He glanced at Miss Faraday. AtLydia.
Why did this moment have to be with her? Why the one woman he could not have?
Chapter 19
Lord Berkeley escorted Lydia toLord Tarrington’s door, bowing stiffly to her when the butler opened it. “Thank you for joining us today, Miss Faraday.”
“Thank you for including me.” Almost as an aside, she added, “And do send my well-wishes to your brother. I hope his illness does not linger.”
Lord Berkeley nodded, and this time, he did not catch himself in the action. Lydia noticed it though, and it felt as if it were a physical example of forgetting their day. It was like when she would help air out the tenant farmers’ linens. The dust would coat the air, making it all she could see for a time, until it settled, and it was as if it had never been there. They had passed a pleasant day—a day she would likely remember for the rest of her life—but now that everything had settled, the small connections they had made didn’t seem to matter much in the grander scope of things. He was still the heir to a marquessate. And she was still the poor country girl, dressing up in clothing unbefitting her background and needing to avoid marriage to gain her inheritance.
Lydia handed off her bonnet to the butler, pushing back a few of the curls Jones had artfully styled around her face. She recognized the appeal they might add, but honestly, they were more annoying than anything.
Lord Tarrington appeared in the doorway to the drawing room. “Did you display yourself with deportment?”
Lydia thought back to her fall in the boat. And her stumble on the hill. And how she’d said she resented her guardian. “Most definitely. You would have been proud of me.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You are too like your father. He never took anything in his life seriously either.”
Lydia stared at him. He’d told her not to bring up her family again, but he had been the one to do so now. But before she could push the subject, a cough racked his frame. It was deep and clearly came from his lungs. Lydia’s mind immediately ran through various maladies that could cause such a cough.
“Are you well?” she asked.
“Well enough,” he grunted, pulling a handkerchief from his coat and pressing it to his lips.
She took a step forward. “Do you need—”
“I do not need anything, girl,” he snapped.
She fisted the hand that had been about to reach out and pressed her lips together. “Very well.”
They watched each other, both stubbornly refusing to look away. At least, that was what Lydia was doing. She would not be cowed, regardless of how menacing her guardian looked when he glared at her in that way.
“I am going out,” Lord Tarrington said at last.
Lydia nodded.
“Colbert will be here for your ride in an hour. Be ready when he arrives.” Then he stalked past her. “And we are attending a musicale tonight.”
Lydia pressed her eyes shut, exhaustion overcoming her at the thought of another outing—more specifically, at the thought of putting off another man. Then the thought of the letter concealed in her room took hold of her mind, and all weariness disappeared. One hour was plenty of time to read through it.
Taking the stairs two at a time with her skirt hiked up to remain out of the way, she reached her room. Her eyes scanned the area, grateful that Jones was not inside, before she turned the lock on her door. She crossed the room, opened her trunk, and retrieved the missive.
Hands shaking a bit at the enormity of what she held, she broke the seal.
The first page was a letter.
Miss Faraday,
I must admit, I feel clandestine sending you a letter in this manner, but as you’ve insisted and I trust Lord Berkeley to see it to you, I have made allowances in this case.
Regarding your questions, I have included copies of the documents your grandfather signed, ensuring the legalities of this scenario. In essence, you have only the one option under which you might obtain your inheritance. You must await your twenty-fifth birthday, and should you be unwed at that time, you will gain access to your inheritance. In that circumstance, you will not need to do anything but grow older. On the day of your birthday, the funds will legally belong to you. I can assist you in accessing them.
There are no physical items attached to the inheritance, but I assure you that you could let a house and live comfortably upon the interest of that amount.
Lydia immediately pulled out the additional documents. Her eyes scanned them, and though she had no legal training or even much understanding in that field, they seemed to be correct and complete.
Finally, heart racing, she dropped the additional papers to her desk and stared at them in amazement.
