by Abby Ayles
It was helpful that his butler stayed right there on hand because it would make the process of sending this new letter off all the easier.
Dear Lady Noelle,
Thank you ever so much for your letter and explanation. I must say first off that I am sorry for ever judging you or your actions prematurely. I see now how wrong I had assessed things.
I did not know that your family had been so adamantly against you going in support of your sister, nor did I understand your mother to be so dismissive of you now that the duke has married another. This is not fair to you, nor is it fair to your sister. I daresay that I care more for you than for the duchess’s feelings, but still, I can see how it might cause a rift between all involved.
How unfair as well it is for whatever future husband you shall certainly find for yourself! Not yet married to you but already cast aside as less of a worthy son-in-law than the Duke of Cumberland. I can promise you, as his oldest friend, that he is not worth such high praise, even in his best moments and moods.
Ever since that fateful night that he stole away with your sister, I must confess that I have been at odds with him in my heart. As dear an old friend as he is to me, I do believe that these actions have forever ruined our chances of ever being as close as we once were.
I know that my position is nothing compared to yours. For me, quitting the friendship of a man such as him is easy, but for you I know it is quite the opposite. Would that I knew a decent lord so-and-so that I could introduce you to.
Since I can produce no such lord for you, might I at least invite you to come stay at Wildhill for a few days? My mother shall, of course, be here to be your companion and friend and keep things decent. You know that I shall remain as decent and gentlemanly as I have always strived to be.
You needn’t reply but I shall take your arrival this coming Saturday afternoon as your acceptance of this invitation.
As always, I look forward to seeing you again. I hope that your journey shall be peaceful and easy for you. I shall instruct my servants to have the guest room prepared for your stay.
Fondest wishes,
Rodrick Edwards
He’d signed his letter in this fashion and folded up the paper without even thinking of it. He thought about trying to correct this error as soon as he realized it, but then he decided that if she was being a bit informal then so could he!
He handed the letter to Smyth and bade him to get it delivered to Lady Noelle as quickly as possible, so she would have plenty of time to prepare for her visit to Wildhill.
Chapter 37
The invitation to stay at Wildhill excited Noelle to no end, not least of all because she thought that Rodrick’s home was so beautiful and intriguing. Her heart leaped as soon as she read his letter. “Mother, Mr. Edwards has invited me to visit his manor again,” she informed the duchess.
She wasn’t sure that her mother was going to approve this visit, especially now that it was more known that the duchess was not fond of Mr. Edwards. But her mother did not think that it was such a bad idea. It was always a good thing when Noelle left the house.
“You’ll be close to Westwood,” her mother pointed out. “Perhaps you can give our good wishes to Lord Edwards. It was such a shame that he wasn’t present at Catherine’s party.”
Noelle did her best to prevent herself from rolling her eyes. She did indeed hope that she would see Lord Edwards again, and perhaps his shy but sweet father, the Earl of Montgomery. She really did bear them no ill will. They were victims of the Duke of Cumberland’s deceit as much as she was.
She hoped that he might still be courting Miss Tate. She seemed like such a pleasant and gay creature. There was something so romantic about how they met.
She didn’t care what her mother said; meeting someone like Miss Tate seemed far better than being forced into matrimony by one’s parents.
Edith and Catherine’s old lady’s maid helped Noelle pack up a valise for her stay at Wildhill. For a time, the duke considered going along with her, but then his wife prevailed. “His mother will be there to make sure that they both behave themselves.”
Noelle appreciated that her mother said both in case Noelle would try anything. She had to smile at the very idea. She’d never so much as hugged the gentleman before, though she certainly had wanted to.
She got into a hired coach for the journey all the way back to lovely Hertfordshire. For the duration of her ride, Noelle chose to rest her head against the back cushion of her seat and rest. She wanted to have energy in order to explore more of the lovely land that existed there.
As soon as she arrived at Wildhill, the butler enthusiastically showed her inside. She sat on the couch in the sitting room and waited for her host to greet her there. After a few minutes, his mother appeared instead.
Mrs. Edwards beamed at Noelle and happily went right to her, sitting beside her and taking her hand. “It is wonderful to see you again, my lady,” she said politely.
Noelle appreciated the older woman very much. It felt as if she had another mother with her, but a mother who was much less concerned about each person’s rank and place in society. Mrs. Edwards was far more relaxed than the duchess would ever be.
“It’s so good to see you again, too,” Noelle sincerely said to Mrs. Edwards, smiling at her. “I hoped that I would find myself back here at some point.”
“Rodrick will be so glad to hear that you said that,” the older woman said enthusiastically. “He always worries that this place isn’t as fine as his uncle’s estate, but I think he is being quite silly. This manor is exactly the home that we Edwardses need.”
