“I see,” Lord Dederick answered. “I have always wondered why you both had work. I thought since your father was a gentleman, he made more than enough to support his family.”
“He does, but as I’ve mentioned, he cannot work forever. We have to contribute while we can.”
“It just does not seem right for a daughter of a gentleman to work,” he offered with a furrow of his brows.
“Perhaps you should broaden your perspective,” she said, and could not help but smirk at his astonishment.
“How do you suggest I do that?”
“Spend some time away from your life, perhaps. Find work and see how the rest of us have to live.”
Lord Dederick gasped at that.
“Never,” he said with feigned shock. “I shall accept your criticism of my lifestyle, but I refuse to give it up. Besides, I am not like my brothers in this. I don’t have tailors on credit or a gaggle of valets walking a step behind. I am what you might call the end of the line when it comes to the advantages in this family. I admit I have them, but in no way do I take advantage or flaunt them unnecessarily.”
Arabella looked him over then offered a soft smile.
“I have to agree there. You have never been as pompous as your brothers, thankfully. I am grateful for that much.”
“Only that?” he asked in jest, leaning toward her with a boyish grin. “You are not grateful for my brilliant mind and unconditional charm?”
Arabella folded her letters and stuck them in her pocket before she stood and moved toward the door.
“No,” she said with a smile of her own. “Definitely not.”
Chapter Seven
It was now undeniably certain. Lord Dederick had fallen for Arabella Wheatley, the daughter of his family’s physician. And though the mere thought of her elated him, he also felt the dread of having to admit as much to his parents.
The Earl of Harrington was not a forgiving man, and the Countess was not one to be trifled with on the best of days. Granted, Lord Dederick was not in line for any entitlement under his father, save any monies due him as the Earl’s son, but as a member of an esteemed family they expected him to choose a suitable wife. A woman of good breeding and of notable worth and reputation. He knew she did not fall into that realm, not by a longshot.
His mother spent the last season coercing him into dancing with half the debutantes in London in order to set him up with a wife and he offered for no one in the end. This did not make her happy. More than once she aired her views of his lacking a marital status and demanded he chose sooner rather than later. There was always that underlying guilt of her not living long enough to know his children, which she mentioned often but it did not persuade him enough to throw caution to the wind and just marry anyone. His eldest brother had children, and he felt that should be enough for her.
All that aside, he knew Arabella was the woman he wanted in his life. Of this he was certain. Convincing his parents would be a monumental task, but not as monumental as convincing Arabella. He did not even know if she fancied him at this point beyond the friendship they shared. He could speak to Carolina about her, but he felt that would abuse her trust. This should be between him and Arabella and no one else. He’d also have to speak to her father, a man he was fond of. He was sure Dr Wheatley would be more than happy to give his daughter’s hand to him, but he could not guarantee that it would sway Arabella to agree to any of it. No, he’d have to work his way into her heart if wanted this to work and he had to do that soon. The snow would not confine them forever.
Lord Dederick stood and made his way to his bed, albeit painfully. He needed to dress and finally get himself downstairs so he could feel alive again and not like an invalid in his own home. Reaching for the cord, he rang for help, expecting to see the young man who’d been acting as his valet, but Arabella arrived at his door instead, a box of supplies in one hand and a cane in the other.
“I’ve brought bandages so I can wrap your ankle more tightly. And this cane I found in the foyer closet,” she said, handing it to him.
He took the cane and eyed its handle, a brass piece molded into the shape of an elephant’s head. It was given to his father by the Prime Minister, found on one of his many excursions abroad. Dederick had never looked closely at it but now marveled at how comfortably the animal’s trunk bent to accommodate the palm of his hand.
With expert fingers, Arabella made quick work of wrapping his ankle and it immediately felt sturdier once she’d finished. Taking him under the elbow, she helped him off the bed, and he set the cane next to him, testing his weight.
“Not bad,” he said with a firm nod. “The wrap is a definite help.”
“I am glad of it,” she said as she put the remaining bandages back in the box and tucked it under her arm.
“Can you hand me my coat, please. I’d like to go downstairs.”
“You need not dress formally, it’s only us here. I care not.”
“I care,” he said. “I feel like a convalescent as it is and rather not laze about for the next fortnight in my nightshirt.”
Arabella smiled and with a chuckle, set the box on his bed and went to gather his coat.
“Do you want your gloves and hat as well?” she asked with no small amount of sarcasm.
Lord Dederick smirked at her cheek.
“No, thank you. The coat is fine.”
She helped him into it, then grabbed the box and headed toward the door, turning to watch him make his way to her.
“You’re moving much better. I am happy to see your health improving,” she offered.
“I am as well. I do not think I could stomach being held captive in my room for another day.”
He hobbled into the hallway and she followed close beside him, watching his every step with caution.
