Richmond had never felt prouder of Viola when that had happened. He was surprised Georgiana didn’t know about this. They spoke about everything. But, then again, Viola had mentioned she hadn’t had a letter back from Georgiana in a while, either. It was as if she was avoiding them.
Georgiana’s mouth had fallen open. She shut it and shook her head.
“I don’t believe you.”
“When have I lied to you, Georgiana? I wouldn’t lie about that.”
“Viola told me she loved you and I believe her.” Georgiana stumbled away from the water’s edge and began to back away. “She’s not one to change her mind so quickly.”
“Then you don’t know Viola as much as you thought.”
She was going to run, Richmond could see it. And she clearly didn’t believe him. Richmond wished she would just stop and listen, but Georgiana didn’t want to be around him long enough to understand.
“I think I’d better go.”
Georgiana started to stumble away. Richmond wanted to run after her but from her reaction and the way she kept hurrying away from him said everything. She didn’t want to be near him.
There was nothing he could do to change her mind. So, Richmond let her go, away that he was letting the woman he loved walk out of his life.
***
Georgiana was upset and angry. She couldn’t settle on one emotion. They conflicted with each other inside her. And she didn’t know whether to focus her anger on Lady Chester or Richmond.
They had conspired to have Richmond corner her. Georgiana couldn’t begin to describe her feelings when she saw him again. She wanted to jump into his arms, just to make sure he was real. But then she remembered where they were and that she wasn’t allowed to have those sorts of feelings. Not when Viola was determined.
And now Viola was engaged to be married to someone else? Georgiana didn’t believe that. Viola would have told her. Then, she remembered, she hadn’t responded to any of Viola’s letters. How would she know if Viola was getting married?
But Georgiana hadn’t been able to bring herself to write back. Memories of Viola brought back memories of her last days at Atwood House. And that just brought another onslaught of tears for Georgiana. It was ridiculous that she was acting like this, but Georgiana couldn’t help herself. After loving Richmond from afar for years, to have him snatched away like this was too much to bear.
She was still in a sad mood when she returned to the Earl of Chester’s residence. Now she would have to come face-to-face with Lady Chester and Georgiana didn’t know what to say. Bracing herself, Georgiana entered the property.
She was greeted by a delighted shriek as a redheaded blur flew at her across the hall.
“Georgiana!”
Georgiana couldn’t believe it as the woman flung her arms around her neck and clung on tightly, almost knocking her over.
“Viola?” Georgiana stepped back as Viola loosened the grip on her neck. She stared at her friend. “My goodness! What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, silly.” Viola laughed.
There was something different about her that Georgiana couldn’t put her finger on. She seemed brighter-eyed, more vibrant. She looked happy.
“I came to tell you something exciting.” Viola held up her left hand proudly. “I’m getting married!”
Georgiana stared at the beautiful diamond on her ring finger. So, she was getting married. Richmond hadn’t lied about that.
“Congratulations.” She managed to muster her delight. “To whom?”
“Albert Smithers, Earl of Warwick. He’s just come into his title.” Viola took Georgiana’s hand, and they went into the morning room. She sighed. “We met at a dance two weeks ago and we just…we went together, if you know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean.” They sat on the couch. “And you’re getting married after two weeks?”
“You know what I’m like. But this time, it’s a certainty.”
Georgiana couldn’t believe how relieved she was to hear that. She slumped and smiled.
“Oh. That’s wonderful.”
Richmond had been telling the truth. Viola was getting married.
“You would’ve known all this if you had responded to any of my letters.” Viola looked at her strangely. “What’s wrong with you? You look like someone’s taken a weight off your shoulders.”
“It certainly feels like that.” Georgiana knew she couldn’t hide it for much longer, not with Viola. Even after what had come between them, they were still friends. “The duke saw me in the park today. We spoke.”
Chapter 10
Breaking the Rules
V iola didn’t look shocked, or even remotely surprised. She looked like she had been expecting it.
“I was wondering when he would finally catch up to you. You’ve certainly been giving him the run-around.”
“What?” Georgiana sat up. “What do you mean?”
“I overheard him talking to his mother a short while after you left. He said he wanted to know why you had refused his love and practically run away.” Viola shook her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. Why didn’t you say that you were in love with him?”
“What makes you think I’m in love with him?”
“It would explain your behaviour once I declared what I thought were my feelings for him. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have got in the way.”
“Really?” Georgiana shook her head. “You said you loved him and I know how determined you get. I wasn’t about to ruin that for you.”
Viola rolled her eyes.
“What I felt was a passing fancy. Nothing like what I currently feel for Warwick. I love him with everything I have. I still love Richmond, but it was like an older brother.” Viola shrugged. “It just took me a while to figure out the difference.”
Georgiana could very well believe that. Viola could get things mixed up. But she had been so sure of herself.
If she had understood it before, then none of this would have happened. Georgiana huffed.
“You should’ve told me once you realized that. I’ve been avoiding him to spare your feelings.”
