If only her obsession with Nightshade Manor would ease and disappear as well, but it hadn’t. Not after meeting the residents and not after being on the estate and inside the home. It still pulled and it was all she could do not to get up and walk in that direction.
Why?
It was aggravating and frustrating. She didn’t belong there. She wasn’t even really welcome unless it was to assist Ianthe.
It didn’t matter that Bentford had invited her to tea yesterday because Cordelia was certain that he’d only done so to be polite.
When Cordelia had the fleeting thought of being smitten, she hadn’t believed it was real. It was just more of a passing fancy, but her heart had ached yesterday to see him with the beautiful Miss Perkins.
Perhaps Edward was correct, and she was better suited to be a governess. She’d had four Seasons and had not met anyone who made her breath hitch or her heart pound. Only Lord Bentford.
Maybe she wouldn’t be as lucky as her older sisters. Diana, the oldest, had met her husband during her fourth Season. Miranda had known her husband for four years, but they’d been friends before they admitted their love. As for Adriana, she was two years younger than Cordelia and had only enjoyed two Seasons, but she drew the attention of nearly every gentleman at any function.
Still, Cordelia couldn’t be sad for meeting Lord Bentford. Until that first encounter, she’d wondered if she ever would experience infatuation, especially when it hadn’t happened in four years. So, at least she was comforted that it was possible and if she were lucky, perhaps she might meet a gentleman who stirred the same excitement next spring.
Besides, how could she be sad when she had finally witnessed magic, and she’d visited Nightshade Manor?
As much as she reasoned away her sadness and made excuses and attempted to be hopeful, she was still disappointed.
With a sigh, she lifted the book to read while watching over the edge for a piece of lace to be taken.
“The pixies know that you are watching for them,” Edward announced with a snicker as he came up the walk.
“You don’t know that to be so,” Cordelia defended.
“The ribbons are still here.” He snorted.
Cordelia set her book aside. “What do you need, Edward?” Last time they were in this setting the world around them had stilled, as if to announce the arrival of Lord Bentford and his family.
A few days later, her brother had tried to run away.
She really should listen to Edward more, instead of arguing and telling him what to do. Had he not encountered Ianthe that day, he might have already been aboard a ship sailing off somewhere and they’d be left to worry until his return. It didn’t matter that he’d left a note because they’d not know what ship he was on, or the type of crew that surrounded him.
“I don’t need anything,” he answered.
“So you’re simply here to pester me,” she teased.
“I thought I would visit Ianthe,” he said looking down and kicked at the small gravel.
Perhaps she wasn’t the only one experiencing an infatuation for the first time.
Likely they’d both be heartbroken and maybe she and Edward would finally have something in common.
Chapter 14
Soas not to be caught alone with Miss Perkins and her companion a second day, Damon did as his mother had the day before and breakfasted in his chambers. He then read and returned correspondence until it was nearly luncheon. He did all of this while sitting at the table beneath the window so that he could watch for Miss Cordelia or to know when Miss Perkins and his mother were otherwise occupied.
He wasn’t proud that he was hiding from two women, but his mother and Miss Perkins tried his patience.
Damon waited for the perfect opportunity and as soon as he saw his mother and Miss Perkins stroll into the grove, he left the manor and made his way to the Romani camp.
“Lord Bentford, how may I help you?” Madam Boswell said as he approached.
“I assume the storm of yesterday is what you had warned of.” Then he described how if he hadn’t been there, his nieces may have been injured or killed.
“I wish I could assure you that had been my vision, but it was not. The darkness remains.”
“Are you certain?” he demanded.
