by Ella Edon
But it was a man like that who had seen her in such a state. And had held her up while she clung to him. Louisa nearly dunked her entire head under water.
She remained there until the water got cold and then, with the help of the maid, got dressed in one of Charlotte’s day dresses. Once she was prepared for the day, her headache was entirely gone, and she headed downstairs with only the prickly reminder of last night following her.
“Ah, here she is,” Kenneth boomed the moment she stepped into the drawing room. He held his hands up in delight, grinning from ear to ear. “What a beauty she is after such a draining night.”
“Please, be quiet,” she mumbled as she came to claim her seat at the small round table. Charlotte was seated by his side, sipping her tea. “If you do not scold me like Charlotte will, then you will only awaken her wrath.”
Kenneth didn’t look at all bothered by that fact. Charlotte only lifted a brow. “I am not angry with you any longer, Louisa,” Charlotte stated. “You seem to be quite fine so there is no need to be. I am happy that all is well.”
“I do not trust that,” Louisa stated, eyeing her sister warily. “Have you told Mother? You have, haven’t you? If that is the case, then you know I cannot very well return home or else I will never hear the end of it.”
“If I were to tell Mother, you are not the only one who would suffer, I assure you.”
Louisa nodded. “Yes, you may be right about that.” She poured herself some tea, still looking cautiously at Charlotte. She was known to have a hidden temper that, when released, tore through anything and anyone in her path. “How was last night’s ball?” she asked.
“It went quite well, all things considering,” Kenneth responded. If he was on edge because of his wife’s calmness, he didn’t show it. “Selina seemed to enjoy herself immensely, and so did the other guests.”
“Did neither Mother nor Father realize that I was gone?”
“Of course they did,” Charlotte answered. “But I told them you had suddenly felt ill and so you were resting in one of the bedchambers. They did not question it.”
“Marvelous. I think I have escaped the jaws of our dear mother once again.”
Charlotte lifted her brown eyes to Louisa. “Will you not tell us what happened?”
The question threw Louisa for a moment. Charlotte’s eyes were intent, and she wondered briefly if Charlotte was aware of the laudanum she’d binged on. But, taking a chance, she shrugged. “It is quite clear, is it not? I must have had a few more glasses than I could handle.”
“But you’ve never done anything like that before.” And just like that, her worrying sister was back. “Are you certain nothing happened?”
Louisa took a deep breath. “Lord Myrtlebury approached me asking for a dance. I suppose it upset me so much that I must have indulged far more than I usually do.”
“Lord Myrtlebury?” Kenneth echoed. “Is he not the last suitor you chased away?”
“The very same one. And he is not very smart, I’m afraid. He hadn’t noticed that I am not interested in him, but I do not think that will be a problem any longer.”
Charlotte’s eyes went wide behind her spectacles. She leaned closer to Louisa. “What did you do?”
Louisa smiled. She could sense her sister’s tension, saw her brother-in-law lift his brow in inquiry. She would have been amused at the sight had the lingering thought of Jerome not been nagging at her ever since Charlotte left the bedchamber.
“Nothing you need to be concerned about, dear sister,” she said with a slow, enigmatic shake of her head. “Now, where is my lovely nephew?”
Chapter Six
Jerome sat in the hackney carriage for a few minutes, not knowing where to go. One part of him told him that he should go to the Duchess of Rutherford’s manor, even though he was certain the duke would not appreciate his presence. Another part of him told him that he should try his luck with the Warwick Manor instead. But all thoughts led to only one person: Miss Louisa King.
The coachman was fast growing impatient, so Jerome had to decide. It was already mid-morning, which perhaps meant that she’d already left the Rutherford Manor. If that was the case, then it would be best for him to seek her out at her own home. Deciding to go with that line of thinking, he ordered the coachman to take him to Warwick Manor, ignoring the jittery feeling he got from the act.
He had no reason to be nervous, he told himself. She was not a stranger to him. And, after all that had happened last night, she was the one who should be anxious, not him. He hadn’t done anything but be a complete gentleman.
Jerome repeated that thought in his head, but it did very little. Calling upon a lady, even if he only wanted to inquire about her health, had never come easy to him. When he’d courted Charlotte, Jerome remembered constantly saying things he shouldn’t have, becoming so socially awkward that his words had come out much too crude. This time around, he planned to take things a bit slower, to think through what he was about to say before he said it. Now that he had a title on the line, he couldn’t afford to let such things get in the way.
His thoughts came to a jarring halt when the carriage pulled up to Warwick Manor. It was still as lovely as when he’d last seen it, the beautiful white brick walls adorned with a trellis crawling down from the roof. He crossed over the long driveway, steeling his nerves as he went.
This is not going to be easy.
But he approached the door nonetheless. He was greeted by the butler, who looked neither surprised nor expectant at him standing at the doorstep.
