His friend chuckled. “I see. You are in denial.”
With a slight wince, he boldly admitted, “I care for Lady Octavia but it is complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it, then,” Greydon responded. “Do not make the mistake of losing her. My wife adores Lady Octavia and I think she would be perfect for you.”
“She has given me no indication that she favors me,” Harred admitted. “What if I make a misstep?”
“You may make a lot of missteps, but isn’t she worth the risk?”
Harred grew silent. He cared for Octavia, more so than he dared to admit to himself, but what if she didn’t reciprocatehis feelings? Would he lose her? That mere thought terrified him.
Greydon leaned closer to him and said, “I was once where you are now. I loved Enid, but I was scared of losing her.”
“What did you do to overcome that?” Harred asked.
“I faced my fears, knowing nothing could be worse than not having Enid in my life, always,” Greydon admitted. “And now that she is my wife, I have never known such happiness. To be loved unconditionally is a gift; one that I will never take for granted.”
The room went silent as it was announced the session was about to begin.
Harred turned his attention towards the speaker and the image of Lady Octavia came to his mind. She was the one good thing in his life that had meaning. And he couldn’t lose her. Though he had initially entered into this charade, pretending to be her husband, he now found himself no longer willing to merely pretend. His feelings for her had grown too real, too deep to deny any longer.
Octavia knocked on her mother’s bedchamber door and it was promptly opened by her lady’s maid.
“Good afternoon, my lady,” Nancy greeted as she opened the door wide. “Do come in. Your mother is just resting.”
She walked into the room and saw her mother was reclining in bed, looking peaceful as she slept. “Perhaps I should come back at another time,” she said in a hushed voice.
“If you wouldn’t mind, would you stay with your mother while I go retrieve fresh sheets?” Nancy asked. “The doctor has requested that she not be left alone right now.”
“Of course,” Octavia replied.
Nancy offered her a grateful smile before she departed from the room, closing the door behind her.
Her mother peeked out of one eye before asking, “Is she gone?”
“Nancy just left,” Octavia replied. “Do you need something?”
Moving to sit up in bed, her mother replied, “No, but we need to call the constable. Nancy is stealing from me.”
Octavia blinked. What a ludicrous notion. Nancy had been nothing but a faithful servant for all these years. “What do you think she stole?” she asked.
“My dry sweetmeats,” her mother said in a serious tone. “The bag was under my covers this morning and now it is gone.”
“Could you have eaten all the dry sweetmeats and just have forgotten?”
“I would not have forgotten such a thing,” her mother replied in a firm tone.
Coming to stand next to the bed, Octavia asked, “Why do you suppose it was Nancy that took the treats?”
Her mother stared blankly at her. “Who else could it have been?”
Octavia would have found this conversation to be amusing if it wasn’t for the fact that her mother was in earnest. She really believed that Nancy stole her treats.
“What if you just misplaced the dry sweetmeats?” Octavia asked. “May I help you look for the bag?”
A determined look came to her mother’s expression. “I did not misplace anything. I know that Nancy is stealing from me.”
“Will you just humor me and look for them again under the covers?” Octavia asked. “I just want to know for certain before I contact the constable.”
