“Would you rather she be crying?”
“Heavens no.”
“Then do not complain, my lord. Let her have her moment.”
“I worry for the men out there who have yet to pick a woman to court.”
"Well, I do not. They know what they are here for and what to expect. We can just sit here and enjoy what will unfold, knowing that we do not have to take part."
She had a point there. As the night continued on, Anthony found himself genuinely enjoying Elizabeth's company. She was witty and quick-minded, making him laugh for much of their time together.
When last did I enjoy such an event? Usually, I would be running after Diana, trying to keep her happy. I never did see a problem with it until now, sitting here beside Elizabeth. This woman is opening my eyes to what can be, how things are supposed to be.
"My lord, you appear to be overthinking."
“Perhaps I am. What do you think your sister thinks of us?”
“It is too early to tell, but she has given us a few interested looks. You are quite believable, even I could be fooled if I was not part of the plan.”
That surprised him. He had not even been trying to act like an interested suitor. He had just been enjoying her company, sitting beside her as she spoke to him like an old friend.
Soon after, a couple, whom Elizabeth introduced as her aunt and uncle, declared that it was time to retire for the night.
Just as well, thought Anthony. I need time to gather my wits about me.
He escorted the sisters to their carriage, taking care to spend time talking to Elizabeth and focusing his attention on her. He needed as many people to see them as possible.
"Miss Ramsbury, I bid you a good night. I hope to call on you soon."
“I should like that, Lord Cavendish.”
She winked at him, startling him. This woman was full of surprises, He was certainly not expecting that. He quickly recovered, giving her a devilish smile that made her own falter. Two can play at that game. As she stood on the steps of the carriage, he took her hand and kissed it, taking his time.
By tomorrow morning, they would be the talk of London.
Chapter 7
The movement of the carriage rocked their aunt and uncle to sleep quite quickly, leaving the sisters to quietly discuss the night's events together. Cecilia kept on dropping hints about Anthony, wanting to know more about him, but Elizabeth evaded her questions at every turn. She needed to process the night myself before attempting to explain anything to her sister.
“Megan eventually attracted the admiration of quite a few suitors. I believe that it was all thanks to you, Elizabeth.”
“Hardly. She just needed a gentle push in the right direction.”
A snort of laughter issued forth from her sister's nose, a hand quickly covering her mouth as she looked at the two sleeping figures.
"It is most unladylike to snort, Cecilia."
Her sister poked her tongue. “Do not attempt to scold me for something that you are guilty of doing.”
“My snorts do not have the ability to wake up the living dead. It is a wonder that Aunt Deborah and Uncle Noah did not wake. One would think you an African elephant blowing its trunk.”
“At least I do not sound like a pig snorting through a trough of slops.”
“No, that young man that insisted on following you about sounded like that. Really, what terrible laughing.”
Cecilia looked as though she was about to return the retort, but she burst into a fit of giggles. They were ridiculously contagious as Elizabeth found herself giggling along, trying not to make a noise for the sake of the sleeping couple. She managed to compose herself enough to scold her sister.
"Do stop laughing, Ceci. What if our aunt and uncle should wake up?"
“I am trying,” she breathed. “But it is you who brought up that horrid man. I could not shake him off, despite telling him that I am soon to be betrothed to another.”
“I suppose that he believed you to be fair game as you were at the ball, and it is your first season. You can hardly blame the poor man.”
Cecilia rolled her eyes. “Do not defend the man to me. As a matter of fact, we should cease to talk about him. I swear on all that is good and righteous in the world, if I attend another ball and have him hound me once more, I shall stomp on his large feet and walk away.”
Elizabeth could imagine her sister doing just that. She was highly impulsive and given to theatrics without much filter. Of course, she could also see the potential consequences of such a public display of anger.
“You would have our names blackened by your antics? He did say that his father's brother's friend has an uncle who works for the brother of the man who apparently has the ear of the prince regent.”