“How could I when you wouldn’t return any letters?” Viola shot back. She sighed and slapped her friend’s arm. “Georgiana, you silly fool. You’re a much better match for Richmond. And you’re an even bigger fool to turn him away.”
Georgiana was beginning to realize that now. But she had a feeling she had completely blown it. Richmond wouldn’t want to see her again.
“What do I do now?”
Viola grinned. She had that twinkle in her eye that meant she was up to something.
“I might be able to help you there.”
***
He had failed to win her back. Richmond sat morosely in his carriage as they went through London. She had backed away from him, no chance of her returning. Despite her love that his mother claimed she had for him, her loyalty to her friend won her over.
All Richmond could think was that he needed to leave London. He would go back to Atwood House and hide himself away until there was a time that he didn’t love Georgiana Spencer anymore. That might take a long time, but Richmond wasn’t in the mood to see happy, smiling couples around him, having something that he couldn’t get.
A marriage would happen in the future, he knew it had to. He was the Duke of Richmond and he needed to carry the line on. But it wouldn’t be a marriage of love, the one he wanted.
The dowager duchess was going to be sad about it. She adored Georgiana. But if Georgiana had made up her mind, he wasn’t going to change it.
Richmond was startled out of his reverie when the carriage stopped suddenly, right in the middle of the road. Richmond sat up. As far as he was aware, there was no reason to stop. He looked out the window and there was nothing there. No accident or children playing in the street.
Why had the carriage suddenly stopped?
He rapped on the roof of the carriage.
“Fairl
ey? What’s going on? Why have you stopped?”
There was no answer. But then the door flew open and a golden-haired beauty practically dived into the carriage, sitting across from him. The door slammed behind her and the carriage started up again.
Richmond stared. What was going on? And why was she in his carriage now?
“What are you doing here?”
“Viola told me where you would be.” Georgiana took off her bonnet, laying it on the seat beside her. “She suggested I stopped the carriage if I wanted to get you alone for a private word.” She grimaced. “Although I think I’ve broken every rule in Society’s book doing this. But, frankly, I don’t care right now.”
Richmond had never seen Georgiana do something so brazen. She would never stop a carriage and jump in. Anyone could have seen them and get the wrong idea. In spite of himself, Richmond found himself smiling.
“I never thought of you as reckless. People are going to talk.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I don’t care.”
Then Georgiana pushed herself across onto the other seat. Richmond wasn’t ready when she grabbed his jacket and pulled him down, but he took advantage of it once his mind realized what was happening. He wrapped his arms around Georgiana as he kissed her, leaning against the corner of the carriage. She was in his arms, willingly. Richmond wasn’t going to throw that away.
When Georgiana finally pulled away, her mouth was swollen and her eyes were shining. Richmond raised his eyebrows.
“Was that meant to tell me something?”
Georgiana rolled her eyes. Her hands were still tight in his jacket.
“Viola told me that I was a fool for letting you walk away, that I should take happiness where I can get it. She’s not angry at me like I thought she would be, except that I never told her how I felt about you.” She lowered her eyes as she blushed. “I was acting stupidly and I want to apologize to you for that.”
Richmond couldn’t stop himself. He leant over and kissed her, pulling back before Georgiana could hold him close.
“I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve figured out what was going on.” He smiled. “But I do know one thing.”
“What?”
Richmond cupped her cheek in his hand. Her face was still warm from her blushing.
“I’m not planning on letting you run away again.”
Georgiana smiled. It felt like an age since he had last seen that smile.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She hugged him. “I love you. I won’t run away from that again.”
Richmond hugged her tightly. That was all he wanted to hear from her. The tension in his body left him.
She did love him. His mother hadn’t been wrong.
Speaking of the dowager duchess…
“You do know I’m on my way to pick up my mother.”
Georgiana looked up at him with a sly grin.
“Then you’d better make me an honest woman.” She teased.
Richmond raised his eyebrows.
“Was that a hint?”
“And a not-so-very-subtle one, at that.”
Richmond laughed and kissed her forehead.
“There’s the Georgiana Seymour I fell in love with. Don’t let that part of you disappear again.”
Georgiana’s eyes twinkled.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
*** The End ***
Infatuated
By The Lord
Regency Romance
Grace Fletcher
Chapter 1
Lord Carter
“B eatrice…Beatrice…” Mrs. Seymour always spoke with such a shrill that it stopped one dead in their tracks. Not young Beatrice though, the only sound ringing in her ears was that of the hunting dogs, barking victoriously as they galloped in front of the horses carrying the hunting party.
She knew that this was not her designation, and she had nothing to do with the men or the horses or their boots and britches, but Beatrice couldn’t help herself. It was one of the very few chances that she had to get close to Lord Hudson Carter, and it was an opportunity that she had no intention of missing.
“Ah, Beatrice…You really should stop doing this. Besides, you’ll catch your death in this downpour.” Hudson spoke in a deep baritone that lent itself to singing, and warmed the young woman all over, like hot tea, or warm chocolate milk. She hadn’t even cared that it was raining out. The truth is, she hadn’t even noticed.
