“If that is how you prevent harm, it is no wonder you treat people as you do,” Lydia spit back. “Goodnight, Matthew. And welcome home.”
She turned and stormed away, breaking into a run as she neared the door in an effort to put as much distance between them as possible. He watched her go, feeling the sting of her dismissal but it was soon replaced with a deathly fear: he had just destroyed the one person who had been kinder to him than anyone else in the world.
I must repair this great harm, but how?Matthew thought desperately.
He paced the length of the terrace wall, trying to make sense of what had just taken place. They had been laughing so happily one moment, reminiscing and sharing their stories, only to have it all go so horribly wrong. Worse, he had brought shame upon Lydia now and may well be the cause of her dire financial situation.
There is nothing to be done then, Matthew decided firmly.I must marry her.
While she had readily borne the blame for the antics that had led her to fall, Lydia was not the one who had presumed to utter such a ridiculous proclamation as marriage. That had been purely his fault, and though it pained him to do so, Matthew had to make it right.
“What have you done?” a woman hissed as she emerged from the shadow of the house. Matthew looked up in alarm and then glared when he saw his mother standing in front of him.
“What is it you want?” he demanded, resuming his pacing.
“Everyone within is talking about you. They’re saying you were caught in some unacceptable situation and that you have proposed marriage!” his mother said through clenched teeth. “Do you understand how this ruins all of my plans for you?”
“Do you understand that I care not what your plans were? I have come of age and I am free to do as I wish, after all,” he shot back, not bothering to keep his voice down.
“No, you are not,” his mother said, coming to stand in front of him. “You may have inherited your father’s title, but I will remove the sum you receive from my father’s estate. It may not be rightfully mine as a woman, but I can require that it go to another relative.”
Matthew threw back his head and laughed. “And what care do I have of your father’s pitiful sum when I have just doubled the size of my father’s business holdings in the space of a handful of years? You think I truly care about Grandfather’s thousand pounds or so when I control a business of empire proportions?”
“Your father did not raise you to speak to me this way,” she said slowly, a fierce glower on her face. “Idid not raise you to speak to me this way!”
“You did not raise me at all, Mother,” Matthew shot back. “I will be marrying Lady Lydia, and I do not need nor desire your blessing.”
Chapter 8
The carriage ride back to Bronson Manor was a tense affair. Lydia noted how Uncle Julius did not sit beside her on the seat as he had done on the way to the ball, but rather sat across from her with his faced turned out the window. Claudine sat beside her now, patting her knee uselessly every time Lydia sighed or choked back an anguished but silent sob.
“I simply cannot understand what happened!” Julius finally roared when they were well on their way. “The Viscount of Lockwood spoke to me just this evening. How is it that you have already angered him to the point of withdrawing an offer of marriage?”
“I know not, Uncle,” Lydia said mournfully. “I was only speaking to a childhood friend when our mishap occurred. Why is it no one is capable of witnessing a man and a woman speak in public without assuming some fault or ruse on the part of the woman?”
“It matters not, the only fact that matters is that it is true! Worse, you know that it is true and yet you still were with this man in the garden. What could you have been thinking?” Uncle Julius roared. Claudine shook her head at him and clucked sadly.
“Julius, it is not right. You must stop it. Lydia is what matters now,” she admonished sharply, surprising Lydia.
“Thank you, Madam Saunier, for understanding. I meant no harm, but have somehow caused it in heaps,” Lydia replied gratefully.
“But Lady Lydia,” Claudine continued, furrowing her brow as she sought to comprehend, “what is zee problem? You know this Earl of Paxton well, no? You have said you were zee friends asles enfants? Then if he says he will marry you, then it is done! The will is complete, you get married, all is well, non?”
“No, not non!” Uncle Julius shouted back, startling both ladies. “Lydia cannot simply marry any man who comes along, it is not done!”
“But Julius,” Claudine continued, unable to see the problem, “he is not just any man. He is an Earl, and he is very passionate in his care for Lady Lydia. He has money and power and property, and is zee man of business, non?”
“No,” Julius replied, adamant in his denial. “I will go to speak with the Viscount tomorrow and plead with him to change his mind. Until then, Lydia, you should write a letter of apology for me to deliver.”
“What could I possibly say that he might wish to hear?” Lydia asked miserably. “I humiliated him in front of much of the ton. He will never change his mind.”
After arriving home, Lydia hurried upstairs to her room, stopping only to look in on Elsie.Poor Elsie, she thought sadly,I can only hope she does not learn of my great shame!
Lydia slept fitfully through what remained of the night, waking frequently and feeling the pang of guilt all over again. At one time, she heard the door to her room open and Elsie entered, her eyes opened but seemingly not looking at anything.
“Elsie?” Lydia whispered, but the girl did not acknowledge her. She thought to call out again, but then realized her sister was walking in her sleep again. Without a sound, she climbed out of bed and tiptoed towards the little girl.
“Off we go,” Lydia whispered, crooning as though singing a lullaby. “It’s time for bed. Off we go, it’s time for bed.”
