She inhaled. For someone like Christopher to have his eyes on her was something she could not explain, especially when she had realized she might be infatuated on him as well. Now, she was not certain if this was affection or something more.
Still, she found herself coloring whenever she remembered how he had referred to her as being breathtaking. She had been too preoccupied with looking at him that she hadn’t seen ord Gibbs’ reaction.
She could also remember how he had gone ahead to pick something from her hair. That was the closest they have every gotten to and that moment. Her breathing had ceased, she could not stop thinking of how she would feel if he had tried to kiss her.
A young man walked in, his shoes made a rhythmical noise against the floor as he came in. This had distracted Ophelia. He wore a burgundy double-breasted coat, a pair of strapped trousers and shiny shoes. In his hand was a brown hat and a bouquet of roses.
Ophelia was unable to see his face as he was facing her mother and their hostess.
“How do you fare, Mrs. Campbell?” said the man.
“Oh! Peter! Look at you!” cried Ophelia’s mother. “Your mother was just telling me you were back from Spain. How are you, dear?”
“Very well, thank you very much,” he said before turning around to face Ophelia.
Ophelia and Mrs. Angleton’s children had never met. The two of them have stayed in Spain all their lives. But now that she was seeing one of them and was not a bit impressed.
He was ridiculously tall and very unattractive. He seemed broader through the chest and his eyes were the color of mud. He had a crooked nose which seemed flattened across the bridge. She wondered if he had gotten them in a fight.
“Ophelia, this is Peter, my first son,” said Mrs. Angleton proudly. “He is an officer in the Army. Peter, this is Ophelia.”
When Ophelia realized he was in the army, she understood why his nose appeared misshapen.
“Nice to meet you, Peter,” she said as he handed the bouquet to her.
“You too, Ophelia. I hope we can be friends,” Peter said smiling. Ophelia would have rathered he not smile at all. It furthered worsened his looks.
“Of course,” she said as excitedly as she could.
“Go ahead and show her the garden,” said Mrs. Angleton.
Ophelia was surprised that his mother would meddle but then she realized this was a setup and even her mother knew about it.
She left with Peter and he showed her the garden which was not as beautiful as the garden they had at home. Most of the flowers were not watered and were losing their color.
“So, what do you do?” asked Peter.
“Nothing,” Ophelia slurred. She knew this was going to be the most boring walk of her life and the only thing that would brighten up her mood would be to think of Christopher who would be coming to her house the next day.
“Surely, you do have some things you are keen on. Tell me,” he said.
Ophelia was surprised at how rude he was but she took it as part of her punishment for coming with her mother.
She went ahead to tell him some of the things she loved doing and things she hated doing.
“That is all there is to know about….”
“So, do you mind if I come to your house tomorrow?” he asked all of a sudden, even before Ophelia could finish her sentence.
She stopped in her tracks and faced him. “Why would you come to my house?”
“Well, if I am going to make you my wife, I intend to get to know you.”
Ophelia gasped. “Your wife? I do not know you, Peter and that is not how things work. Maybe you should go back to that Spain of yours and learn how to better treat a lady, and while you are at it, do treat your face. Thank you for the flowers, they are beautiful,” she said the last calmly before walking out of the compound.
“That was a rude thing to have done, Ophelia!” her mother chastised her later when they got home.
“That was an embarrassing thing you made your friend and her son do. I do not appreciate you finding suitors for me, mother. I am alright on my own!”
“No, you are not!” shouted her mother. “Very soon, your father will become weary from his constant travels and die. When I follow suit and then you will be left alone. Who will take care of you when we are both gone, Ophelia?”
“You two are not going anywhere, mother,” she said calmly, careful not to raise her voice at her mother. “And if you please, I would like to take a nap.”
When she got to her room, she threw herself on the bed and took in a deep breath. Before she took her nap, she sent letters to her friend and her cousin, telling them what happened and hoping one of them would be kind enough to come the next day to meet Christopher.
Later that night, Emily had returned hers. She would be busy taking care of her mother who had taken ill but promised to come see her the next day. Christopher on the other hand promised to be available.
Through the night, Ophelia found it difficult to have a good sleep. She was too excited to sleep, knowing it was just a few hours till she would be seeing Christopher again.
Later when the morning broke, she took her bath and her mother picked out a dress for her, before going ahead to fix her hair. Even though they had a row the other night, it was already forgotten.
“You look so beautiful,” said her mother to her before leaving.
Several times later, Charles came in and she told him what transpired at the Angleton, which he found amusing.
