“I do not need my faith restored,” she replied. “I was not ill-used. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was a wonderful man. There were just too many obstacles in the end.”
“Pfft! Some men are too easily put off.”
“Some are, it is true.” She considered whether to expound. It was highly unusual to discuss such things with a stranger, but Lady Tuppence seemed interested, and Elizabeth was grateful for the chance to appease her with friendly discourse. And since it was unlikely that they would ever meet, she did not think Jane would mind if she elaborated a little. “My oldest sister had asuitor once, who was persuaded by his friends to throw her over. In their judgment, she did not love him, and her connexions did not compensate for the want of affection.”
“Did she love him?”
“Yes, she did, although not as much as she loves her husband.” At Lady Tuppence’s querying look, Elizabeth added, “Whom she metafterMr Bingley abandoned her. His name is Mr Malcolm. His carriage wheel broke near our home one day last summer, and he and his driver came to the house in search of assistance. The rest is self-evident, for they are married now, and living in connubial bliss in Buckinghamshire.”
“This Mr Bingley did her a good turn in leaving, then.”
“Yes, and he did her an even greater one by coming back. It was above nine months after he left, but he seemed to expect that he could take up where he left off. I could have told him there was no chance of it, but it scared Mr Malcolm into proposing for fear that Jane would choose her first love over him.”
“Ah, yes! If you cannot tempt a man by conventional means, then giving him competition is always the next best option. But I am curious—what made you sayyouryoung man was less easily swayed? I hope you will not mind me observing that your heartbreak rather discredits your claim.”
Elizabeth smiled wryly. “He put up with quite a lot before conceding defeat. His affections and wishes outlasted my vilification of his character, my rejection of his offer of marriage, a separation of half a year, and for a while, all the objections of his friends and family.”
“For a while?”
“Yes…until his aunt heard a rumour that we were romantically attached and took exception to the idea. She came to my home in Hertfordshire and tried to extract a promise from me that I would never accept an offer from her nephew.”
“Shocking!Didyou promise?”
“I did not, but it did not matter in the end. Other events had occurred by then which clearly eroded his esteem. My youngest sister married a man with whom he could never consent to being connected—and justly so. If I had the choice, I would not pick Mr Wickham as a brother either. But all told, it was one complication too many.”
“Your suitor left?”
Elizabeth nodded. “And never came back.” She had begun the tale assuming she would be able to tell it impartially, a simple relaying of facts. She ended it with a catch in her voice and a horrible heaviness in her heart. She hoped her distress was not obvious, but Lady Tuppence confirmed that it was when she nodded pityingly.
“It goes that way sometimes. I am sorry for you. But perhaps it is better that you did not meet my cousin. He is a gentle soul. He would not have liked it if your heart was not in it.”
For the second time, Elizabeth struggled to keep her countenance.A gentle soul?That was hardly consistent with Sergeant Mulhall’s account of him. “He is a kind man, then, is he?” she asked warily.
That earned her a sharp look. “What a strange question,” Lady Tuppence replied. She narrowed her eyes. “Have you heard somebody say otherwise?”
“I…well, I?—”
“Oh, stuff and nonsense! You ought not to have paid it the slightest bit of notice. This always happens.”
“What does?”
She let out a sharp sigh. “You recall what I told you about his altogether tiresome pursuits?”
“Forgive me, no. I was a little distracted at the time.”
Lady Tuppence had been adamant that a complete catastrophe had befallen Elizabeth and had been almostfanatic in her resolve to extract some manner of greeting or acknowledgement from every person who so much as lookedtheir way. Elizabeth had scarcely thought it necessary at the time and was even more convinced of the redundancy of the endeavour now, but either way, it meant she had paid very little attention to anything that was said about Lord Rutherford.
Now that she applied herself to the matter, however, one rather incongruous memory surfaced. “I do seem to recall that you accused him of being somewhat…dull?”
“So, you do remember—good. Yes, he will insist on politicking, and some of his activities have made him unpopular with a certain set of gentlemen—those who favour the sorts of establishments my cousin is engaged in attempting to have proscribed. They are vociferous in their censure. If some of it has reached your ears, it sadly does not surprise me.”
Elizabeth nodded. She supposed that, if Lord Rutherford’s name was often mentioned within the context of such insalubrious places, it was conceivable that he might have been mistaken as belonging to the wrong side of the debate. “Campaigning for reform is an admirable undertaking. He must be very sensible if he has not allowed the criticism to put him off.”
“He is, but you must not take my teasing too seriously. He is not truly dull. I only say that because he is cleverer than I am. And a good deal quieter.”
Elizabeth smiled fondly. “I require no convincing that a taciturn nature can be fascinating.”
“Oh? Your beau was similarly reserved, was he?”
