The Mysteries of A Lady's Heart: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance Collection

by Abby Ayles

  Best wishes, love and kisses,

  Noelle

  Gently she folded up her letter, pressed a seal to it, and handed it off to one of the maids in the hallway. She trusted that they would be able to have it delivered to Stone Hill Manor before the next day was out.

  Chapter 32

  Rodrick very much enjoyed seeing Lady Noelle again and he hoped that another occasion soon might bring them together. All things considered, she looked quite well. Much better than the night he visited Grosvenor Square.

  James had enjoyed himself as well. During their carriage ride back to Hertfordshire, all he could talk about was how happy he was that Lady Noelle seemed to have recovered from her sadness and shock. “Upon my word, I admire the girl; I wish I was as able to move on as she is.”

  “You seemed quite happy to dance with Lady Andrews,” Rodrick said with a smirk. “I saw some smiles from you again at long last.”

  His cousin blushed a little bit and he smiled at Rodrick. “She is a dear woman. I remember seeing her at the Salisbury ball. It’s so nice that we shall be able to see her more often now that she is married to one of my peers.”

  “Indeed, it would be wonderful if we could see her more often,” Rodrick agreed. He thought that the ball had been a great example of how much fun such events could be if people didn’t remain so stodgy about titles and appearances. Everyone at that ball had been friendly regardless of rank or class.

  Lord and Lady Prescott were an older couple who didn’t have any children of their own. Rodrick wondered what the Earl of Somerset – for that was Lord Prescott’s aged father – planned to do for an heir. There was gossip that they had a male family member down the lineage who could be given the title of Viscount once Lord Prescott ascended, but like other London rumors Rodrick had to be skeptical of it.

  They apparently did have a large family outside of the peerage, however. Rodrick had noticed that quite a few members of their gathering had been unfamiliar to him and they all seemed to share the same facial features. Not that I was fully paying attention to the Prescotts.

  He thought again of Lady Noelle and wished that there was a way to devise another chance to see her. Now that her family was going through the terrible loss of a daughter and sister, he didn’t imagine that it would be so easy for her to get away. Unless Lady Lydia was invited and brought her as her companion.

  Now that Lady Noelle had lost Lady Catherine into the night, she would be in need of a new companion when she went to balls. This new partnering made sense to Rodrick, though he was not really in the habit of trying to orchestrate friendships in this manner. It was surely not his place to try to control anyone.

  As he thought this, he recalled the things that Lord Drake had said to him. You forget your place because we were boys together. Rodrick supposed that it had been easy to let it slip from his mind at times that he was not on equal footing with anyone with whom he spent his time.

  But the thought of trying to run off into Hertford and create a new social life for himself was wearying. Just thinking about having to essentially start all over again made him tired. He would rather sit at home with his books and his mother for the rest of his life.

  He looked over and noticed that James was giving him a strange, thoughtful sort of smirk. Rodrick raised his eyebrows at his cousin. “What are you plotting over there?”

  “You know,” Jamie said, putting his arm around Rodrick’s shoulders. “I was just thinking that having those ladies visit that day several weeks ago was so invigorating, not just for me but also for Father. Would it not be a grand idea if we were to host a ball of our own here at Westwood?”

  Rodrick was not quite convinced that it would be a good idea. He knew his uncle well enough to know that he might spend the entirety of the ball out of doors. “Uncle Alex is not the most social person for that sort of event…”

  James laughed a little. “It is true, but just because he is writ down as the host does not mean that he actually must be present. For example, did you see Lord Salisbury at his ball?”

  “We saw him when first we entered.”

  “Yes, but he stayed there in his study all of the night, helping himself to his own supply of spirits.” James grinned at the memory. “He didn’t feel it necessary to spend time with all of his guests. And I don’t think that it’s necessary for my father to be where he doesn’t wish to be.”

  There was no doubt in Rodrick’s mind that his old uncle wouldn’t have a problem with his son hosting a ball in the estate house. As long as he can be out back scaring away all of the wildlife with his hounds, Rodrick thought, amused. He would be sure, of course, to come in for food and that’s when most of the guests would notice him.

  “I think that this is a grand and masterful idea,” he said then. “I hope that I shall be invited?”

  “Of course,” James said with a laugh. “And I’ll be sure to pass on an invitation to the Lady Noelle Fletcher as well.” He winked at Rodrick.

  Rodrick was amazed at this sudden change in his cousin. Not more than a day ago, he’d been so forlorn and Rodrick didn’t think that he’d ever see Jamie laugh or smile again. And now here Jamie was, excited and mirthful.

  There must be something that he’s not telling me. Some reason that he is so extra-eager to throw a party here. Rodrick wondered if perhaps Jamie and Lady Noelle had been drinking from the same well of magic mead.

  Rodrick enthusiastically helped his cousin write and send out invitations for a ball at Westwood to take place on the Friday hence. He smiled when he had occasion to write the name Lady Noelle Fletcher onto her paper.

