There was no time for George to answer, for the door opened again and Lord Warwickshire, his expression dark, stepped into the room. George bowed and greeted them both, his gaze quickly travelling to Miss Williams.
She was white.
Something is wrong.
“I am sorry for our unexpected visit, but my sister has something she wishes to share with you,” Lord Warwickshire said, gesturing to his sister. “She has told me a good many things in our carriage ride here, so whilst I do not understand all, Icanunderstand the concern.”
“Concern?” Lord Dorset asked as George gestured for them all to sit down. “Lord Surrey has told me about the conversation you overheard, Miss Williams. Is there something more that troubles you?”
George, seating himself, looked straight into Miss Williams’ eyes as she spoke, awash with a sense of longing that he could not contain. Sure that it was seeping into his expression, he clasped his hands in his lap and did his best to pay attention to what she was saying. Now that he had admitted to both himself and to Lord Dorset that there might be something amiss with the documents, he had lit a flare of hope in his heart – hope that what he feared would be his future might no longer be so… and that would change so many things.
“I was unexpectedly introduced to a gentleman by the name of Lord Neath this afternoon,” she said, as George tried to sift through the various gentlemen he was acquainted with, trying to bring a face to the name. “Are you acquainted with him?”
“A viscount,” Lord Warwickshire clarified. “I did not know him until this afternoon.”
George shook his head as Lord Dorset did the same.
“He was most insistent that we were already known to each other,” Miss Williams continued, as the knock came to the door for the refreshment tray. “I was quite surprised at just how determined he was.”
Lord Warwickshire grimaced as George called the servant to enter. “As was I,” he admitted, his dark expression telling George everything he needed to know about the gentleman in question. “He spoke over Lord Rogart and continued on aconversation which my sister had already put an end to, telling him that they werenotalready introduced.”
“But he would not accept that,” Miss Williams added, quietly, her eyes never leaving his. “He snapped his fingers at one point and said that yes, he knew precisely how it was that we were known to each other.” Her eyes closed briefly, her fingers knotting. “He knocked into me at the bookshop and then blamed me for it, even though I had been the one standing quietly at the shelf and he the one walking through the shop itself!”
Not understanding what she meant by this, George exchanged a glance with Lord Dorset. “I am sorry that happened, and it does sound as if he is a rude fellow indeed,” he said slowly, as Miss Williams looked down at her hands. “But what does that mean to me?”
Slowly, her head lifted, her eyes fixing back to his but within her gaze, there were heavy shadows. “He was the gentleman discussing the documents, Lord Surrey.”
The air seemed to pull out of the room as George gazed back at her, seeing how she caught her lip between her teeth for a moment or two. “This Lord Neath was speaking with another about my documents?”
“Documents that only yourself and Lord Turnhill know of,” Lord Dorset added, his brows heavy over his eyes. “I would surmise that Lord Turnhill and this Lord Neath were speaking together.”
“But why would they be doing such a thing when I am not known to Lord Neath?” George asked, a hoarseness to his voice that spoke of surprise and confusion. “That does not make any sense.”
“No, it does not.” Lord Dorset turned his full attention towards George, pinning him with a steely gaze. “Nowwill you accept that there is something amiss?”
George, spreading out his hands, let out a long breath. “When faced with all of this, what choice do I havebutto accept it.”
Miss Williams clasped her hands at her heart. “Does this mean, then, that you think the match might not be made?”
The hope in her eyes set fire to the same hope in his own heart. Where it had been burning before, it now became a furnace, growing furiously as he gazed back at her. “It is a possibility.”
“Astrongpossibility,” Lord Dorset said, with an emphasis that George had not shared in his own response. “But we must be careful. There is something here that could cause a good many difficulties, for the documents, even to your own solicitors eyes, appear to be real. Quite how you go about showing that they were falsified, if that is what they were, I do not know.”
Lord Warwickshire let out air between his teeth, one hand going through his hair. “I do not understand all of this, but what Idounderstand – something I had not before – is that there is hope of a match between yourself and my sister, Lord Surrey.”
George, unable to deny it, nodded. “I have long wanted to court your sister, Lord Warwickshire,” he answered, unable to look at Miss Williams for fear that his heart would explode. “But documents were handed to me stating that, for various reasons, I must marry another. I have been unable to do so thus far, given the passing of my father and my mourning period, but now… now I must look in more depth and detail at what has been given to me. It may be that I am not bound as I thought.”
“In which case, you would then pursue a match with my sister.” Lord Warwickshire held George’s gaze as he nodded.
“If she would accept me,” he said, tightly, looking away from them both. He knew what he had done by his rejection of her, by his silence, and yet, at the same time, he prayed that she couldforgive him for it all. There was no promise of that, no guarantee, and thus, he waited.
“It would be the joy of my heart to accept, Lord Surrey.”
Squeezing his eyes closed, George let out a breath of relief and then lifted his head, looking back into her eyes and seeing how they shone. His own heart catapulted in his chest, making his breath quick and tight, but still, he gazed back at her. There was hope, now. Hope that they would be together, that there might be a second chance for them all – even if, as yet, it was an unfulfilled hope.
“Then we shall do whatever we can to assist you with this,” Lord Warwickshire stated, making both George and Miss Williams look at him in surprise. “I want my sister happy, and if you are to make her happy, Lord Surrey, then it is my duty to do what I can to bring that about.”
“I am grateful.”