“I am surprised that you have never seen Peter before. He was in England for some time before he went to Spain,” he said. They were both in the parlor.
“Charles. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life,” she said. “Mother is making men treat me like a future property they might acquire, and I am getting tired of it. I love her dearly, but this has got to stop.”
“Does your father know about this?” asked Charles.
“Father hardly stays home, so there is no way he would have known and even if he does, there is little he can do.”
Charles sighed. “Well, I am sorry about that, but she is only trying to look out for you,” he explained.
While they were talking, Ophelia’s mother was upstairs in her room.
“So, Crampton is coming here this morning?” asked Charles.
“Yes,” she replied, unable to stop herself from smiling.
“I see,” remarked Charles.
The feeling Ophelia had been trying to suppress came up again. “Please Charles, whatever it is that you think you know of him, please do not tell me yet. Get to know him. I am certain that he is not who you think he is.”
“Well, I am hoping he’s not. Perhaps, I must have mistaken him for someone else.”
Ophelia nodded eagerly. She was happy he was trying to stay positive for her sake.
The servant came in.
“Miss Campbell, a carriage is here,” said the servant.
Upon hearing this, Ophelia’s heart did a double flip.
“Please bring our guest in,” she replied, now standing up with Charles. She could feel her heart beating frantically. She quickly looked at herself in the mirror of the cabinet that was in the parlor. She had taken the time to braid her hair and to look as pleasant as she could. She was also in her best Sunday dress.
When Christopher came in and their eyes met, she tried not to faint of too much excitement. She was successful in keeping her excitement to herself.
He was in a blue and black coat and waistcoat. The blue color fitted him perfectly more than any color. Behind him was his footman who had a basket in his hand.
“Miss Campbell,” he said, smiling pleasantly and coming over to kiss her hand.
“These last two days were the longest days of my life,” he said as he pulled away.
Ophelia blushed. He knew exactly what to say to make her blush.
“My Lord,” she said. “This is my cousin, Charles Doddleton.”
She watched as Christopher turned to meet Charles and
then his usually pleasant face turned red. However, he quickly got over it before extending his hand to Charles.
“Happy to meet you, Mr. Charles,” he said uncomfortably.
“And you too, my Lord,” replied Charles with a dead-pan expression.
“Excuse me while I fetch my mother.” said Ophelia and she left.
* * *
Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington
Christopher was left with Charles in the room and for that he was uncomfortable. He could not stop thinking that they had met during one of his regrettable actions in the past.
He searched through his mind, but he was unable to come up with where he had seen him exactly.
He shifted uncomfortable in his seat as Charles stared at him coldly. Unable to take it any longer, he decided to speak.
“Mr. Doddleton, please forgive my asking, but have we met before?” he asked.
Charles shrugged, still with his dead-pan expression. “Is there anything you are worried about, my Lord?”
Christopher shook his head.
“Good. Then you do not have anything to worry about.”
Christopher was about to say something more but Mrs. Campbell came in with Ophelia who made the necessary introductions.
“We are glad to be finally meeting you again, my lord,” said Mrs. Campbell. “Thank you for the enjoyable time at the fair.”
Christopher smiled. “You are welcome, Mrs. Campbell. I wish to invite the whole family to a another Christmas dinner when the time comes.”
“Oh, we shall be delighted,” replied Mrs. Campbell. “Come, Charles,” she beckoned to him. “I need your help with something.”
“Yes, Aunty Helen,” said Charles and excused himself.
Chapter 15
Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington
Finally, it was just the two of them. He sat on a couch while she sat at the one directly facing him.
She was wearing a white gown trimmed with pale yellow lace. Matching ribbons with tiny silk flowers were threaded through her dark braided hair. She looked exquisitely beautiful.
“Thank you for the flowers and fruits and the bottle of wine, my lord,” she finally said. The footman must have handed it to her mother when he was distracted, he thought.
“You are welcome, Miss. Campbell.”
“So, how is your sister?”
“She is alright. She sends her greetings,” he replied. The truth was that, Rebecca was still angry with him and had not come to the estates since the night of the dinner.
He had tried to explain things to her, but she had to visit her husband’s sister in another city.
“She had to go to Lisborne,” he said.
“Oh! So, when will she be back?”
“I do not know, for now,” he replied. Then he thought of asking her about Charles.
“Mr. Doddleton, is your cousin, isn’t he?”
Ophelia nodded with a frown. “Yes, my lord. I hope he hasn’t done anything disrespectful?”
