“I was fine. I am fine.” She wished she could forget the entire incident. It angered her that the fear she’d felt had entered her dreams the night before.
“Nonetheless, I am sorry.” This time, when she glanced at him, he met her gaze earnestly. He swallowed hard, halting their steps. “Will you forgive me?”
She’d not been angry with him for failing to escort her to the retiring room. She’d been angry that he’d seemed to judge her. That he’d pointed out that which she’d already been chastising herself.
“I did not invite his advances, Mr. White.” Rhoda stiffened beside him. “I’m not…” Only she had been. Once. Last summer. And now she felt like a fraud to defend herself.
“I did not mean to imply…”
Rhoda stared at the ground now. “I’m not…”
She didn’t know how to explain. She couldn’t tell her closest friends, so why did she even begin to feel compelled to tell him?
“Then I am sorry for that as well. I am sorry if I made you feel in any way—”
“Of course,” she cut him off. He was a vicar. “Of course, you have my forgiveness.” But who would forgive her?
Sophia’s arrival prevented them any further conversation. Which was a relief. Left alone with the vicar much longer and she’d likely regale him with her every sin.
“You bad girl, Peaches. Bad girl,” Sophia reprimanded the dog, who merely looked at her lovingly. And then she turned to Mr. White. “Thank you Justin! She does that sometime. Runs off. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to go chasing after her.”
“Miss Mossant may simply require a tighter leash.” His joke caused Rhoda’s eyes to widen in astonishment and Sophia to erupt into a fit of giggles.
“Not amusing, Mr. White.” Rhoda narrowed her gaze at him. “Not amusing at all.” But his eyes twinkled back at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.
Sophia quieted enough to glance between the two of them meaningfully.
“I thank you again, Mr. White.” Rhoda dropped her lashes to stare down at the ground. His presence disquieted her.
“I’m happy to be of assistance.”
Rhoda stepped back from him so that Sophia could attach Peaches’ leading string and set her on the lawn. “It is greatly appreciated.” Sophia smiled up at him after securing Peaches.
He nodded solemnly and tipped his hat. “I’ll bid you both good day, then.”
“Good day.” Rhoda bit her lip as he backed away and then turned to stride toward wherever he had been going in the first place.
When he finally disappeared, she turned to see Sophia watching her with a suspicious gleam in her eyes.
“Justin, My husband’s cousin, recently inherited a title. He is Carlisle now. As in the Earl of.”
“How very delightful for him,” Rhoda responded. Such things didn’t matter to her anymore.
As she strode back to where Emily was chatting with one of the maids, Sophia practically skipped alongside her. “Marriageable. That’s what I’d call him.”
Rhoda couldn’t help but laugh at that. He was also a vicar, for heaven’s sake. “You ought to introduce him to Emily, then.”
Rhoda waited for the perfect moment to inform her mother of Sophia’s invitation. A house party so early in the Season, really, was quite extraordinary. She must present the excursion in such a way that her mother could not refuse.
Thus, two days passed before Rhoda broached the subject.
She and Coleus, the eldest of her two younger sisters, sat quietly crocheting while Hollyhock, just ten and five, practiced at the pianoforte. Although Coleus had wanted to have her come out this Season, their mother had refused. She’d been emphatic that Rhoda must secure a husband first.
Rhoda’s mother and both of her sisters, therefore, had experienced the disappointment of St. John’s untimely demise along with Rhoda last summer. Unsurprisingly, her mother remained undaunted. With the knowledge that her eldest daughter had attracted a marquess, she now would set her sights on nothing lower than a viscount.
“Mama, Sophia is hosting a house party at Eden’s Court,” Rhoda mumbled vaguely, as though this was nothing unusual.
“I imagine Kent will be lovely during the summer months.” Her mother remained focused on her knitting, keeping her dark head bowed and her efficient fingers moving. Of course, her mother would assume the event would be held at the end of the Season.
