She looked away from him, afraid that her resolve would crumble and she’d tell him she was a stupid fool and that she really did want to rush to the altar. Surprisingly enough, her resolve didn’t waver and she heard him distantly leave the Salon with his mother. The room was perilously quiet.
“Are you sure you did the right thing, Caroline, dear?” Georgia asked softly.
“Yes,” she whispered, her heart beating hard in her chest.
She wasn’t sure. In fact, she’d probably just ruined her life, and yet she’d given Edward what he deserved—the opportunity to decide whether or not he loved her enough to pursue her. If it was only infatuation, he would leave it as it was between them.
She could only pray he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Chapter Seven
“That didn’t go quite the way I envisioned it,” Genevieve said softly, as they rode back to Whitney Park. He sat opposite his mother as desperate emotions rolled through him. “I can’t believe she actually had the tenacity to refuse you. She’s got pluck to her. I’ll grant her that much.”
“She didn’t refuse me. She’s only put an obstacle in my path that I shall quickly find a way to maneuver around.”
Genevieve sighed heavily. “My dearest son, why do you persist in troubling yourself with this mercurial creature? She has not seen the treasure in you, so I say let her go before you cause yourself any more grief. It troubles me greatly to see you so affected.”
“All women like to be pursued and some men enjoy the chase,” he mused.
“As I was the one doing the chasing, I do not know,” Genevieve said, shrugging her shoulders. “However, if you want to continue your courtship of her, you shall have to do it properly. I will write to a few of my friends in the area to assist us with this endeavor. There is more than one way to charm a young lady. The direct approach failed you. Now, we do it my way.”
Edward didn’t know if he liked the firm tone of his mother’s voice. She had a very determined gleam in her eye, and it should have disturbed him greatly. As it was, he didn’t pay any mind to it—if she had a way of gaining him his heart’s desire than he would throw his lot in with her.
God help him.
* * * * *
The following days went by in a blur for Caroline. Christmas was quickly approaching and yet, she couldn’t take joy in the festivities surrounding the Season as her heart was broken. She hadn’t seen or heard from Edward since she’d rebuffed him on that fateful day in the Salon. Perhaps, he had decided to give up on her. It was the sensible route to take, after all, she’d hurt him most foully by pushing him away the way she’d done.
She sat eating her breakfast in a haze, while her aunt eyed her worriedly.
“Somehow, this letter of yours was mixed up in my pile of missives, Caroline.”
Her aunt handed her the missive. She put down her teacup and started reading it, instantly recognizing the script as belonging to a friend of her mother’s.
“It seems my mother’s old friend, Lady Wallsworth has returned to the Country. She was taking the waters in Bath. I can’t imagine why she’d come home at this time of year.”
Georgia smiled at her. “She was known as Lady Sully when I knew her. She was named for the old Celtic Goddess you see. Her parents were quite the characters as you can imagine. I understand that her mother now lives with her. What else did she have to say, Caroline?”
“She wants me to come and spend the afternoon with her and the Dowager. She says that they can’t wait to have my company, they have many things to discuss with me.”
“They sound very fond of you, Caroline. It’s a wonder they didn’t ask for you to go with them to Bath that would have been a grand holiday for you.”
“They did.” She looked away from her aunt’s serious gaze. “Papa wouldn’t allow it.”
“What’s this,” Robbie said finally lowering his newspaper. “Why ever would he keep you from such a golden opportunity? Your Papa is a daft and selfish man.”
“”I think he believed that Mama’s old friends would steal me away from him.”
“Humph,” Robbie said, going back to studying his newspaper.
“That man needs a good thrashing. I never thought he could be capable of such things back when Margaret chose him as a husband. She thought she was getting a sensible minded, kind hearted, gently natured man. I see he failed in two of those three departments since her untimely passing. You should go, Caroline. We’ll muddle through this afternoon without you. Your cousins will feel the loss most keenly, and they’ve rather come to depend upon you the last few days. It would do my heart good to know that you are among old friends.”
Caroline sipped at her hot tea, staring intently at the bluebell pattern on the teacup. If only she could avoid this latest social interlude. However, she didn’t think she could get out of making Lady Wallsworth and her mother happy for a few hours.
Mrs. Finch had gone to see her daughter in Brighton so she had little to occupy her time aside from Fanny who was so wrapped up in the season and planning for her wedding that she’d barely seen her.
She suddenly realized how small her social circle was. She swallowed her mouthful of tea, and looked over at her aunt. “I will endeavor to make you and Lady Wallsworth happy.”
“Darling girl, that’s the spirit. You just need to spread your wings a bit. And you can catch up on a bit of your reading while you’re there as I’m sure that Lady Wallsworth’s mother will want you to either read to her or play on the pianoforte. Of course, if she’s hard of hearing now you’ll have to play and speak loudly.”
Caroline smiled, she could pound the keys with the best of them but she wasn’t the best player of her age. That would be Fanny.
Caroline for her part had always preferred the guitar or the harp to the pianoforte.
“I would be most honoured to spend the afternoon with the Countess, it should be quite diverting.”
