It was so tempting. She glanced at her great-aunt before directing her answer to him. “We would be delighted.”
“I hope you’ll both enjoy your stay at Wellworth Park. There are many activities for your amusement.” An open smile of encouragement lit his face.
“I’m sure we shall,” Aunt Lavinia agreed.
“When do we depart?” Amelia asked.
“The morning of New Year’s Eve should be soon enough. My mother will have the organising well in hand.”
Amelia drew a deep breath to quell the queasiness in her stomach. She had to be forthright with him from now on. “I have one more thing to ask, Major Wellworth.”
“Of course, but aren’t we well enough acquainted for you to call me Adam?”
They were inching closer with every minute they spent together. She nodded. “And you should call me Amelia.”
He flashed a brief smile. “How may I be of service, Amelia?”
“Can you assist me in making my parents understand my wishes?”
“I am more than willing to do so.”
“I will try to convince them to allow me to marry whom I choose. If I fail again, surely all you need to do isnotoffer for me.”
He gave her a long look, then a resigned smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Of course. You can’t be forced to marry me unless I offer for you. Relax and enjoy the ball at Wellworth Park. There will be visitors from the neighbourhood, whom I’m sure you will find welcoming.” He hesitated, then said, “Should I propose at the New Year’s Eve ball, I would prefer you did not accept, if you were not fully committed to sharing your life with me.”
She heard him with mixed emotions—gratitude that he wished only for her happiness, and that he was willing to assist her to defy her parents, and yet a contrary disappointment at the same time, in his willingness to assist her in escaping the alliance. She doubted now that a proposal would ever be made.
“In the meantime, Miss Fortescue, let us start again. Over the next few days, would you show me all the sights of Bath, so I may enjoy them through the eyes of a long-term resident? I lacked that assistance when I last visited and fear I experienced only the most commonplace.”
“Of course. But right now I want to know who you are, Major Wellworth—not what you own or your income. I want to know your interests, your hopes, and your dreams.” She took his hand and led him to the chaise longue angled towards the fireplace lit by a blazing Yule log.
“Tell me of your past, starting with your time in the army and ending when we met. What have you learned during that time?”
He studied her face, as though making a decision, then sucked in a breath as he briefly closed his eyes. “I served in Portugal and Spain with Wellington for four years, then sold out and returned to England to, I thought, my old life as a gentleman banker. I wanted a normal life, with a wife and a family. So, I began my campaign in Bath during its winter season. As you know, I met Lady Lavinia, and of course, I already knew the Colonel from my earliest years in the army. I found no-one to engage my interest here, so on I went to London for the Season.” He took her hand in his. “It was there that I saw you, Miss Fortescue—during the Little Season. You took my breath away.”
That can’t possibly be true. An incredulous chuckle escaped her. “You’re exaggerating, Major. Do not try flattery on me.”
A frown of confusion crinkled his brow. “I do not. Let me explain. I attended Lady Preston’s ball. It was a huge crush, even for so early in the Season. There was a row of debutants in their finest white gowns lined up with the chaperones around the room. They were the bespectacled, the plain, and the shy. I danced with one, Miss Anne Briggs. When I asked her how she was enjoying the evening, she said, ‘The highlights of this evening are dancing with you and the kindness of Miss Fortescue.’”
“Curious to know more, I enquired what kindness you had effected. She said you had a special way of knowing when someone was shy and awkward, and that you drew them into a discussion and made them feel as though they were the mostmarvellous conversationalist. And that you introduced gentlemen to them and somehow compelled them to offer to dance.”
“Those acts of kindness weren’t the usual ones of a debutant in competition for a husband. After that commendation, I was intrigued. I watched you for the remainder of the evening. And she was right. You spent all your time talking with the wallflowers and encouraging the young gentlemen who came to offer to dance with you, to instead dance with whichever young lady with whom you were currently conversing.”
“That is an exaggeration! Of course I talked with my fellow debutants, and isn’t it the objective of a ball to introduce and be introduced to eligible parties?”
He bowed in acknowledgement of the truth of her statement. “But not usually to the detriment of one’s own dance card, I would suggest, Miss Fortescue.”
“Oh, I didn’t take during the season. My only real admirers were those wealthy cits seeking to improve their social standing through marriage, and none of them impressed me. Why did you not ask me to dance, Major?”
“I spent that first evening doing reconnaissance on you, Miss Fortescue. It was my plan to seek an introduction through your parents at the next event we attended, but alas, Bonaparte got in the way by escaping from Elba. It was all the news the next day. Knowing that most of Wellington’s Peninsular army was dispersed across the world, I joined another regiment and set sail for Belgium.”
“You were willing to risk your life and your family’s future prospects again?”
“Preventing Bonaparte retaking Europe was a far more important cause to me. It took so many years to overcome his rule. So many lives were lost and so much suffering created by him. I could not bear to think of that happening again.”
Such a sense of duty and self-sacrifice was rare.
“You know the rest of that story. I was injured at Waterloo and convalesced at Wellworth Park. The images of you that evening, and my thwarted wish to meet you, were my motivation to recover. When I did, I returned to London and immediately sought out your parents. Your father was adamant that only averysubstantial settlement would induce him to consider my suit and even permit me, a banker’s son, to be introduced to you.”
