“Husband, you are home early.” At once on her feet, Winnie rang the bell pull beside the unlit fireplace.
“My meeting finished early.” He kissed his wife and daughters in turn and then sat on the leather wing-backed chair at a right angle to the fireplace. “Like most of the businessmen of Leeds, we were happy to escape the town before the storm broke. Ah, Tibbleton, a drink before I go to my study, if you please.”
The butler, standing at his post by the door, immediately went to the drinks cabinet near the front window and the conversation resumed about the Captain’s ball. However, the discussion of possible guests and entertainment was lost to Aurora as Mrs Sinclair’s words circled her head again like a shark menacing a school of fish.
Reid, Reid, Reid.
What was she to do? Ignore the talk of a boastful mother? Seek out Reid?
She stood hovering, anxious to get out of the room and her tea stain was the perfect excuse. In her bedroom she was glad Hilda, the maid she shared with her sisters, wasn’t about. She needed solitude to think, to plan.
Sitting on the window seat, she drew her knees up to her chin and stared down at the peaceful stables below. Two years ago, on her eighteenth birthday, Reid Sinclair had kissed her. It hadn’t been a chaste birthday kiss, but a kiss given by a man to a woman. From that moment she had understood everything. Their secret looks, the lingering of their hands in greeting, the shared seating at functions, the soft smiles, the unspoken promises of the previous summer had all become clear. Without a significant word spoken, they both knew what was in the other’s hearts.
Or at least she had thought so.
In the two years since that magical day he kissed her, their time alone had been limited. Reid had spent more and more time in London, learning how to manage his family’s empire. He’d spent a mere six weeks at home each year and the longed for question she expected him to ask her had never been uttered. They had danced together and attended the same dinner parties, but he always seemed preoccupied. They hadn’t found the chance to be alone for any length of time.
Had she made more of the situation than was warranted?
Did Julia speak honestly about Reid and a possible engagement? Had he changed his mind about her?
Aurora groaned and banged her forehead on her knees as thunder rolled over the roof. They sky was streaked with swirling angry gray clouds. As yet no rain fell and the atmosphere grew tight, expectant.
Why would Reid treat her so cruelly? She raised her gaze to the distant hills on the stormy horizon, ignoring the sudden gale which tossed the tree branches and battered birds flying home to roost. Had she imagined what was between her and Reid? Did she romanticize the situation to suit her own needs? She shook her head. No. What she felt for Reid, a pure love, had been reflected in his eyes, his manner. She was certain she hadn’t been alone in what she felt in her heart.
But what to do? He had arrived home and the first she knew of it was at the tea. Why hadn’t he called as he usually did? Why didn’t he join them for tea if he was in the house? He’d done so many times before. He’d always eat the jam tartlets, as they were his favorites.
Then the thought she didn’t want to dwell on came to the fore to taunt and bully her. What if his feelings had changed? What if he didn’t want to see her? What if he no longer felt anything for her? What if he was promised to another? There had never been a spoken agreement between them. He had never mentioned a future together. It had all been in looks and gestures. If he’d been serious wouldn’t he have talked to her father?
So many unanswered questions made her head ache worse. There was much she didn’t understand and was confused about. Tears threatened and she blinked rapidly to deny their release. She must see him. She had to know if his mother was right. Scrambling over to her desk, she tried not to think of what she’d do if he’d found another. Scratching the pen across a piece of paper, she wrote the note and then rang for her maid.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter One
The Reluctant Marquess Page 19