  On the day of the ball, Rodrick’s mother was once again thrilled to be going to spend time with her beloved son and nephew. “I haven’t seen dear Alexander in quite a while,” she said as Rodrick walked with her, arm-in-arm through the lovely greenery of the Westwood estate on their way to the mansion.

  “We’re not likely to see much of him tonight either,” Rodrick said, only half-joking. “I have a feeling that he will be spending most of this ball out of doors.”

  His mother smiled. “He never really was a social butterfly. Your father was the one who often convinced him to come out of his shell.”

  She stopped walking for a moment so she could reach up and place her hands on Rodrick’s cheeks. She smiled up at him now, a tinge of sadness there in that smile. “You really are so very like him.”

  Rodrick felt a tinge of sadness himself then and he forced tears to not enter his eyes. Just barely. He hoped that that might be true.

  They walked together to the front door and they were merrily welcomed in by one of the earl’s butlers. “Mr. Edwards and his mother, Mrs. Eleanor Edwards,” the butler announced to the people who were gathered in attendance at the ball.

  James came quickly over and gave his cousin a friendly handshake. He was grinning and he stepped aside, revealing a fetching young lady who’d been there behind him. “Rodrick, please allow me to introduce you to Miss Rosalyn Tate,” he introduced.

  “Miss Tate, this is my cousin and dearest friend, Mr. Rodrick Edwards.”

  The young lady smiled and gave a little curtsy. She’d clearly been taught to do such a thing when greeting the nobility, but she did so for Rodrick just in case. He smiled at her and offered his hand.

  “Delighted,” he said to her. She placed her hand into his and he bowed to her as she smiled back at him. Who was this young lady? He’d never seen her before.

  His mother was standing there beside him with a rather strange expression on her face. She looked as though she recognized this young woman but couldn’t think of where.

  Miss Tate had reddish-blonde hair and big, quite innocent-looking blue eyes. She very much appeared like an angel to Rodrick, though of course he did not really know anything about her character. He didn’t wish to make assumptions about anyone, lest they do the same about him.

  He had to wonder if James had been introduced to her earlier and had decided that he liked he
r enough to introduce her to Rodrick. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if James thought Miss Tate would be a worthy match for him but then he noticed the look in his cousin’s eyes as he stood beside the young lady.

  James was completely enamored with her. It came as a surprise to Rodrick because it really hadn’t been that long since James had been pining for Lady Catherine. He supposed that there could be more to the reason that Jamie didn’t propose than he let on. Perhaps he’d also been in love with this girl…

  Rodrick didn’t think so, though. It wasn’t like his timid cousin to entertain romantic thoughts about two women at the same time. He’d been so passionate in his love for Lady Catherine; it couldn’t be so that he’d felt that way whilst also pining for another.

  “Where did you two meet?” he asked James then, in a friendly and slightly playful way as if he was merely chiding the other man and not actually very curious.

  James blushed as he smiled. “We met the other day at the Prescott ball. Miss Tate is a cousin on Lady Prescott’s side.”

  Ah. Perhaps related to the future heir, Rodrick thought. The whole thing amused him more than anything.

  Imagine being a cousin or the like to a titled man, only to discover that you are heir to a title yourself! Rodrick wondered what that would feel like and supposed that it would be similar to what happened to Lady Andrews.

  Except she got an even better deal out of it. She got to marry someone that she loved and who loved her tremendously. He had no doubt about that. Lord Andrews had matched with her the way Rodrick wished it could be for everyone: they met at a perfectly normal party.

  He awoke from his reverie and smiled approvingly at the pair of them. They did look quite nice beside one another. “Miss Tate, this is my mother, Mrs. Eleanor Edwards.”

  While the two women greeted each other, Rodrick’s eyes scanned the room for any sign of Lady Noelle and her family. He hoped very much that they would come to the ball, for now he did indeed feel like an odd man out. Even Jamie had found himself a mate.

  As kind and lovely as she is, I don’t wish to spend the whole night only dancing with my mother, he thought good-humoredly. He didn’t think that his mother had any interest in dancing at her age. Indeed, she seemed hopeful that she would find Uncle Alexander somewhere in the mansion.

  Now that James had found a new light of his life, Rodrick supposed that he could calm down a little with regard to the treatment of his cousin by Lady Catherine. He was not looking forward to seeing the rest of the family very much, but he was ever hopeful that he would be able to dance a while with Lady Noelle.

  He knew that it wasn’t really something that his mother wanted, but then neither was Lady Catherine supposed to run off into the night with Alphonse Drake, but there they all were. Nothing was going according to plan. So, he thought that he might be able to make the most of that.

  What was one more dance?

  Chapter 33

  Noelle was ecstatic when she received the invitation, directly from Mr. Edwards no less, to a ball at Westwood. Her parents and younger sisters were also invited, which thrilled her as well because normally Beth and Anna didn’t get a chance to attend balls like this, in fancy mansions in the country. The only balls they attended were in the city for the London Season.

