Lady Flora was on the edge of tears. “Help me make Lord Lovell fall in love with me! If he did fall in love with me, all might yet be well.”
Emma tried to patch all of Flora’s strange comments into some sort of coherent whole, but the puzzle was missing some pieces. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what you’re onabout, Flora.”
“I’m buht…buhrowdtolrdlovell,” LadyFlora mumbled.
“I begyour pardon?”
Lady Flora drew in a shaky breath. “Lord Lovell. I, ah…heandiarebuhtrowd.”
Emma frowned, and bent down to catch Flora’s eye. “I didn’t understand you.”
Lady Flora huffed out a breath, met Emma’s eyes, and blurted. “I said, I’m betrothed to Lord Lovell!”
Emma gaped at her, speechless.
Betrothed?No, she must have misunderstood. “Did you just say you’rebetrothedto Lord Lovell?”
“Well, not reallybetrothed, betrothed, but…” Lady Flora gave a miserable nod. “Yes.”
“But how can you bebetrothedto him?” A secret passion, yes—Emma had already guessed as much. But a betrothal? It didn’tmake any sense.
“Well, to be perfectly truthful, Lady Emma, it was never a real betrothal—not in the strictest sense of the word, and it’s not quite right to say I’m betrothed to himnow, not since I…oh, dear. Ican’t say it.”
“Oh, yes, you can. You must, Flora.” Emma, who was about to explode with curiosity, grasped Flora’s hand. “Just say it quickly.”
“I jilted him!” Lady Flora wailed, then slapped a hand over her mouth, appalled.
“Jiltedhim!” Emma staggered backward in shock.
“Oh, dear. You’ve gone white, Emma.” Flora clutched at Emma’s hands. “I shouldn’t have said itquiteso quickly.”
“No, no, I just…perhaps we’d better sit down.” Emma tugged Flora over to a settee in the corner of the parlor. “Tell it to me fromthe beginning.”
Flora drew in several deep breaths to calm herself. “Lord Lovell and I have been meant for each other since we were infants. A marriage between us was my mother’s dearest wish. It was always expected we’d marry, and I…” Flora raised her eyes to Emma’s. “I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember. We were dear friends growing up, and…”
“As you grew older, friendship turned to love.” Emma had heard similar stories before, and could credit a love grown over years more easily than the sudden, explosive burst of adoration one read about in romantic novels.
“On my part, yes, and I used to think he returned my affections. Lord Lovell and I were very much alike at one time, you see. Lovell used to be…oh, so tenderhearted, Emma! Fanciful, even,and romantic.”
Emma smiled. If that was true, then Lovell and Flora had been well suited. If she hadn’t met Flora for herself, Emma wouldn’t have believed anyone with such trust in the goodness of others could exist.
“But he’s changed so much over this past year.” Flora wiped her hand over her damp cheek. “I hardly recognize him anymore.”
Emma stiffened. Amy and Kitty had gone missing from Lymington House during the past year, and God knew a guilty conscience could wreak havoc on a man.
“In what way has he changed, Flora?” Emma asked, taking care to keep her tone neutral.
“Well, I already told you he got ensnared by a wild crowd of fashionable young noblemen, and took up wagering and drinking and…the usual sorts of trouble young gentlemen tendto get up to.”
Lady Flora’s cheeks turned so red Emma could well guess what sort of “trouble” her friend meant. “I see. He must have behaved badly indeed, Flora, if it came to a jilting. That’s not a thing I imagine you’d do lightly.”
“Not at all. Indeed, I’m ashamed to say I excused his behavior for far longer than I should have, but then he…he did something I couldn’t overlook, and I realized I-I didn’t even know himanymore, Emma.”
“What did he do?”
“He got into a duel over a wager he made in a card game in London. I don’t know the whole story, but it seems Lovell had wagered his father’s pocket watch—which he shouldneverhave done—but then he caught the other gentleman cheating, and…well, it ended in a duel.”
“Dear God.”