Her aunt nodded her head enthusiastically. “You should have a smashing good time and it will give you the rare opportunity to rest and relax, so you’ll be ready for the Christmas Country Ball tomorrow night. Your cousins have kept you hopping the last few days. They quite like having such a delightful cousin. They simply adore you, Caroline, much as Robbie and I do.”
Her aunt had somehow managed to pull together a grand affair in the form of a Christmas Country Ball to happen tomorrow night. She wondered if anyone would show up, seeing as her aunt had more or less been forgotten by the ton in the years since she had moved to America. However, many still remembered her as the youngest daughter of the Earl of Thoresby.
“I rather wanted us to rehearse the Christmas Pantomime again but I guess the boys know their parts well enough.”
“Are you still set on them coming down to perform it for the guests’ tomorrow night?”
“I rather am. I think they would love to see it. We can perform it in the great Drawing Room.”
“It sounds perfect to me as long as you think the boys can handle it.”
“The boys are wondrous thespians. They will do you and Uncle Robbie proud. I’ve managed to convince Fanny to play the pianoforte just as she used to do when we were children. The only thing missing is Arthur and Christopher, and of course, dear Mama.”
Georgia’s eyes filled with drowning sadness.
“I can’t wait for everyone to see you in your ball gown tomorrow night, Caroline. You will set the tongues of everyone who is anyone around here on fire. Robbie will have to keep the suitors at bay.”
“I shall get my stick and be ready,” Robbie murmured, lowering the newspaper so he could smile at them both.
“I should go and get myself ready for this afternoon,” Caroline murmured, as she finished off her tea. She stood up and moved around the table to kiss her aunt. Georgia smiled up at her.
“You are a good girl. I sorely wish that we had made the crossing years ago to whisk you away from that dreadful man.”
“He’s not t
hat bad, Aunt. It’s Gertrude. She was a horrible influence on my father and made him quite tiresome. She brought out the worst in him instead of cultivating the best in him like Mama did.”
“He doesn’t have the right to keep you away from so many things that would benefit you socially. He was setting you up to be a spinster, darling.”
She smiled at her aunt once more and left the breakfast room without saying anything further. Her aunt was dead set against her father and she could understand her prejudice—and yet, she and her father would be forever linked together by the grief they’d felt when they’d lost so much in such a short amount of time. She’d watched her father go completely grey overnight, and witnessed him change from a virile man into the shell he was today. He used to be strong and stalwart, now he looked as if a light breeze could knock him over.
He was a broken man—and she didn’t think she could break him even further by taking herself completely out of his life.
She just wished that Gertrude had never come into their lives. If she hadn’t, things would have been so much different. Whether or not her father would have attempted to debut her on the marriage mart was another matter entirely. She knew he wanted to keep her close and the thought of sharing her with anyone else least of all a husband frightened him badly.
That and the fact that he would have had to rely completely on her aunt in order to afford the whole thing. His pride was the only thing he had left and he couldn’t quite bend it far enough to accept what he viewed as charity.
It didn’t take her long to change for her visit to Lady Wallsworth’s. Sally hovered over her constantly, and her worry was palpable in the air.
“Sally, pray do me the favour of airing your concerns with me.”
“I don’t want you wearing yourself out, Miss Caroline. I think taking on this Christmas Pantomime and deciding to accept Lady Wallsworth’s invitation was sheer folly. You’re not up to this kind of thing.”
“What do you mean by this kind of thing?”
“You’re not accustomed to so much excitement. Why I’d never forgive myself if you caught your death straining yourself so much.”
“It will do my body and soul good. You needn’t worry that all of this traipsing about will wear me thin. I am nothing like my mother.”
“You’re entirely too much like the Lady Margaret, God rest her beautiful soul. This is why I am saddened to see that your aunt won’t take better care of you. You need your rest. You shouldn’t be gallivanting about today, you should be taking it easy, and resting well, before tomorrow’s gaiety.”
As Sally finished fixing her hair, she reached back and grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry, Sally. I’m hearty and hale. My heart might be breaking but my body is not. I will probably outlive you.”
Sally snorted. “That will be as it should be. I’m much older than you, and I’d like to know that you’ll live past me. I’d like to know that one of Lady Margaret’s children had a long happy life. In fact, I want you to swear that you’ll sit by my deathbed when it’s my time to go.”
“I swear I shall, dearest Sally. Now, will I do?”
“Lady Wallsworth wouldn’t give a tinker’s fart how you looked. She took you wearing that old wardrobe that your father provided for you and she’ll accept you as you are now, a veritable country Princess.”
“You are quite right, Sally. Now I have to tackle the next few hours without losing my mind. I simply don’t know how I’ll get through the talking bit. I feel so scattered these days.”
“You’ll handle yourself fine,” Sally said, helping her into the warm velvet pelisse that went with the dress she wore. “You shouldn’t fret so. Lady Wallsworth simply adores you.”
“When I return home, I daresay I’ll retire to my bed without dinner, Sally. I don’t think I’ll feel like dressing for it and summoning the energy to do it justice.”
“Aye, Miss Caroline.”
