No…that was not entirely true.
Oswald’s conversation with the vicar and his insistence that she no longer associate with Mr. Yorke had shifted something in her. They had been threats to her liberty, and she was feeling a fierce need to assert her freedom.
But Oswald’s choices and comments did not bear the full blame for what had happened.
The moment Caroline had cracked open the door to friendship with Mr. Yorke, he had burst through it. Or perhaps she had swung it wide for him.
Only now that she had stopped holding him at arms’ length did she appreciate how much energy she had been expending to do so.
She liked Frederick Yorke. A great deal. Too much for her own good, she feared.
As she approached Trevenna, she surveyed it, half-expecting to see Oswald’s horse or chaise, but neither was there. It was not abnormal for him to be absent from Trevenna for two or three days at a time, but Caroline felt certain this was different.
Guilt pinched her. Had she been too harsh with him?
He had seen that the stile was built for Eliza, while she had flirted brazenly with the very man he had warned her against.
She searched her heart for any sign that she had been too swift to decide she did not wish to marry Oswald.
She found no evidence of it. In fact, all she found there was Mr. Yorke.
Neither Oswald nor Mr. Yorke made an appearance at Trevenna the following day. Instead, Caroline sent a note to Eliza, inviting her for tea.
Eliza arrived in the afternoon, wearing a day dress Carolinerecognized as the one she used for her infrequent social calls. More than once, Caroline had attempted to give Eliza money, but Eliza had always refused it, claiming her husband had taught her never to muddy the waters of friendship with money.
While Caroline could respect such an approach, it was painful to watch her friend struggle when she could have helped.
The day was fine, so after tea, they strolled the gardens together.
“Have you and Oswald mended things?” Eliza asked as they passed under the canopy of a beech tree.
“Not entirely,” Caroline said. “I have not seen him since his call. I have a suspicion he is waiting for me to apologize.”
“What was the nature of the quarrel?”
Caroline explained how it had begun and how it had progressed.
“Do you think I was in the wrong?” she asked. “Do not spare my feelings.”
“No,” Eliza said.
Relief settled over Caroline. Eliza was always sensible, and Caroline valued her opinion.
“And what of Mr. Yorke?” Eliza asked.
“What of him?” Caroline responded with the familiar kick of her heart at his name.
“You two deal so well together.”
Caroline laughed. “Do we?”
Eliza shot her an amused look. “This comes as a surprise?”
“It does. We are so often at loggerheads. He is always trying to persuade me to support him in the election, and I am forever trying to make him understand I shan’t do so.”
“Why not?”
Caroline gave an incredulous laugh. “I am supporting Oswald.” Eliza knew this. Indeed, everyone knew it.
