Hugging herself, she glanced about. “The servants are not yet awake.”
“Not a concern. I can make it.”
Her eyes widened. “You?”
“Certainly.” The beginnings of a smile appeared. “It is not beyond me to do such things.”
“Well, um…” She ignored a mulish impulse to refuse. “I suppose that would be acceptable.”
“Excellent.” The smile showed itself a little more. “Where shall we take it? In your sitting-room? I can light the fire for you. It’ll warm the place up while I’m preparing the tea.”
“All right, but I’ll light the fire.” She dropped her hands to her sides and lifted her chin. “It is not beyond me to do such things, either.”
A short while later, Louisa knelt at the hearth and set a burning taper to the kindling. The flame caught withenthusiasm, flaring quickly as it consumed the fragile tinder before poking its yellow tongue between the pieces of coal. Louisa stood, set the fireguard in place, and then retired to her settee to wait.
While nibbling on a fingernail, she pondered the rather remarkable fact that she and Maxwell had shared the same thoughts that morning, specifically the mutual recall of her father’s adage. She dared to consider it an orchestrated coincidence. That Maxwell had acted as a result of it certainly touched her heart. His request to take tea with her was, undoubtedly, a tactful request for an exchange of dialogue, which she’d been totally at liberty to refuse. As Finlay had stated, no pressure, no demands.
But she was willing to give Maxwell the chance to unburden himself. However, she resolved to neither prompt nor question him as he spoke. She desired only to listen, hoping to find integrity in his words. More than anything, she wanted to believe that her vision of their marriage had not been an illusion. That Maxwell’s love for her was real and vital.
The soft chime of the mantel clock pulled her from her musing and, with some dismay, she regarded the fingernail she’d just destroyed. At that same moment, the door opened and Maxwell entered, balancing a loaded tea-tray on one hand with all the adeptness of an experienced servant.
“Tea is served,” he said, setting the tray on a small table. “Milk for you, but no sugar, correct?”
Louisa straightened. “Yes, thank you.”
“I stole some biscuits.” He poured her tea and set the cup on the table beside her. “Want one?”
Her eyes widened. “Biscuits for breakfast?”
He held out the plate. “Why not?”
“Perhaps just one.” She took it, placed it next to her teacup, and then sat back, watching as Maxwell poured himself a teabefore sitting in the same chair Finlay had occupied the day before. Then she waited, in silence.
He took a sip of tea and looked briefly to the fire, which now burned vigorously, before his gaze met hers once more. “Will you allow me to explain, Louisa?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
He released a breath, his shoulders visibly relaxing as he set his cup down. “Thank you. And I pray, when all has been said, you’ll understand my reasons for doing what I did. You may, of course, ask questions as you wish. I ask only that any discourse we share remains within the confines of decorum. I have no desire to argue or fight.”
“There will be neither questions nor discourse, Maxwell,” she said. “I wish only to hear what you have to say.”
And to believe it.
He appeared to study her for a moment. “I swear, on all I hold dear, that I will not lie to you.”
She flinched inwardly. Had he read her mind? In any case, she didn’t respond, her continued silence prompting him to begin, preceded by a clearing of his throat.
“After leaving you in London, I went straight to Glasgow, specifically to tell Flora of my engagement. I’d last visited her in January, and had no contact since, so she was surprised to see me. It was dark when I arrived at the house, but I had no intention of staying the night. I was there only to tell her of my intent to marry you, and that, consequently, my relationship with her was over. I admit to having some apprehension, simply because I knew I was about to injure someone I cared about. But there was never any doubt about my decision. In fact, she was made aware of it within minutes of my arrival. I explained that my marriage—ourmarriage—was important to me, and I wanted things to be right and proper. As I mentioned the other day, she then asked me your name, so I told her, butonlyyourChristian name. She also asked where we’d be living, and I mentioned Yorkshire, but gave no address. Then she asked if I loved you, and I said…” His voice faltered, and he reached for his teacup, cradling the vessel in both hands as he took a sip. “I said I did not. She put up a bit of a fight after that, suggesting I maintain my relationship with her despite being married to you. I refused. She then asked how long she had to find a new place to live, or if I intended to evict her immediately. That’s when I told her the house belonged to her. I’d made certain arrangements with my solicitor beforehand, you see.” His gaze flicked briefly to the fire before returning to Louisa once more. “My decision to give the house to Flora was made after some warranted consideration. First, I could not, in good heart, evict her. The house might have belonged to me, but I had never actually lived there, whereas it had served as Flora’s home for five years. But, since I was to be married, continuing to maintain a house where my ex-mistress was living was not something I could rationalize. In giving her the house, I also removed myself from the responsibility of maintaining it, which leads me to explain about the allowance she mentioned. In a final gesture, I left a single sum of money with my solicitor, along with instructions for it to be paid out in monthly increments, enough to tide Flora over to this past September, but nothing beyond that. I did it that way to prevent her from being too frivolous, while giving her time to find employment. Her claim that I owed her money for October was completely false. A pretext, I assume, to justify her presence here.” He set his cup down with a bit of a clatter. “My generosity, if you can call it that, was not entirely selfless, either. The truth is, I did these things to ease my conscience, to compensate, in some way, for letting Flora go. I cannot apologize for it, Louisa. It felt right at the time. But I left it at that. I never expected to see her again, and I certainly did not visit her in September when I was in Glasgow, nor did thethought even cross my mind. Seeing her here came as a complete shock to me, so I cannot begin to imagine what a shock it must have been for you. You have every reason to be upset, but please believe me, I have been faithful to you and will always be faithful to you. I would never risk destroying what we have. Never. My marriage, my life with you, means everything to me.”
Tears pricking at her eyes, Louisa regarded him for a moment, and then looked down at her lap. More than anything, she wanted to believe him, to reignite the trust they had previously shared. Finlay’s assurance came to mind.My brother is not a frivolous man, Louisa. He takes life seriously. He takes his marriage seriously. His only mistake was…
His only mistake, it seemed, was attempting to make amends to a woman who’d just been told she was no longer a part of his life. Few men would have done as he did, and Louisa could hardly condemn him for it. He was, by nature, altruistic. Yet still, she hesitated. It was not easy to simply emerge from the cold depths of despondency and resume life as it had been, all within the space of a few minutes.
“Though nothing would make me happier right now, I’m not expecting you to leap into my arms and tell me things are back the way they were,” Maxwell said, rising to his feet. “All I can do is hope you’ll see the truth of the matter. And even then, I realize it might take some time before you feel comfortable in my presence again. For now, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to explain things to you. It’s a start, is it not?”
Louisa lifted her head, her heart touched by his perceptive words, which more or less echoed her thoughts and feelings. “I think so, yes.”
For a moment, she thought he was about to speak again, for he hesitated. But he apparently thought better of it and departed, leaving Louisa feeling oddly—and frustratingly—bereft. The idea of actually leaping into Maxwell’s arms had senta tingle down her spine. Despite her uncertainty, she missed him terribly and longed for his touch.