She sat in quiet reflection, as the carriage rolled over the roads between Cleeve Hall and Lady Wallsworth’s home, Wallsworth Abbey. Whenever she was alone with her thoughts she brooded over Edward. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
As the carriage drew up to Wallsworth Abbey a queasy sensation overcame her. She didn’t know why she expected something to go awry once she entered the large house but she did.
Lady Wallsworth had never been anything but kind to her so she didn’t fear her—she just couldn’t put her finger on it, something wasn’t quite right.
The doors opened to the Abbey and her stomach sunk as her eyes swept over the man who stood waiting for her.
Edward.
“Oh, Fiddlesticks,” she muttered under her breath using one of her aunt’s favourite frustrated exclamations.
Chapter Eight
Caroline had been tricked.
However would she maneuver her way out of this sticky situation? She couldn’t bear the thought of being alone with Edward and Lady Wallsworth and her old mother weren’t anywhere in sight.
The carriage door opened, and she found herself face to face with Edward. His eyes burned with longing, and he literally exuded his extreme want for her. She felt quite alone and quite vulnerable. His beautiful eyes literally ate her up.
“You are not playing fair, sir,” she whispered.
“Would you kindly allow me to help you out of the carriage? My godmother and her mother await you in the Drawing Room.”
She swallowed thickly, to still the caustic remark she wanted so desperately to throw at him. She couldn’t lose her head.
“You were in bad form the way you treated me, Caroline,” he murmured, as she slipped her gloved hand into his hand.
“No, I was not, sir. I couldn’t very well marry a man I barely knew. It wouldn’t have been the sensible thing to do.”
“We might not have known each other for as long as some courting couples do, but we shared something immensely profound, and you cannot deny that.”
Her cheeks were burning red. How could she make this travesty end?
She stood on solid ground and yet, her world felt as if it was completely off its axis. She felt so lightheaded. Every time she was around him, he made her feel this way and it was most annoying.
“I think I should like to go inside now and visit with your Godmother as she invited me to do, unless of course that’s a pretense.”
“You must know why you were invited now,” he remarked, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. She studied him closely her heart racing. He was just as nervous as she was, he just knew how to shield his emotions more than she could. “Why don’t we take a stroll around the beautiful gardens, before going inside for tea?”
Would it help her any to have a row with him? Did she even want to get cross with him? All she wanted to do was concede to his every whim. In fact, if he asked her to steal away with him to Gretna Green, she just might be inclined to do so! Maybe she just had to throw caution to the wind and do what she deeply desired.
“There is no need for you to deny it. I can see how much you want to walk with me in your eyes.”
“You, sir, assume far too much. I do not wish to take a leisurely stroll in the gardens. I wish to go inside and be with…”
“Chaperones,” he surmised. “I’m awfully surprised that your auntie even allowed you to come here by yourself. I was half expecting a wretched looking companion with you when I opened the carriage door. You know the type. Someone old, severe looking and wearing a widow or spinster’s cap.”
“Please stop it. I could wear a mobcap, and maybe I should,” she murmured, averting his gaze as she rushed up the steps to the door that led to her freedom. He kept pace behind her and thank goodness he had for she lost her balance on the top step and nearly went for a backward tumble had his strong arms not wrapped around her to steady her.
“Promise me you will never do that before it’s your time,” he whispered against her ear, his breath making her shiver. “This feels like heaven. Having you
so close is my true heart’s desire.”
“I was only a means to an end for you,” she murmured breathlessly, trying not to look into his captivating eyes. She would drown in his gaze, she knew she would.
He looked completely aghast at her latest proclamation. “You wound me deeply, Caroline. I never set out to use you, not the way you think.”
“You were running from a fortune hunter, and I was your means of escape—and now that I think of it, mixing me up in your plot was a mischievous thing to do. You wounded me, sir!”
“You were not my means of escape, not the way you believe. I wanted you from the very first moment I set eyes on you, Caroline. You were everything I had ever wanted in a woman. You had substance, something the woman that my mother picked out for me lacked in spades. You looked so beguiling sitting in my grandfather’s folly—you are and will always will remain, my Christmas Nymph.”
Her stomach twisted and pain lanced her heart. How could she continue to rebuff him? He talked so sweetly and seemed so sincere—and yet—she couldn’t quite believe she was worthy of a man such as he.
“You talk with such beguiling charm and yet—“
“And yet what?” he asked softly, still holding her close. She wanted to lose herself in the moment and let him have what he wanted from her.
“I can’t allow you to court me until you promise me one thing.”
“Anything,” he said, hope dancing in his sparkling eyes.
“While I’m very happy living with my aunt, her husband and her children. And yet, I can’t stop thinking of my father. He truly was a good father to me before becoming leg-shackled to that harridan of a woman, and I can’t resign myself to marrying a man whom he dislikes.”
Edward’s eyes hardened. She believed she’d stepped over the imaginary line and finally pushed him out of her life for good. Instead, the hardened glint in his eyes faded to be replaced by his soft look of admiration for her.
“In that case, my dear, there is only one thing to be done.”
Her heart skipped in her chest. “What is that?” she murmured breathlessly.
His Christmas Nymph Page 8
