“Ah,” Lady Rabron said. She winced as therehearsing Lady Julia hit a note in disagreement with the pianoforte. “I noticed Mr. Curran kept looking in your direction during dinner. When he thought you weren’t paying attention.”
That news caused Gwendolyn’s heart to do a little jig. “I don’t know why he would,” she managed to say.
“You do,” Lady Rabron countered. Her limpid gaze met Gwendolyn’s with a startling directness. “You have been watching the door with the patience of a hungry hawk. I know how that is.” She waited two beats and added, “There was a time I watched for him as well. He was in love with me. And I him. We were devoted to each other. He asked for my father’s permission to marry me.”
Gwendolyn felt the smile on her face fade. Usually, when at a disadvantage for any reason, she was good at concealing her thoughts and disappointments.
But not this time.
She didn’t speak. She couldn’t. She didn’t want to hear whatever story Violet Rabron had to tell. And yet she was powerless to stop her.
“Father said no,” Lady Rabron said. Regret colored each of those three words.
She closed her eyes a moment and then put on a brave face to tell Gwendolyn, “I needed to marry for my family. I needed to marry for money and connections...”
Her voice died away. She studied some point on the floor as if lost in the memories. Gwendolyn sat silent. She suddenly found it hard to breathe, let alone comprehend what the womanwas saying to her. In all of her musings about Mr. Steele, she’d never imagined that he’d had a grand passion for another, especially such a watery miss like Lady Rabron.
Her ladyship gave herself a little shake as if to rally and accept life as it was. “I’m certain you understand, Miss Lanscarr. A military captain, which he was at the time, and even one so dashing and brilliant, would not suit.” She paused and then added softly, “The decision broke my heart. Beckett and I were so in love.”
In love?It took a moment for the implication of Lady Rabron’s avowal to sink in. He’d askedthiswoman tomarry him?
It was in that moment that Gwendolyn realized how neatly she had discounted the conversation in Lady Orpington’s coach. The one where he’d warned her not to fall in love with him. She had assumed that meant Mr. Steele had never been in love before. Therefore, he could not appreciate the depth of Gwendolyn’s feelings for him.
How could she be so utterly naive?
The strangest part of Lady Rabron’s confession was that she hadrefusedMr. Steele. If it had been Gwendolyn’s choice, she would have run off with the man she loved, her family be damned.
But that wasn’t completely true either. Gwendolyn had been prepared to marry a portly squire with a host of unruly children if it had meant that her sisters would be safe and free to marry men of their station. She understood the choice Lady Rabron made.
That didn’t mean Gwendolyn liked this newinformation. Mr. Steele had been in love, and not with her.
She thought of him standing with Lady Rabron and her husband when they were first introduced to her. Now she saw Mr. Steele’s unease in a new light. She’d been so wrapped up in “helping” him, she hadn’t noticed.
And then a new panic seized her—Lady Rabron knew that Mr. Steele was not Nicholas Curran. She had even just called him by his given name, Beckett.
As if reading her mind, Lady Rabron placed a hand over hers. She brought her head close to Gwendolyn’s, her voice low. “Don’t worry. I shall not denounce him. But why is he pretending to be someone else?”
Gwendolyn thought quickly. She widened her eyes and behaved as if this was news to her. “Someone else? What are you saying?”
“Oh, dear.” Lady Rabron removed her hand. “I thought—” She paused, glanced around the room. The door had opened. The gentlemen came streaming in to join them. She forced a cheerful smile and came to her feet. “I need to find my husband.”
The men’s voices were boisterous as if the port had flowed freely. Lord Rabron was hanging on to Captain McGrath. His hair was slightly mussed and his cheeks ruddy.
And Gwendolyn watched Lady Rabron register disapproval and then resigned disappointment in what she saw. She caught Gwendolyn’s expression. Her chin lifted as if ready to inform Gwendolyn to not pity her, but then her expression softened. “He is not that bad a sort.” Her words lacked conviction.
Lord Rabron didn’t approach his wife but swooped down on the sweetmeats table along with his drinking companions. Lord Ellisfield shouted for a whisky. A footman went running.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Purley and Lady Middlebury attempted to ask for quiet so that “the very talented Miss Purley” could sing. And over in a corner, Lady Orpington had the rector’s ear and was talking away, most certainly, about whist.
But there was no Mr. Steele.
“He’s not here,” Lady Rabron said, more to herself than an answer to Gwendolyn’s unspoken question. “He’ll appear.” Then she leaned close to Gwendolyn, her focus sharpening. “You have an attachment for him, don’t you? I understand why. He makes the other men here tonight look like children. However, I want you to know, he’smine. He loves me. And now that I have found him again, I will not let him go.”
“You are married.”
Lady Rabron gave a dismissive wave. “I’ve honored my vows. I’ve given my husband two sons. The time has come for me to seek my own happiness. He wasdevotedto me.” Gwendolyn knew she spoke of Mr. Steele. “He told me I was his sun, his stars and moon. It isn’t my fault that we couldn’t be together. Or his.”
Her assumption that apparently all she had to do was snap her fingers and Mr. Steele would fall to her feet outraged Gwendolyn. The woman had rejected him. She even sounded smug about it. What right did she have to expect anything ofhim? “I believe Mr.Currancan and will make decisions for himself.” She emphasized the fake name deliberately, a reminder to Lady Rabron. If the woman truly had feelings for him, she would be cautious.
