Oliver and Miss Greenbough saw what was happening and stopped dancing.
Miss Bingley, perplexed, addressed the lady. “Madam, you are confused. This is not Lord Connally. That man over there is.”
The lady looked at Oliver, then back at Theo and Miss Bingley. “I do not know who that dandy is, but Theodore Connally and I know each other quite well, do we not?” She looked at Theo pointedly with a smile.
“Miss Leverton, I trust you are well?” Theo managed to say.
“I am Lady Damberley now. My sister is married to the Lord Mayor. When she told me about the fair, I could not resist coming for a visit. I had no idea you would be here, though, Connally.” She gave him a seductive smile which made Theo feel sick. Five years ago, right after his graduation from Oxford, Theo had met her during the Season. Hers was such a predatory nature that no sooner had they been introduced than she made it her goal to snare him before the Season was out. Things began happening. A girl he was to dance with tripped and sprained her ankle, leaving him conveniently free to dance with Miss Leverton during that set. Another girl mysteriously contracted a case of food poisoning and had to leave a picnic early while Miss Leverton swooped in to take her place. The final straw, however, was when Miss Leverton attempted to lock him in the library with her. He wondered if that was how she managed to snare Lord Damberley as her husband.
Miss Bingley gasped. “You? You are Lord Connally?” The look of betrayal on her face felt like a sword impaling his heart.
“Miss Bingley, I can explain.” He ran after her as she fled the tent. He pushed through the crowds, trying to follow the glimpse of her green jacket, but she soon disappeared. He finally located her, crouched behind one of the stalls, sobbing.
“Miss Bingley.” He reached out a hand to touch her shoulder.
She recoiled. “You! You lied to me. All this time, you were pretending to be someone you are not. And the man who was pretending to be Lord Connally– who is he?”
“He is the real Oliver Hodge. People have always said we look alike enough to be brothers. It was my idea to trade places with him.”
“Why would you do such a thing? To humiliate me? To trick me?”
“Not to trick you, no. I had to see whether the rumors were true,” Theo sputtered without thinking.
“What rumors?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.”
“No,LordTheodore Connally. What. Rumors.” She said each word with emphasis.
“Some nonsense that Beaujean said, about you having been a fortune-hunter and a social climber when he met you in London. Utter foolishness.”
“So you decided to trade places with your gardener’s son, to avoid being hunted by me,” Caroline spat. “How gentlemanly of you!” She stood up and dusted the grass off her gown, then began to leave.
“Caroline, wait!” he shouted. She whipped back around to face him.
“Perhaps Ididwant to marry for money and a title, when I first arrived. But at least I was honest about my ambitions! You, however, made a conscious choice to deceive. You did not trust that I could fall in love with you as you were. You thought you had to test me, to see if I was as shallow as your friend made you believe. Well, I may be shallow, but I shall not stoop to marrying a liar, no matter how high-ranking or rich he may be!”
“Caroline, please, believe me. I love you!”
“I am sick of your Banbury tales! Goodbye, Lord Connally. And may you have a long life.”
Caroline left before he could say anything further. This time, he did not follow her.
Chapter 13
Caroline located Mrs. Hurst and her son, sitting down by the food stalls, a variety of foods being enjoyed between them. Mrs. Hurst greeted her and asked how she was enjoying the fair.
“I am afraid I feel rather unwell,” she said. “I wondered, would it be too much trouble if I went home in the chaise and you were to bring Louisa home later in the barouche?”
“Of course not, dearie,” Mrs. Hurst answered. “I am sorry to hear you are unwell on such a day.”
Caroline shut herself in her room as soon as she returned to Fairclough. Some time later, she heard knocking on her door.
“Go away!” she shouted.
Her sister opened the door, nonetheless. “There you are! I was so worried when they told me you had gone home without us. I have heard the news. Mrs. Bird told me everything! To think that all this time, Mr. Hodge was the real Lord Connally!” Louisa seemed unusually jubilant. She sat down on the bed beside Caroline. “Do you not see? This is excellent news. Now there can be no obstacles to marrying the man that you love.”
“No obstacles? He lied to me for months!”