As lovely as Noelle thought Westwood was, she’d always loved the cottage-style manor house even more. She couldn’t quite explain why. She thought it might be the fact that it was situated in such a sweet little forest area.
She knew that Westwood had forests behind it as well, but it was nothing like the fairytale-like, idyllic spot that Mr. Edwards had for himself. Noelle wondered if his father, the late Mr. Edwards, had built the home himself or if it had been passed down for generations like Westwood no doubt had.
Before Noelle had long to ponder the home, the man of the house appeared in the doorway of the sitting room. He grinned the handsome grin that she knew and was deeply fond of. She smiled brightly back at him and stood up from the couch in an effort to acknowledge his presence.
He performed his usual polite bowing and then he invited her to go for a walk with him. “I imagine that you’ve had your fill of sitting down in drawing rooms or standing in ballrooms. A walk in nature should help you clear your thoughts of all the unpleasantness.”
She looked at him appreciatively and nodded. Though she wished that they could go off alone, she didn’t mind that his mother was accompanying them. After all, it wouldn’t exactly do if anyone should come upon her alone with the man, even if they were only going for a walk.
“I would very much like that,” Noelle said in agreement. They strolled out of the back door of his manor house and into the beautiful green fields beyond.
“You know what Lady Noelle was just saying to me before you came into the room?” his mother asked with a grin. “She said that she prefers Wildhill to Westwood. She loves the nature that surrounds this place.”
She looked pointedly at Noelle. “Isn’t that so?”
Blushing a little, Noelle smiled and nodded her head. “Yes,” she replied, looking from her to Mr. Edwards. “I have been hoping to return here to Wildhill if ever the need arose.”
He was looking at her with an expression of disbelief on his face. “Well then I am very glad that I invited you here,” he said. “I thought that perhaps Westwood might be more appropriate at first, but I didn’t want to assume that Lord Edwards would be around for that.”
“Lord Edwards has been spending much of his time with Miss Tate,” Mr. Edwards’s mother informed her.
Noelle smiled, surprised but ever so happy to hear it. “And indeed, he should,” she said. �
�I can’t recall the last time I saw a couple so suited to each other.”
Mr. Edwards nodded his head, seemingly glad that she had made this assessment. “So, therefore, you can imagine my surprise and consternation when your mother said what she said about commoners.”
Looking down at the ground in front of her as they strolled along the expanse of Westwood land, Noelle blushed a little and nodded her head. It pained her to even remember that her mother had said such things. She was embarrassed that the duchess was so closed-minded about such trivial things.
“She doesn’t really know what she is talking about,” Noelle told him. “She’s always been a tad spoiled and she has indeed never wanted for anything, so how can she ever understand that the vast majority of people are not as fortunate?”
He looked at her thoughtfully, clearly appreciating her candor. His mother looked a bit shocked as she explained this. It was probably not common for a lady to tell such stories about a duchess.
Noelle was just so tired of pretending that everything was as she wanted it to be. She was tired of having to follow what the ton dictated, and she was tired of letting other people control her life. It had gotten her nowhere.
She didn’t imagine that no one had ever thought that people like her and the duchess were spoiled. In fact, she thought that perhaps part of why Mrs. Edwards looked so shocked was because she didn’t expect Noelle to confirm her beliefs.
“I wish that there was something that I could do, some magic incantation that I could recite that would allow me to leave the ton for once and for all,” Noelle said to Mr. Edwards. “For I believe that titles are pointless and don’t matter at all in the end.”
Mr. Edwards gazed at her appreciatively. “I believe the very same thing,” he replied. “All that they seem to do is get people all in a fuss over nothing.”
His mother was watching the two of them with a funny sort of expression on her face. She appeared as though she had something on her mind. Noelle didn’t know what she could be thinking but she thought that it had to be something good.
“Well, while we’re out here, I think that I should pay a visit to dear Alexander,” his mother said. Noelle wondered if she was trying to give them an excuse for some time alone. But Mr. Edwards did not pick up on this.
“A splendid idea,” he replied, looking from his mother to Noelle. “What say you to a visit to Westwood? I thought that my cousin would be too busy to entertain this weekend, but it turns out that he is at home.”
Noelle smiled and nodded her head, excited to see Lord Edwards again. She hoped that this man would be at least as forgiving as Mr. Edwards had been towards her. She didn’t believe that Lord Edwards was angry at her for the horrible words that her mother had said to him and Miss Tate.
“Why, I think that’s a wonderful idea,” she said in agreement.
Since they were already walking along the land belonging to the Earl of Montgomery, it wasn’t a very long walk before they were at the front door of Westwood, waiting for a servant to invite them inside. As soon as this happened, they were sitting inside the drawing room, awaiting Lord Edwards or perhaps his father – though Noelle did not expect the reclusive gentleman to come greet them of his own volition.