“You are not a hostage,” Arabella said with a soft laugh. “And I hate that you feel that way. Hopefully getting out of your room will alleviate any trepidations you may have that I am trying to lock you away.”
“I’ll be fine once I see a new wall,” he said with a chuckle of his own and reached for the railing that led downstairs. At the bottom of the long stairway which seemed much longer than he remembered, he took in his surroundings with a sigh. It was as if he’d never been there before, though everything was the same, and nothing was amiss.
“Why don’t we go to the sitting room. You can get some sun there.”
Lord Dederick followed her across the expanse of the foyer to the sitting room. Again, the room seemed new to him, though nothing was out of place. He wondered offhand if he suffered a head injury during his accident that made him feel so out of sorts.
After a few moments, Mrs. Gendy came into the room with a tray of tea and biscuits.
“Won’t you sit with us for a while?” Lord Dederick asked her as she turned to leave.
She gave him a smile, then looking to Arabella, shook her head.
“No but thank you. I have dinner on the stove, I need to get back to the kitchen.”
Before Arabella could repeat Lord Dederick’s request, Mrs. Gendy was gone.
“I regret that the three of you are not receiving the time off you deserve. I am sure, at least for Mrs. Gendy, that she was looking forward to a break before this happened.”
Arabella stood to pour the tea and handed him a cup.
“Nonsense,” she said. “We do what needs to be done. It is no bother.”
Lord Dederick grimaced and accepted the cup with a nod of thanks. Sipping, his eyes looked about the room and he marveled at how much he missed the sunlight. His quarters were at the back of the house and sunlight did not meet his windows until late afternoon when the sun had already started its descent. Here, though, the room was cheerful and bright. Almost too bright for his eyes which were unaccustomed to it after so long abed.
“Any more thoughts on that offer to be governess?” he asked and looked to her, watching her reaction. He did not want her to take the position. That would mean that s
he would leave the village and he could not bear it.
“I have and I believe it is good. True, it is far from home, but the extra money would put my father at ease.”
Lord Dederick shook his head absently and looked away.
“What is it?” she asked, noting his reticence.
This was it, his chance to speak his mind and his heart. It had to be done before she left, and he never saw her again.
“I wish you would reconsider,” he said, setting his cup on the small table before him.
“Why?” she asked, confusion spreading on her delicate face.
He could feel her staring at him, and he gave himself a moment before he turned to look her in the eyes.
“I believe there is more for you here,” he said and noted her hesitation.
“What could there possibly be for me to do here? I am no seamstress like my sister, and though my cooking is fair, I could not imagine working in a kitchen.”
“Why must you work at all?” he asked as he crossed his legs habitually, then thought against it when his ankle began to ache.
“Did we not just discuss this?” she asked, taking a sip of her tea. “Unfortunately, I do not live in your world. Work is a necessity for some of us. My family depends on me.”
“Marrying well could ease your situation,” he said offhandedly. It wasn’t as subtle as he would have liked, but there it was.
Arabella gave him a queer look.
“Marrying would not guarantee any financial stability,” she said angrily. “Beside the fact that it is not as if the marriage mart in this area is rife with monied, well-bred men. The choices we have are relegated to farmers and tradesmen who make even less than my father does. So no, marrying has never entered my mind.”
“And if there were other suitors available?” he asked, quirking his head.
“I…. I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve had no other choices aside from those who live in the village, but who else would there be?”
Lord Dederick sat back then and raised his brows, shrugging his shoulders.
“Someone like me perhaps?” he asked and the shock that crossed her face took him aback.
“Why would a man of your station marry me?” she asked in return, setting her cup aside. “Why would he even consider it when there are so many other women suited to his life?”
“Perhaps love could play a part in his choice,” Lord Dederick added slowly and Arabella furrowed her brows at that.
“You jest,” she said with a nervous laugh. “I daresay it would be a miraculous match if a well-bred man of your station were to meet let alone fall in love with a gentleman’s daughter. Our circles don’t even mix to make such a match.”
“Why do our circles need to mix, why can you not meet on your own terms?”
“What are you saying, that I should find a hapless nobleman wandering about town and pray he has a taste for the lower class?” Arabella asked with another laugh, but Lord Dederick did not smile.
“Am I not a good enough choice?” he asked and his throat clenched as the words left his lips. There it was, his heart was out in the open.
The look on her face was not one he was prepared for. A mixture of shock and perhaps trepidation, it was nothing compared to the blanching of her beautiful countenance as if he’d suggested something horrible.
“What?” she asked, sitting back from him.
“Why not marry me?”
Her eyes searched his for a long moment before she took a breath and shook her head, trying to shake off this dream she thought she was having.
“You’re serious?”
“I am, why would I tease about such a thing?”