  “You’ll have to be on your best behavior, of course,” she said to the two of them as she braided Anna’s hair before pinning it up. If there’s one thing she wished to do for them, it was teaching them to be self-sufficient. “A lot of important people will be there.”

  Beth giggled whilst Anna rolled her eyes. “We’re already always on our best behavior,” Anna countered. “We haven’t been raised to be any other way.”

  The ladies’ maids worked to help the two younger girls get dressed in satisfactory evening gowns. Edith had already assisted Noelle with her dress – the lovely green one that matched Mr. Edwards’s eyes. She knew that he wouldn’t even notice but she still thought it would be a nice touch.

  She would not have chosen to purchase this dress were it not for the fact that it made her think of him.

  The duchess wasn’t so sure about the fact that they were certainly going to see the man again, but she softened at the thought of visiting with the old Earl of Montgomery and exploring Westwood to see if it was everything her daughters had told her about. “I shall be sad to see Lord Edwards knowing what a horrible trick Catherine played on him,” she said while they rode in their carriage to Hertfordshire.

  “I think he is doing well,” Noelle said to her, smiling reassuringly. “When I saw him the other evening, he was in good spirits.”

  “He deserves all of the best,” the duchess said, sighing and looking out of the window. Noelle knew that this meant he deserved better than Catherine.

  Who knew? Perhaps he would meet someone today and they would be able to finally put the entire affair behind them. It would be wonderful to see Lord Edwards happily married after such an ordeal.

  She hadn’t received a letter or any sort of word from Kitty, which didn’t entirely surprise her. She had more or less told her sister that she didn’t have to write back if she was busy, but she hoped that she would. Why does she hide even from me?

  Noelle wondered if Catherine thought that she was upset at her for ‘stealing’ Lord Drake. But surely Kitty knew that Noelle had no interest in him! She’d told her as much…

  That was likely her cue, she thought, wishing that she hadn’t been so swift to inform her of her feelings – or indeed non-feelings – for the man. Catherine usually wasn’t so rash, though. Perhaps she really does love him…

  Catherine was usually such a trouble-maker that it was difficult to know how she really felt about much of anything.

  The carriage arrived outside the front of Westwood and the family disembarked. The Duke of Salisbury admired the mansion and nodded his approval. “It looks as well-maintained as ever,” he said.

  “The Earl of Montgomery may be a reclusive fellow, but he takes care of his properties,” the duchess said, smiling at the thought of the old man.

  For Noelle’s part, she was surprised that her mother gave any thought to the earl. He hadn’t struck her as particularly interesting, though she supposed that it was more to do with the fact that the only person who really spoke to him was Lord Drake. He loves hunting and it’s seemingly the only thing he ever wants to talk about, she thought.

  The family was invited inside by Lord Edwards’s friendly butler and then they all joined the throngs of people who were milling about in his impressive ballroom. She didn’t recall it from prior engagements but she supposed the room didn’t make a good place for quiet conversation. After fetching herself a glass of water, Noelle gazed around the room in the hopes of meeting a pair of familiar green eyes.

  Suddenly, she caught sight of Lord Edwards and there, at his side, was none other than Mr. Edwards. Noelle grinned uncontrollably and crossed over the wooden floorboards to join him on the other side of the room. As she approached, she noticed the pretty lady on Lord Edwards’s other side.

  Before Noelle was able to say anything, her family came along behind her as if they were acting as her entourage now. She really wished that they wouldn’t. The last thing Noelle needed was to be further embarrassed by her family’s antics.

  “Good evening, Lord Edwards,” her father said to the gentleman, nodding his head politely. “We heard from our daughter Noelle here that you were getting along all right and we just wanted to come to you at once and pay our respects.”

  Noelle couldn’t be entirely sure, but she thought she noticed a slight bristle in Lord Edwards as he regarded her father. The two men shook hands but he didn’t seem entirely pleased by what he’d said.

  “I’m not sure that I’d describe my feelings as ‘all right’, but I’ve managed to get by,” he said curtly. “It’s quite a lot to get sorted out, you understand. Lady Noelle has been a good help to me, of course… As well as Miss Tate.”

  He nodded in a
gesture towards the young lady at his side.

  Noelle was surprised to discover that the woman who stood there with him was not Lady Tate. How peculiar that he should be standing here with an untitled woman and an untitled gentleman. She blushed to think of Mr. Edwards in that way, though.

  To her, he was so much more. She wondered if that was the way it was for Lord Edwards too, regarding Miss Tate.

  Wouldn’t it be nice if we all could forget about such nonsense? She inwardly laughed at the idea. There was no way that England was going to do away with her stately titles.

  “How do you do, Miss Tate,” her mother greeted the woman. Noelle could sense the distaste in her voice but she didn’t believe that anyone else would be able to notice. She was often a scornful woman, but she wasn’t entirely impolite.

  If she was, then they should never have been invited to anything, nor would they have been able to receive guests to their own events. Her father was personable but balls and fetes were more the duchess’s specialty.