She caught Ezra’s eye and smiled, and he smiled back. He noticed her, at least.
"There is to be another ball at the Assembly Rooms in Amblewood next week. We were planning to attend, weren’t we, Ezra?"
Ezra’s gaze was torn away as his mother spoke to him. "Yes, we were."
"Well then, Lady Charity must come, mustn’t she?"
"Yes, indeed," Ezra said quickly, and Constance felt her heart drop. Did he prefer her sister too?
And if he did – who could blame him?
???
If Lady Charity came, then Lady Constance would be there, and he wanted to dance with her again, especially after whatever had turned sour between them at the last ball. Her sister seemed pleasant enough, and he was pleased, if she had missed her company, that she now had her companionship once more.
But he was not interested in London, or really in society itself, other than Constance. That was a fact he had to accept.
"If you wanted to see Amblewood Castle in the daylight, you could visit before the ball," Ezra said, cutting across another conversation as the thought came to mind. "I’m sure Lord and Lady Strachan would be pleased to show you around."
"I couldn’t push into their home without an invitation," she said, and Ezra nearly laughed out loud. Was she being intentionally amusing, after the way they had met? The twinkle in her eye as their gazes met suggested she was.
"I can write a note to them, if you wish. I’ve known them a long time, they’re kind people."
"They wanted you to marry their daughter, didn’t they?" his mother cut in, and he cursed inwardly. Did she always have to interrupt a moment between him and Constance? And was she intentionally bringing up any possible romantic connection? Not that it had ever really been a possibility.
"Yes, I suppose – back when they were looking to betroth her, before she was even out in society. She was always too young to be a marriage candidate for me."
Chapter Seventeen
"Constance has told me all about the castle," Charity said, when conversation grew quiet. "But it is even more beautiful than I imagined."
The Dowager Countess smiled. "It has been in our family for centuries. The decoration in this room, however, is mainly the late Lady Gracewood’s. She had such an eye for detail, didn’t she, dear?"
"Yes," Ezra agreed, feeling a little awkward at discussing his late wife in this setting, with people who had never met her. He didn’t like talking about her at the best of times, and he felt even more uncomfortable when he acknowledged the strength of the feelings that were growing within him for Constance.
"Oh, and such beauty. If only you had seen her. No other young lady could hold a candle to her, and her death was such a loss to society – as well as to us personally, of course."
"Of course," Lady Charity agreed softly.
Ezra couldn’t help but think that his mother was laying it on a little thick. She and Laura had had their fair share of disagreements,especiallyabout redecorating the castle, something which his mother had thought should be left well alone, as she had redecorated when she became the countess.
But he supposed it was true that one never spoke ill of the dead. And Laura had been a sweet soul, who should have had a much longer life than she had been blessed with. Mother wasn’t wrong there: her death had been a loss to them all.
But still, he wasn’t sure what she hoped to achieve by talking at length about her. Constance and Lady Charity had never even met her, and Ezra did not like to dwell upon her loss, for it made him morose.
"Had you been married long?" Constance asked, directing her conversation to him rather than his mother, which was what Charity had been doing.
"Just over a year," he said, and then looked away. Long enough for him to get her with child; the child whose life had been lost along with hers.
"I’m sorry—"
"I don’t like to talk about it," he cut across her, not enjoying the direction the conversation had taken. Not that he could blame Lady Constance, for it was his mother who had made Laura the topic of conversation.
Constance looked taken aback by his sharp tone, and he immediately felt guilty. "Yes, of course," she said, and then looked down at her tea.
"Well, it has been a delight to meet you, Lady Charity," his mother said, putting down her cup on the table. "And thank you for visiting, Lady Constance."
She was acting as though she were the hostess, as though she had extended the invitation, and irritation rose up inside Ezra. She was not the countess any more, and she hadn’t been for a long time. He had let her be in charge because he hadn’t wanted to be – but whether she intended to be or not, her attitude towards Constance was rather rude.
