She wore a long peacock blue cloak that contrasted sharply to the yellow undertones of her skin—but somehow, she still managed to make it work. Though it was the girl’s ruby-red smile and slightly crooked teeth that made her all the more charming. Her cheeks were flushed pink; she must have walked here from a neighboring property.
“I do not mean to intrude, my lady, but I saw your carriage coming up the way! I have not seen a carriage come round these parts onpurposein such a long time that, well, I hurried down to my kitchens and gathered up things for tea and hauled them over here on the hopes that, perhaps, you might want some company after your trip!”
The girl smiled brighter. Catherine thought that perhaps she looked a touch lonely, or even a bit desperate, but at the same time, she seemed so kind and authentic that she could not help but warm to the girl. Even if her social graces felt rusty.
“It is like you have read my mind! I would like nothing better, Lady…” Catherine trailed off, hoping that the woman might introduce herself.
Like it dawned on the woman a moment too late that she had not, she tapped the heel of her gloved hand into her forehead. “Oh! Betancourt! Lady Elizabeth Betancourt! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
She did not offer to shake her hand but rather pushed her large andveryheavy basket of heavenly-smelling goodies in Catherine’s direction before pulling her gloves off of her hands and inviting herself inside of Rosewood Cottage.
“Now we just need a spot of water and a fire! Come, come!”
Just like that, Catherine knew that she had found a friend here, and things were already looking up.
Chapter 4
Hyde Park
“This was exactly what I needed, thank you, Lord Wentworth.” Richard Landry sighed and closed his eyes to feel the sun on his face more properly.
“Yes, well, we both know that if I had not been the one to physically drag you from your father’s home that the pair of you were soon to come to blows,” Sir Anthony Wentworth mused with a chuckle.
Richard’s dearest friend had arrived that morning without any true forewarning before coming to call. Rather, he came to remove him from that stuffy manor where he had been stewing in his own bitterness for days.
He ought to have known better than to ignore the man’s letters, for this was what always happened when he did. Wentworth did not like being ignored. He was insistent upon being heard, and since Wentworth found himself in town this morning, he had felt like a ride through the park.
Richard had opposed it, naturally, for he did not wish to bother with it. However, now that he was out of that house, and the storm cloud that was his father constantly monitoring all of his movements, he could admit that he did, indeed, feel better.
The sun shone brightly overhead, but the trees provided enough shade to make the lazy canter of their horses pleasant. Wentworth, as usual, was content to watch the colorful skirts and the blushing women as he winked at them from atop of his prize mare.
For Richard, it was more that he felt as if a weight were lifted off his chest and he was finally able to breathe again. He lulled himself into a blissful state to the tune of his horses’ rhythmic hoofbeats and cleared his mind happily of anything at all. A very rare luxury indeed to simply exist in the moment as he was experiencing it.
“Truth be told, my dear friend, I was worried about you,” Wentworth said as he waved and winked at yet another small group of women having a picnic on the lawns before the bend in the path, they walked took them away from the observant ears of others.
“You seem to always wallow more when both you and your father share the same roof. I know that you are steadfast in your opposition to his tendencies…but proximity only continues to brew contempt between the pair of you.”
“And what would you have me do?” Richard sighed.
“Leave, obviously. Your estate has more than enough properties to sequester yourself away for quite some time. There are options. I would be only too happy to lease my hunting lodges to you for your personal use should the situation require it as well,” Wentworth offered.
It was a genuine offer as well. Richard knew that he could cash that in at any time, and there would be no questions asked whatsoever.
And yet…
“If I were to leave and move out onto my own—there would be nobody to stop him. Nobody to keep him in check if he can just move wherever he wishes. At least with an eligible son under his roof, he still has the public eye on him in some capacity. That has been the only way to weather his storm so far,” Richard confessed. “It is not what I would have imagined for my life, but it is what I must do.”
“I know that he can be a menace, but certainly, he cannot besobad.”
“Recently, a man who was indebted to him was so harassed by his debtors and so frightened of my unyielding father that he took his own life in despair,” Richard confessed, the weight of his words heavy and uncomfortable.
“He left his widow and their child with nothing. He publicly shamed them while they were still in mourning. He took more than what was owed him, I am certain of it, simply because they did not know any better. He is the lowest sort of man.”
“I am truly sorry to hear that,” Wentworth said.
“It was tragic. Avoidable. What Lord Thompson needed was assistance, and my father took advantage of him in his weakness. He is unscrupulous,” Richard continued grimly. “I feel responsible for his widow and daughter. It was not their fault that everything was taken from them.”
“Oh, I heard about the Thompson family. Most unfortunate indeed.”