“You could not...” she said, her voice faint. “It is a preposterous idea, to marry out of pity.”
“Pity?” he asked, angered by her suggestion. “Why would you think I would marry anyone out of pity?”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing by offering for me? Knowing that I am in a delicate position? Knowing that I have little choice?”
Lord Dederick could not help but glare at her for a moment before he got to his feet and paced slowly to the window, trying to let some of his anger subside before he said something unfortunate.
“My offer for you is not out of pity,” he said, his eyes scanning the stark white world outside the window. “Over these past days, I’ve come to know and admire you. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“I beg pardon, but one does not become attached to another person over a matter of days. You are confusing your admiration with your joy of my helping you heal, nothing more.”
Lord Dederick inhaled at her words and turned back to her.
“That’s rather harsh, don’t you think?” he asked.
“Harsh or not, it is true. We hardly know one another.”
“I’ve known you for years,” he said angrily. “How are you discounting that fact?”
“We have not known one another for years. You knew of me in passing. We have never once conversed at length. You have never invited me to any of your parties for you to dance with or talk to, why do you feel that has changed somehow?”
“You have spent time in my private chambers, how do you not see the intimacy there?”
“There was no intimacy. I was acting as a nurse, nothing more,” she said bluntly, and he winced.
“We have spoken in the past,” he added, trying to gain foothold in this precarious discussion.
“Of the weather. Of our comings and goings. Not of anything of importance. Do you know anything about me above what you’ve learned these last days?”
“Why does that matter?” he asked, coming back to sit near her. “I know of so many other couples who married far less acquainted than we are now.”
“And are they happy?” she asked, searching his face.
“Happiness has nothing to do with how long you’ve known a person. I know married couples who’ve known one another for years and they are the most miserable people I’ve ever met. Happiness is relative.”
“Relative to what?” Arabella asked, reaching for her cup of tea. “Happiness is something that should come naturally to a person.”
“That’s where you are wrong. Though happiness should be easy enough to come by, even the most content people need to work to achieve it some days. Otherwise, the world would always be at peace.”
“You know what I mean,” she said beneath furrowed brows. “When you love someone, it is as if you are made happy by their presence.”
“So, you’ve been in love before to know this?” he asked, reaching for his own cup and taking a sip.
“No, I haven’t,” she said, suddenly looking away.
“Then how would you know how one would feel if you’ve never felt it yourself?”
“It is obvious. Have you never seen two people in love before? It is as if the world starts and ends between them.”
“That type of love is fleeting. For newlywed couples the look of love follows them everywhere for the first few months, but it subsides eventually.”
“That is not true. My parents were deeply in love until the day my mother passed. So, I have seen it,” Arabella bit out.
“Then your parents are very lucky to have found one another because that sort of long lasting attraction is very rare, and I am sorry to inform you that the real world is not like that so you will be forever searching for something that simply does not exist.”
“I did not know you were such a pessimist,” she said with a grimace. “Of all your brothers, I thought you were the romantic one with a heart.”
That remark hit him sideways and his eyes darted to hers as he quirked his head.
“You think I have no heart because I do not believe in love as it is written in novels? That’s the most absurd thing you’ve said yet,” he said with a laugh. “Next thing you’ll say is that I am not a man because I am not brooding and pining for the attention of a woman.”
She raised her brows at him and shrugged.
“And have you been in love to make such assumptions?” she asked him plainly.
Lord Dederick sat back at her words and contemplated how to respond. He could be honest and tell her he had. That the woman he once loved broke his heart when she threw him over for a much wealthier, titled man, but that was neither here nor there. Especially since, in the handful of days he’d been in Miss Wheatley’s company, he’d found himself even more in love than he had ever been before. Everything about her fascinated him. The scent of her lingering in the air enticed him in ways no other woman had. He did not know what it was about her that made her so alluring, but she was driving him to distraction.
“I believe I have,” he said finally, taking a sip of his tea to wash the taste from his mouth for having said it. “And yet I am not wed.”
“And why is that?” she asked, her tone genuine.
“She found someone better,” he bit out and set his cup aside.
Arabella’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head.
“By better you mean of rank I am assuming?”
“Indeed. It is one shortcoming of my birth, to not have been born before my brothers.”
“I do not find that a shortcoming,” she said.
“If I were an Earl, would you have accepted my proposal?” he asked, looking her in the eyes.
“Of course not. Things of that nature are of no matter to me.”
“Then you are a foolish woman, looking for something that only lives in fiction.”
“I beg pardon?” she asked as she held a hand to her throat, offended.
“You’ve already stated there are little in the way of suitors in the village to entice you. I am the best offer you can ever have the hope of receiving and yet, you object to my offer.”
Arabella stood from the couch then, her frame tense before she turned on him with angry eyes and a reddened face.
One Enchanted Winter Page 4