Beatrice handed Lord Carter a fresh pair of boots, taking the wet hunting pair from him before he had even removed them completely from his feet. Clasping them tightly against her chest, she ran across the courtyard to the stable house and closed the door behind herself. She breathed in the smell of leather and warm feet and sighed a huge sigh. Did Lord Carter have any idea the effect he had on her, she wondered, as she started to scrape the mud off the soles and polish the leather back to life?
She knew that it was foolish of her to even allow herself to dream of Hudson. But he made it so easy. He was the eldest son of the house Carter, and everything about him spoke to all the parts of Beatrice that were a woman. He spoke like a raging river and laughed the same. His eyes squinted when he was amused, and even when he was upset, which wasn’t very often, his face was soft and welcoming.
Hudson Carter was every bit a gentleman. He sipped his tea slowly, and when he drank, his cheeks flushed rosy and he giggled a little more than usual. He spoke to everyone with the same measure of concern and respect, and he seemed genuinely interested in whatever was being said to him, even if it was the most mundane of affairs related to him by his housekeeper.
To say that he was physically attractive would be to understate his appearance. Hudson was the tallest of his brothers, taller even than his father had been in his youth. He had the richest mane of red hair, much unlike the rest of his family. Apparently, he got these fiery locks from his great-grandfather, on his mother’s side. This river of red caressed his face in a neatly trimmed beard and hinted at the position of his piercing blue eyes which sat almost too perfectly on his face.
Yes, it was easy to dream of Hudson Carter, and as Beatrice set his perfectly polished boots by the hearth in the stable house, she let herself, albeit for the moment, fantasize about him a little more.
Beatrice was herself not unattractive although the duties of the house took her appearance and led it towards drab. Beneath her bonnet was a torrent of flowing dark brown hair in the wildest natural curls. She managed to tuck it in a high bun underneath the cloth covering her head so that it didn’t get in the way of her duties. Her eyes were dark, hints of black dancing across the deep brown of her pupils. And wide, too wide, like a curious child about to ask after the spider in the window.
Her mouth was the perfect sliver of red, which against her pale white face, gave one the illusion of wealth if it wasn’t for the constant dirt on her face and under her fingernails, or the general state of her dress. As the maid-of-all-work, it wasn’t surprising that she often appeared out of sorts. Her work was never done, and from starting the kitchen fires first thing in the morning, to cooking and cleaning, to whatever was decided for her by Mrs. Seymour, the housekeeper who herself behaved as though she were several stations above the rest of the help, it really was surprising that she always found the time to polish Lord Hudson’s boots.
Hudson didn’t seem to see her, though, for the most part. In fact, unless she were scurrying to remove his hunting boots, he hardly ever spoke to her. Granted, their paths seldom crossed, which is why the young woman decided, one day without instruction, that she would for the foreseeable future, be the polisher of Hudson Carter’s boots. And with her youthful enthusiasm, and lack of neglect of her myriad other duties, Hudson simply just let it be.
“I was thinking,” she said as she scampered into the kitchen, the rain falling from her skirt onto the kitchen floor, “I was thinking that tonight we shall make lamb…Slow roasted with sweet potatoes…Lord Carter likes sweet potato…” she looked out of the wind
ow at the drops dancing against the glass in the one-two-three of a waltz.
“You, my dear, seem far too familiar with what Lord Hudson likes!” Mrs. Seymour was emphatic, seeming to see the agenda brewing beneath the surface of Beatrice’s words.
“Oh, hardly familiar ma’am…just aware…” Beatrice responded, almost knowingly. She had in fact made it her business to be aware of his likes and dislikes, especially when it was within her power to facilitate his getting just what he wanted. She knew that he was a Lord, and she was a general servant, and so she knew that nothing would ever come of her often obvious infatuation with the man. Still, she found it more than a little comforting to know that in her own small way, she was able to ensure his comfort.
“Yes, yes…aware… You would do well to remember your station my dear, and you would do well to stop spreading yourself too thinly, assuming the duties of a stable hand. Yours is a position of great responsibility, and your responsibilities extend to every member of the Carter household!” Mrs. Seymour walked out of the room as she shrilled her admonition, not wanting to entertain any further the delusions of a young girl.
Beatrice knew that she was deluded, but that didn’t matter to her. For as long as she was in this house, and as long as Lord Carter remained unmarried, hers was a perfectly acceptable fantasy. And she was more than aware that this was all it could ever be, a fantasy…
She proceeded with her preparations for dinner, a little too early, but she was zealous. And she had also completed most of her other work. It seemed that her work too didn’t end, but she was more than okay with that, as long as she felt that she was doing it for Hudson. He seemed to be the center of her world, a center that seemed just out of reach, just beyond the scope of reality.
But reality was rather unnecessary when it came to her imagination, and as long as she lived there but was able to bring herself into the real world, a world comprised of pots and pans, stoves and fires, brooms and mops and washcloths, she would happily teeter on this fine line between reality and fantasy, as long as Hudson would let her…
Regency Romances for the Ages Page 126