“Of course not,” he replied. “His face seems familiar.”
Ophelia looked surprised. “Well, he said the same of you at the ball.”
“He did?”
“Absolutely. But then, he thought he must have mistaken you for someone else.”
“Would you be so kind, Miss Campbell and tell me what keeps Mr. Doddleton busy?”
She stared at him. “I do not quite follow.”
“I mean, I am trying to recall where we may have met.”
“Well, he has his father’s business to look after,” she replied.
Christopher smiled even though that was not the question he had meant to ask. He wanted to know if Charles visited gambling hells. However, he knew he could not ask Ophelia that without making her suspicious.
At the same time, he thought of places he must have come across Charles. He searched his mind for all the time he spent at the Downtown gambling hell, the Uptown gambling hell and other ones he had visited. Still he was uncertain, but he was sure that he had met him somewhere. Somewhere infamous. “How close are you?” he finally asked. If he had met Charles at an unfavorable place then he might be against his interest in Ophelia.
“Well, we are very close. He is my second, best friend,” Ophelia proudly stated.
Christopher managed a smile even though he was disturbed.
As they talked, a servant brought him a cup of tea.
“Thank you,” he said as the woman left.
“So, what have you been doing in the past two days?” he asked, leaning back. “I hope thinking of me was one of them?” he teased.
Ophelia laughed. He loved it when she laughed.
After some minutes had passed, Christopher asked, “Can we take a walk together?”
“Of course,” she said and stood up, picking up her scarf which she draped across her neck. He bent his arm and she shyly pushed her smaller hand into the hollow of his bent arm.
“I enjoyed every moment,” he said some minutes later as they finished their walk and he was now beside his carriage, ready to leave. It was just the two of them.
“As did I,” replied Ophelia with a sweet smile. He kissed her cheeks and then hurried into the carriage. As the carriage left the premises, he glanced up to see Charles looking at him from the top of the house.
Christopher raised his cap to him but what he got as a response was a cold stare. Now, he was certain that Ophelia’s cousin knew of his reputation.
“Oh! Emily! He was so charming and teasing,” Ophelia said to her friend later that evening.
“This is a good thing, Ophelia! I am so happy for you,” said Emily. “What did Charles think? Did he still ask you to be careful around him?”
Ophelia shook her head. “I think this is something personal. Like he has a vendetta against the gentleman.”
“Or maybe he is afraid or jealous that he is stealing you away,” Emily put in.
“That’s understandable, except that Christopher asked about Charles, saying he seemed familiar.”
Now, Emily was quiet.
“Well, they must have seen each other somewhere and seeing how both of them seem not to remember, I think it really is not an issue to be worried about.”
As they were talking, the door opened and a servant brought in a letter for her.
Emily frowned. “Are you still receiving letters from the secret admirer?”
“I thought it had stopped,” replied Ophelia. “But apparently I was wrong. I never wrote back to him either.”
“Well, open it, let us see what it says this time,” suggested Emily.
With shaky breaths, Ophelia opened the letter and together, they read aloud.
My sweet Ophelia,
The fairest woman out of a thousand, when will I have the courage to finally confront you and tell you of how deeply I care for you? When will I draw you close and kiss your lips, to show you how much affection I have grown for you?
Seeing you again a few days ago made me realize how much my feelings for you have grown and I cannot stop thinking about you.
I pray I do not lose you to another for this weakness that I have when I come around you. Everyone has their flaws. You are mine.
From your secret admirer.
“He does sound like a poet,” said Emily as soon as they were done reading. But at the other side, he seems dangerously possessive.”
Ophelia knew she meant it as a joke, but she didn’t smile. She was greatly disturbed.
“You look like you have seen a ghost, Ophelia. What is the problemm? It is after all, just a letter from a crush?”
Ophelia stood up and began to pace. She was thinking of several things at once.
“What is it?” asked Emily.
Ophelia shook her head. “It cannot be.”
“What is it?” Emily continued asking.
Later, Ophelia stopped. “Well, you see, that night at the Cramptons’, I had gone outside with Lord Gibbs, and he said thing about flaws. He was just about
to tell me Christopher’s flaws when he interrupted us.”
Emily frowned. “I hope you do not think that Lord Gibbs is your secret admirer?”
Ophelia sighed. She was not sure but if he was to be her secret admirer then everything would make a lot of sense.
“You do remember he said he did not remember you at all on your first encounter?” said Emily, reminding her of what she had told her.
A Lady to Redeem a Rakish Lord: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 11