“I am here to see Miss Louisa,” Jerome stated.
The butler bowed his head. “If you would,” he said, sweeping his arm to the side to admit Jerome into the foyer. Jerome couldn’t tell if the butler recognized him, but he didn’t get the chance to say anything when he walked off, no doubt to inform Louisa of his presence.
Jerome crossed his arms, looking around the foyer. He was hit with memories of the past, ones that were neither bitter nor sweet. He had no ill-will toward Charlotte for choosing another gentleman. It was the way of the gentry, after all, and it would only make sense for her to marry someone of such high status. And, from what Jerome had deduced from last night, they seemed to be quite in love. Jerome knew love matches were a rare sight amongst nobles.
He wouldn’t even consider the thought for himself. Falling in love was not a dream of his. It was not something he longed for. Of course, he’d imagined one day settling down with a decent woman who could bear his children, but now there were greater things at stake. He wouldn’t allow such frivolities to get in the way of having the title, of making sure that the Leinster dukedom did not become extinct. To carry on his father’s legacy, make him proud, and truly step into the place as the duke’s son, was all Jerome cared about. So he didn’t care about anything other than finding a proper noble woman who could stand by his side.
“Mr. Cooper.”
Jerome looked up at the sound of his name. Louisa walked toward him, the butler shadowing her. She looked quite fresh, even lovelier in the light of day than she did last night. She didn’t stagger, her words didn’t sound slurred, and, as she came to stand before him, she didn’t seem to be in any pain. The only thing he noticed was the tinge of wariness in her blue eyes.
Jerome opened his lips to greet her, but she didn’t give him the chance. Louisa turned on her heels, her hands remaining clasped before her. “We may speak in the drawing room.”
And she didn’t want to hear his response either. Jerome watched as she walked off, leaving both him and the butler behind. After a moment, he followed behind her.
Her stride was long, her steps purposeful. Though he kept up easily with her, Jerome was impressed by how easily she commanded all that was around her. She had not looked over her shoulder to see if he was following, and yet he knew she was aware. He supposed she was used to men falling in line around her. With the way that plum-colored day gown clung to her, it would be a feat not to.
A maid was already standing by the doors of the drawing room when they arrived, and she curtsied deeply as they entered. She came in behind them, taking a seat on the small chaise lounge by the window while Louisa sat in the cream-colored sofa in the center of the room. She finally looked up at Jerome, gesturing with her hand for him to sit across from her.
“What has brought you to see me, Mr. Cooper?” she asked, folding her hands in her lap. Tea had already been laid out on the table before them, but she didn’t even look at it.
Jerome glanced at the maid. Does she want me mentioning what happened in front of the help? “I only wished to see how you fared. We did not get much of a chance to speak at last night’s ball.”
“I am quite well,” she stated simply, her tone direct. “If that is all you needed to know, then you could have sent me a letter. I would have gotten around to it eventually.”
“And how fares Her Grace? I reckon she might have been quite worried last night as well.”
Louisa tilted her head to the side. She held her composure well enough, but Jerome didn’t miss the way she swallowed. “Charlotte is quite fine. She has nothing to worry about, I assure you. And neither do you. Now, if there is nothing else…”
“There is.” She wasn’t the only one who knew how to be direct. He looked over at the maid, who quickly averted her eyes.
Louisa’s lips straightened. Her shoulders lifted and fell in a deep, silent sigh before she too looked over at the maid. “Helena, please wait outside.”
“My Lady?” Helena gasped.
“It will not be for long. Mr. Cooper is an old acquaintance of mine and there are things I wish to speak with him about. Please, leave.”
Helena’s eyes went wide, but she rose nonetheless, curtsying deeply. “As you wish, my Lady.”
Silence ensued as the maid took her leave. Jerome didn’t take his eyes off Louisa for a second and neither did she. He waited a few beats, trying to sort through the best way to broach the topic. When he couldn’t find one, he distracted himself by pouring himself a cup of tea.
“If there is something you would like to say, Mr. Cooper, why have you not yet said it?”
“I am trying to determine the right words,” he said honestly. He met her eyes, not at all surprised that the wariness had only deepened. “It is quite a sensitive topic, you see.”
“Perhaps begin with why you are truly here.”
Jerome sipped the tea, wincing when he scalded his tongue. Every move he made felt odd when he was being watched so closely by the woman across from him. “Do you remember anything from last night?” he asked her. “When I saw you, you were quite out of it, so I would understand if you didn’t.”
This time, it was Louisa who paused to pour herself a cup of tea. But she didn’t drink it. Her slender fingers merely held on to it while she lifted her gaze back to Jerome. “You have my thanks, Mr. Cooper. I do recall a few details of the previous night. You aided me when I had indulged in far too much wine and helped me in preventing a scandal. For that, my gratitude is yours.”