Cecilia's jaw dropped. “You recalled all of that? I could hardly keep the relations straight, let alone keep track of what he was saying. What a pompous fool.”
Elizabeth tapped her head, smiling. “I do have a long memory, remember that. Ceci, would you have your childish display reported to those higher in power? You must remember that our father is not a titled man, and while he is fifth in line to become a baronet, that will hardly matter to the aristocracy. The gentleman probably thought he was doing you a favour by speaking to you.”
Her sister pulled her head back, her hand going to her chest. What a dramatic sister she was. “A favour? Suffering his jabbering is a favour to me?”
Elizabeth recalled that the man had talked rather quickly, as though he were trying to get as many of his points across as possible. Poor Cecilia, who was one to grow bored quickly, had listened to him for at least half an hour with little interruption. If it had not been for Anthony, the man would have never left her alone.
“Lady Luck smiled down upon you as Lord Cavendish was able to politely remove him from our little group. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Megan's suitors.”
The men had stuck around Megan for quite some time, paying her compliments and engaging her in small conversation. Elizabeth had eventually become suspicious of their motives when some of the men had started to send curious looks her way, their gazes heavy with interest. Anthony had noticed as well, going as far as to bring his chair closer to hers, and leaning in to speak with her. This had displayed his thoughtfulness, which she had appreciated at that moment. The last thing that she had wanted was a group of men all clamouring to speak with her. She had enough on her mind as it was.
“Lord Cavendish certainly came to the rescue. It was our good luck that he decided to sit with us when there were so many women all wishing to speak with him. You monopolised a great deal of his time, sister dear. I wonder how you managed to do that when you hardly speak with the male gender in general?”
Elizabeth did not answer, knowing full well that anything she said would be used against her in the future. Her sister was a master manipulator of words and could twist the most innocent of meanings into something dramatically incorrect. Instead, Elizabeth inspected her glove, holding it up in the air, and removing imaginary fluff.
“Well, that is one way of avoiding a conversation. However, you cannot avoid it forever, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth smiled at her sister, fluttering her eyelashes before making a point to look out of her window. She waited for a few heartbeats to see if her sister would be persistent in her plan to find out the story behind her and Anthony's budding romance. Or false romance for that matter. When her sister did not speak, she sneaked a glance at her. She, too, was looking out of her carriage window, watching shadows of buildings, as they travelled back to the townhouse. Usually it would be trees that they would watch as they travelled home from a dinner, and perhaps the odd owl here and there. What a night this had been. Elizabeth would have never thought that it would take such a course. She was not yet entirely sure what to make of it. Perhaps she had dreamt it all? She pinched herself, wincing at the pain.
“No, not asleep.”
“Hmmm?” Cecilia questioned
. “Did you say something?”
“Oh, no, no. I was merely speaking to myself.”
Cecilia raised her eyebrows before turning to the window once more. “And that is why you do not fit into society,” she muttered.
Elizabeth would have laughed if her mind was not so occupied with thoughts of the baron. He was willing to go to extreme lengths to have that woman return to him, but at what cost? She would have never thought to create such an elaborate plan of secrecy and illusion just to win back a lost love. A false courtship? She had never heard of such a thing before, but here she found herself neck-deep in such a peculiar plot.
Elizabeth could not understand why Diana had rejected the baron. Anthony had treated her with nothing but respect and kindness. Surely that was what most women wanted? She could not deny that he was handsome. Perhaps a tad too much. He was easily the most handsome man at the ball, which was why she’d received so many jealous stares from the other women present. Where she found most men rather dull, Anthony was anything but. In fact, he had surprised her with his knowledge of numerous topics and his open-mindedness concerning most subjects. He was intelligent, wonderfully so. She never did imagine that she would come across a gentleman of his class with such intelligence and Elizabeth had met plenty of young men who had studied further than the schoolroom, but it was their narrow mindedness that dulled their intelligence. Anthony was a breath of fresh air compared to them.