Mother would likely think that this is very improper of him, she thought. But she never was the most compassionate person. This fact should surprise no one.
Noelle wondered if this anger towards her mother was all, in fact, genuine or if some of it was misdirected anger at the Duke of Cumberland still. After all, he was the person who had really sullied her belief in titles and societal rules. Before everything had happened, she’d thought her mother was entertaining and harmless.
She supposed that Catherine’s hurried wedding and disappearance had made everyone quite a bit distrusting of one another. She hoped that things would go back to normal soon, now that Catherine was confirmed to be safely back at home from their trip to Scotland.
Before too long, Lord Edwards appeared in the room. Miss Tate was with him, and they were also joined by the Earl of Montgomery, who seemed a great deal friendlier than he had been the last time Noelle met him. She wondered if Miss Tate had some kind of power to her that put everyone at ease.
Noelle rejoiced that the young gentleman was now so happy with his new match. She walked back through the grass and trees with Mr. Edwards and his mother after spending a considerable portion of the afternoon with Lord Edwards, his father, and their guest.
She was quite sad to quit the manor after such a short stay, but Mr. Edwards assured her that she would be invited back, and soon. “Thank you so much for coming to spend some more time with me,” he said to her appreciatively. “I hope that it shall not be too long before you are here in Hertfordshire again.”
“I shall always be willing to come provided that you invite me,” Noelle said to him with a grin. She got into her coach and waved farewell to him and his mother. How strange it is that this pleasant little cottage should now feel more like home than the townhouse in Grosvenor Square where I have spent so many a Season!
There was no accounting for it, really, other than the important facts that the cottage was more pleasantly located and the members of the household all the more kind and enjoyable for her to be with.
Chapter 38
Rodrick was so very sad to bid adieu to Lady Noelle after her short stay at Wildhill. He thought that her every visit was a pleasant one and so carefree that it was often easy to forget that the lady was a member of the noble class at all. To be sure, she certainly acted like a lady, but she was so easy-going and fun to spend time with that he thought of her more as a member of his intimate circle of friends and family than as a high-ranking person in the ton.
As soon as her carriage was on its way back to London, he wished that he could send along another invitation to stay at his home. He couldn’t think of another occasion for her to do so, other than because he wished to spend more time with her. Walking through the woods behind his house with her had been quite enjoyable and he wondered what such an excursion should be like if his mother did not join them.
He felt that such a thing would be scandalous. He was not supposed to go off wandering with a lady without a chaperone! Her father would never allow such a thing.
Ah, that is so, but I can still dream about it, Rodrick thought. Days spent alone with her, getting to know some more of the thoughts and dreams in her own mind. Getting to know her away from the maddening crowd.
Such a thing was currently his biggest dream. Rodrick had never asked for much out of life, but he wished like anything that Lady Noelle could be his wife. Discussing titles and the way she disagreed with her mother had got it into his head that she and he saw more eye to eye about such things than anyone he had ever gotten along with before.
Even James, his closest friend and confidante, was a viscount and held the rules of society in high regard. His courtship with Miss Tate did not quite change his mind about the ton. He wasn’t going to bow to what everyone wanted all of the time, but he was indeed intending to make her his viscountess and someday take his father’s place as earl.
‘That’s just how it is done,’ James would say. He was not one to try and change things, even though he was currently unabashedly bending the rules somewhat.
Rodrick did not wish to pull Lady Noelle out of the structure that had been her life but he saw within her the same longing for happiness, wherever it may come from. He didn’t believe that he would ever find another lady so like him. He didn’t even want to try now that his heart was fully set on her.
A few days after Lady Noelle had departed his house, he sat with his mother in the drawing room and tried to see if he could get some advice from her. “I have resolved to propose marriage to Lady Noelle,” he told his mother. He recalled how she had told him to be careful, so he knew that she wouldn’t be entirely surprised by his news.
His mother stared at him in shock anyway, and then she smiled at him. “I think that this
is a marvelous idea. You probably want to be careful when you do it, though.”
She continued to tell him to be careful, but Rodrick didn’t know what that meant! “How should I be careful?” he asked her. “What am I trying to be careful of?”
Eleanor sighed softly, though she still smiled at him. “Be careful that she doesn’t break your heart. She is a sweet girl, but you and I both know that things don’t always work out the way that we want them to.”
“I know that her mother dislikes me,” Rodrick said. “Even though I just don’t think she knows me very well yet. But her father doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who would tell her no…”
“As I say,” his mother said, holding her hands up in a defensive sort of gesture. “I just want what’s best for you and I want you to be careful. She might not hurt you because her parents are controlling her either; she might accidentally hurt you entirely on her own.”
