But I must do this,he told himself, as Lord Turnhill returned to his seat.It is my duty. I must restore the family’s honor and make certain the lands and property remain ours.
His heart began to hammer as he took his brandy back to where he sat, refusing to throw it back as he wanted but to sip it only a little at a time. Setting his glass down, he made to seat himself again, just as the door opened.
George stood tall, his heart in his throat as a young lady with fair hair and clear blue eyes walked into the room. She had a beauty, certainly, but George did not like the way she kept her chin lifted so that her gaze looked down upon him with a sense of superiority.
“Daughter, might I present the Earl of Surrey?” Lord Turnhill put out one hand to George as he bowed. “Lord Surrey, this is my daughter – and your future bride – Miss Juliette Burnley.”
6
“You are quiet this afternoon.”
Beatrice glanced at her friend, then shrugged and looked away as the carriage brought them towards Gunters. “I am a little tired, that is all.”
“Are you sure that is all?” Lady Norah smiled as Beatrice frowned, glancing at her. “I do not mean to pry, but you have been a little… well, somewhat distracted these last few occasions. I do hope that there is not something about our friendship that troubles you so.”
Eager to dispel such notions just as quickly as she could, Beatrice shook her head. “Not in the least. Do not think that there is anything the matter between you and me, Lady Norah.”
“Just ‘Norah’, please.” She smiled. “I think that we are friends now, are we not?”
Beatrice’s heart softened at this. “Yes, indeed we are.”Then mayhap I should tell her all.
It had been a sennight since she had been last in Lord Surrey’s company, and ever since that time, she had been quite unable to stop thinking of him. There had been such a pain in his eyes when he had spoken; she had wanted to beg of him totell her all that troubled him, to explain to her what it was that had pulled them apart – but he had not. She should set her heart against him, she knew, but there was a faith in him that she could not release. Her wrestling had not taken a good deal of time, quickly convinced that he had spoken the truth to her. Therewassomething that had pulled him back from her, which meant that his whispered words of love had been genuine. That was not something she was willing to forget or set aside, not when her own heart remained warm towards him.
It is not that I want him to love me still,she thought to herself, as Lady Norah waited patiently for her to respond.I want to know the truth, that is all.
“It is to do with Lord Surrey,” she said, slowly, not looking at Lady Norah as the truth was carefully spoken rather than rushed with hurried words. “He and I shared a connection a year last Christmas.”
Lady Norah nodded. “Yes, you said.”
“I did not give you the truth,” Beatrice responded, with a small, wry smile. “I confess that to you now, but I had my reasons for doing so. I did not want to speak of something that was so very painful but also so wonderful at the very same time.” Seeing Lady Norah’s lifted eyebrows, Beatrice tried to smile, but it did not come easily. “Lord Surrey said he would come to speak with me again after we shared a… a close moment. He spoke of love, Norah.”
“Love?” Lady Norah’s astonishment was more than apparent; her eyes flared wide as Beatrice nodded. “And yet, you are not being pursued by him now?”
With a twist of her lips, Beatrice let out a small sigh. “I do not know why,” she answered, “but I should like to know what held him back from me. I have asked him, I have nearly begged him to be truthful, but he will not be so. His answers remain hidden,his truth held back from me, and there is nothing that I can do about it.”
“Oh, I am so very sorry to hear of your suffering,” Lady Norah said quickly, her eyes holding fast to Beatrice’s as they stood together in the street, no longer walking. “That must have been very painful indeed for you.”
“It still is.” Beatrice’s heart began to ache as she turned her steps back towards Gunters, not wishing to dwell on what was being shared. “I am here to find a match, however, and I suppose I must be practical. All the same, I do want to know what it was that pulled him from me. I had hoped… well, I had thought that if there were still those feelings within his heart, he might then begin to consider me anew, but it seems that he wants nothing more to do with me and wants to make as if we were strangers!”
Lady Norah clicked her tongue, her expression heavy. “How very frustrating for you. I presume that you yourself felt something for Lord Surrey?”
A sigh broke from Beatrice’s lips without warning. “Yes,” she breathed, half to herself, half to Lady Norah. “I certainly did have feelings for him.”
“And yet, you will have to consider another?”
Beatrice nodded. “I must, for I am to make a suitable match,” she said, heavily. “I did not expect this, Norah. I did not expect him to be present in London, and I most certainly did not think that my curiosity would drive me with such force, but yet, it has – and it does still! I think the only thing that would push me from him would be to see him courting another. That would tell me that all is lost.”
Those words were only just out of her mouth when, coming out of Gunters, there came the very gentleman she had been speaking with. Beatrice stopped short, coming to a standstill as she saw him smile, her gaze travelling to the lady on his arm.She, with fair hair and light blue eyes, smiled back at Lord Surrey, laughing lightly at something he said.
Her heart shattered. Pain like nothing she had ever known before swamped her, making it hard to breathe. It was as if fate, hearing what she had said, had decided to set upon her all that she needed to walk away from him, but Beatrice had not expected the sheer agony that came on her heart on seeing him with another.
“Mayhap that is his sister?”
Beatrice shook her head, her feet weighed, almost dragging along the pavement as she moved towards Gunters with as much dignity as she could. She knew, from their conversations, that he had no sister and, indeed, no cousins or the like, so this could certainly not be someone that he was chaperoning. She could speak no words, her voice gone from her, her throat tight and lips clamped shut for fear that if she spoke even a single word, sobs would burst from her instead.
“He has seen you, Beatrice,” Lady Norah whispered, not looking at the gentleman but glancing at Beatrice herself. “There is no smile on his face any longer.”
Unwillingly, Beatrice’s eyes moved of their own accord towards him. Lord Surrey’s face held no happiness; no light was in his expression, no curved smile on his lips. Instead, the color was gone from his cheeks, his shoulders slumped, and even as the lady on his arm said something and laughed again, his expression remained dulled.
