Louise glanced at her parents who stared back at her as if they wished they could push her in the direction they desired. She sighed and nodded. It was just a dance after all. “I’d be delighted,”
“Excellent.” Mr. Fairbanks set his cup aside. “If you’ll forgive me for cutting this short, there is a matter of great importance that I must attend to at once.”
“Indeed?” Mama said, her head at a thoughtful angle.
Mr. Fairbanks didn’t elaborate. But he did reach for Louise’s hand and raise it to his lips for a kiss in a show of affection he’d never displayed before. “Until tomorrow, my lady.”
Apprehension slid down Louise’s spine. This was getting out of hand. She’d no desire to marry Mr. Fairbanks, and if she didn’t break things off with him soon, she very much feared that was precisely what she would end up doing.
10
Marcus knew he shouldn’t have come and yet he’d managed to convince himself that it would be rude to turn down his sister’s invitation. That he’d be a rotten brother if he stayed home when she’d been so eager to secure his attendance. Especially when he had nothing better to do. Telling Regina he had other plans would have been an outright lie. So here he was, at yet another ball.
He huffed a breath and sipped the champagne he’d been handed earlier. At least here at Windham House the ballroom had a balcony from which he could watch the festivities. The space, which consisted of one sofa with drink tables set on each side, was closed off to the other guests to ensure Marcus’s privacy.
He leaned forward slightly, instinctively searching for the one person he longed to see more than anyone else. Happening upon Lady Louise in the park two weeks earlier had caught him completely off guard. He’d not been prepared to see her again. Certainly not with Nigel.
In the end, he believed he’d handled the incident with dignity, though Nigel’s insinuation that Marcus was not the sort of man Lady Louise could afford being seen with had grated. But having the children there had helped. They’d distracted him with their playful cheerfulness, preventing him from sinking into the state of depression that seemed to grip him these days whenever he stopped to think.
He narrowed his gaze and scanned the floor below where couples weaved between one another in some elaborate country dance. The music - a pretty tune played by four violinists - afforded the air with a magical cadence. Not finding Lady Louise among the dancers, he searched the periphery until he caught sight of chocolate-colored hair. His heart kicked into a faster rhythm. There she was, dressed in a lovely pink gown and with her spectacles resting firmly on the bridge of her nose. She stood near the refreshment table, conversing with two other ladies.
“I’ll wager you ten pounds I know who you’re looking at.”
Guthrie’s soft drawl made Marcus start. He’d been so engrossed in his view he’d not heard the other man’s approach. Leaning back, he gave his brother-in-law his full attention. “There are hundreds of guests - several of whom I used to be well acquainted with.”
“I’m sure that’s true.” Guthrie lowered himself to the vacant spot on the sofa and peered down into the throng of people. “Where is she? The lady you’re so enamored with?”
Marcus rolled his eyes. It was pointless denying the yearnings of his heart to Guthrie. Somehow, the man knew everything, either through keen observation or the reports he received from his informants. Marcus wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn the duke had transcripts of every conversation he’d ever had with Lady Louise.
So he nodded in the direction where Lady Louise could be found. “Over there in the pink dress. The lady with the spectacles.”
“Ah. I see. Pretty.”
“And clever and brave and just utterly marvelous, really.”
“Hmm… Perhaps you should go and ask her to dance?”
Marcus stiffened. The very idea of it was outrageous. “I can’t.”
“Because you don’t wish to be gawked at like some curiosity?”
Marcus’ heart jolted. His insides twisted and breathing suddenly became a chore. “I am not a mere curiosity, Guthrie. I’m a walking catastrophe shrouded in scandal. If I go down there and ask Lady Louise to dance, I’ll put her in an awful position, not only by revealing the association between us in public, but by forcing her to decline my offer.”
“Well, if you mean to win her, you cannot keep clinging to shadows. Sooner or later you’ll have to—”
“She and I are destined for different futures. I’ll not be the man responsible for tarnishing hers on account of some foolish emotion I happen to harbor.”
“You love her a great deal, don’t you,” Guthrie mused. “Enough to sacrifice your own happiness on account of hers. But I wonder if this life you plan on...let’s say, abandoning her to, would be the best one for her.”
Marcus gave him a sharp look. “I am not abandoning her to anything other than what she deserves.”
“Are you sure about that?” Guthrie studied him in contemplative silence before eventually asking, “If she’s as clever and brave as you have described, should she not be allowed the chance to make her own decision?”
“I’m only trying to do what’s best for her.”
“Suppose she loves you in equal measure,” Guthrie said, ignoring Marcus’s comment as if it were inconsequential. “Would she then be happy to get stuck in a meaningless marriage with some middling gentleman she doesn’t care for or share any interests with? Would it truly be fair to let her believe you don’t want her - that she has no chance of securing a future in which you can be happy together?”
“You’re being theoretical,” Marcus said, “which isn’t the least bit helpful. Especially since I know she doesn’t love me. She loves Mr. Fairbanks. Has done for years.”
