
“You accompany us, but keep yourself separate from us. Is it so that you may look at me without being observed?” Amelia said, seeming unfazed by Seth’s tone.
They were falling further behind the Willoughbys, and Amelia allowed him to draw alongside her.
“I thought that you would appreciate the space, Amelia. Considering your letter to me from a fortnight ago,” he grumbled.
“It disturbed you?” Amelia replied.
She had stooped to pick a flower growing in a bed alongside the path they walked. She raised the flower to her nose, sniffing delicately.
“It did. As it would any man promised to a woman.”
“I would not have thought such a man as you could be disturbed by a simple letter,” Amelia replied, still devoting her attention to the flower.
“You may consider it an accomplishment then,” Seth replied, feeling as though he were engaged in a duel of words.
From amongst the delicate petals, Amelia raised her eyes to him. Was there the ghost of a smile hiding behind that flower? There was something about her that he had not noticed before. She looked no different. Beautiful as she had always been. Luscious lips and dark, alluring eyes. Silky curls. Of the three betrothals, Amelia Nightingale was certainly the prettiest.
But what has changed about her? A confidence I did not see before? No, it is more than that. It is as though I am meeting her for the first time…
“A great accomplishment indeed to occupy the mind of a man such as you.”
“And what kind of man am I?” Seth probed.
Amelia seemed to think for a moment.
“We met shortly after an engagement ended for you. Lady Sally, I think you said.”
“Sarah. Sarah Vickers,” Seth corrected, “you ought to know, you are acquainted.”
Amelia flushed and discarded the flower, looking away.
“Yes, of course. So, you are a man who falls in love easily. What our society would unflatteringly call a rake.”
“A rake? You are full of flattery. That is more like the letter you wrote. You swing like a pendulum, Amelia. I do not know which way you will go next,” Seth said with a laugh.