Jerome lifted a brow. “Wine?”
“Yes, it would appear I had too much to drink,” she said, sipping her tea. “At most, I tend to stay away from it, usually having only one or two glasses. But I must not have been thinking clearly enough.”
“It had appeared to me that something else had been the cause of your odd state.” Jerome spoke slowly, choosing his words as carefully as he could. “I happened to catch sight of a vial of laudanum in your hand. Is that not what had caused you to become that way?”
She continued to sip her tea, not looking up at him. “Quite the accusation, Mr. Cooper.”
“Perhaps you truly had indulged in too much wine,” he said softly. “But the vial had been nearly empty. The implication was clear.”
Jerome watched, a little surprised, as she finished the rest of her tea in two swift gulps. How that hadn’t burned her, he hadn’t a clue. She rested the cup on the table and directed her fiery blue eyes to him, her finger clutching her dress. “I do not know what you might have seen, Mr. Cooper, but you are mistaken. Are you trying to insinuate that I have addiction?”
“I said no such thing—”
“You did not need to say the words in order to imply them,” Louisa hissed. Her cheeks were growing flushed now, much like how they’d been last night. “To think I had nearly believed that you’d come here in order to see about my wellbeing but—”
“I did come to see you about your wellbeing. I knew that, after the state you had been in, you might be feeling very ill now. But it appears all is well.”
“Yes, all is quite well, thank you.” She rose, looking down her nose at him. Jerome couldn’t count how many times someone of noble status had done that very thing. But for some reason, it didn’t bother him as much coming from Louisa. It felt more like a defense mechanism than anything else.
He decided to come to a stand as well. Now she was forced to look up at him. “It may be a bit forward of me to ask, my Lady,” he said gently. “But it seemed to me something might have been bothering you last night. If that was the reason—”
“Enough of this!” Louisa swiveled on her heels, stalking toward the door.
“Is it because of the pressure that is on you to be married?”
She paused in her tracks. Her limbs were trembling, her hands curling into fists. Slowly, she turned back to look at him, her blue eyes growing as dark as the ocean. Jerome could see the fury lurking beneath the surface, bubbling. Threatening to escape at any moment.
A weaker man might have run at the sight of it. But Jerome faced her head on, bracing himself for the onslaught that was coming. But she didn’t say anything right away. She only glared at him.
“I have heard the rumors, my Lady,” Jerome went on. “Just last night, they ran like wildfire throughout the ballroom. They spoke of a cold lady who turns away any man who dares to approach her one way or another. A beautiful lady who seems to be hellbent on dying a spinster.”
“So?” she snapped. “What of it? They can gossip about me all they want! I am used to it, so I do not care what they say.”
“It would seem so,” he agreed with a nod, watching as her glare grew stronger. “But that doesn’t mean you like the fact that you will constantly be approached by men hoping to court you. Nor will it stop Lady Warwick from releasing the pressure she has on you to be married as soon as you can.”
It was a shot in the dark. But when Louisa stiffened, Jerome knew he had hit his mark. “Do not act as if you know me, Mr. Cooper. Just because you once courted my sister does not mean you have the right to speak to me like this.”
“I am only concerned for you, my Lady.” That much was the truth. “Last night, I couldn’t help but worry that your distress regarding the expectations being placed on you had forced you to do something foolish.”
“I do not have to explain myself to you.”
“That is right. You do not. But I do not think running from the issue will help. Nor will your…overindulgence. Your family will not give up on you, Miss Louisa. More and more eligible gentlemen will appear. Surely, you must be growing weary.”
“Even if I am, it is none of your concern!” The volume of her voice was fast growing higher. She seemed to notice it herself, but her explosive anger was too much to contain. Jerome watched as she battled with herself, as she tried to bring herself together. “If it is an issue, Mr. Cooper, it is my issue. And what of you? Why were you stalking the hallways like a mad man when you should have been in the ballroom? Did you see me leave? Did you follow me out there because you thought it was your chance to get me alone?”
“Of course not,” he said calmly.
“How can I believe you?” She lifted her chin. Jerome watched as she latched on to the accusations. “It was quite convenient for you to suddenly be there in my time of need. As if you knew when to act. As if you had been watching me all along and decided to swoop in when I would be too weak to turn you away.”
Jerome lifted his gaze to the ceiling in thought. “You paint quite a picture, my Lady. And a possible one, too. But I assure you, that is not the case.”
“Your word does not mean much to me,” she seethed, jabbing an accusatory finger at him.
“Whether it does or not, I am sure you see the reasoning behind my words. The truth regarding your situation.”
Her silence spoke volumes. Jerome decided to take that as his chance. “I may be able to help you.”
Louisa frowned at that. But it only took a few seconds for it to dawn on her. Her jaw fell, her eyes growing wide as she laughed in shocked disbelief. “You cannot mean…”