“Much needed air,” she muttered.
Did he enjoy music? They did not discuss music much, except for her passion to become a composer. He seemed encouraging of her passion. Not once did he judge her or ridicule her dreams. It had been so easy to speak to him, both sharing their intentions for their lives. Anthony's entire life seemed to be centred upon Diana, which Elizabeth found unhealthy. No one could be happy when they obsessed over someone in that manner. The woman rejected him and publicly humiliated him, for goodness sake. How much self-esteem could he have to continue to pursue her? Apparently enough to fill the ocean, because he was adamant that he was going to marry her some day.
It was one thing to be rejected in private, but to have the love of your life retell your proposal in harrowing detail and proceed to laugh about it as though it were a joke was simply too much to handle. It showed that she did not respect him. Why could he not see that? If she would not respect him now, what could he expect for their marriage? A one-sided love would not sustain a long-term marriage, it simply could not. Part of Elizabeth was angry for Anthony, angry at Diana for treating such a good man horrendously. He had even gone so far as to relate to her the reason Diana had rejected him.
“He is far from being serious and boring. The thought.”
"Elizabeth!” her sister scolded. “If you insist on muttering to yourself, then do so quietly. There is nothing worse than to hear someone constantly muttering words that do not make any sense."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “Do I complain about your incessant night chatter?”
“Night chatter?”
“Yes. You mumble in your sleep, and yet I do not wake you up and begin scolding you.”
Cecilia looked affronted. “I do no such thing.”
"If you will not believe me, then I suggest that you remember my words for when you are married. Percy will be sure to tell you the very same thing."
Cecilia narrowed her eyes. “What a horrid thing to say.”
“And yet I am not the one who scolded the other for talking below their breath. None of us is perfect, Ceci. It is best that you remember that. However, I hardly believe that my quiet murmurs should make much difference to your life. You are splitting hairs all because I shall not discuss anything of the baron and I with you.”
Cecilia folded her arms, pouting. “Very well. I shall keep to this side of the carriage and mind my words.”
Cecilia proceeded to sniff and look away, her hand going to her chin. Elizabeth knew that it was merely one of Cecilia's tactics to attempt to make her feel bad. But she was far too preoccupied to be concerned about her sister's childish ways. She shifted in her seat, turning her body away from Cecilia to look outside. Looking inside the carriage was not bringing her any clarity but gazing out into the darkness was doing her wonders. Where had she been? Oh, yes, the baron supposedly being boring. She had heard about Diana's wild ways, her overexaggerated joie de vivre. Elizabeth loved life as well, but perhaps she loved it in a different way to the flighty woman.
I should not be so judgemental for I do not personally know her.
Elizabeth prided herself on being a good judge of character, but as she had not met Diana personally, there still remained a sliver of doubt that people could be wrong about her. The problem was, there were simply too many slights against her not to entertain the idea that she was not the sort of woman that Elizabeth could get along with or would wish to get along with. Or perhaps she was just jealous that such a woman could treat a wonderful man so horribly and yet still hold his affection.
“If that is the case, then I am a terrible person.”
"You can be a terrible person at times," her sister put in.
Had she just spoken out loud again? She must have, how else could Cecilia have heard her? And what in heaven's name was she talking about? Elizabeth turned in her seat, her face a mask of confusion. Cecilia was still facing the other way, but Elizabeth could tell that she was listening.
“When have I ever acted terribly towards you?”
Cecilia shrugged, continuing to stare into the darkness. Elizabeth sighed. Her own sister could be a stranger at times. There would be times that they would argue – all siblings did at one time or another – but never had she behaved in a such a way as to warrant her sister's accusation.
“Ceci, when have I ever acted terribly towards you?” she repeated.
“When you keep things from me or when you refuse to see things my way.”
Elizabeth sat there, stunned. She frowned, looking at her sister as she shook her head. “Must I disclose everything about my life? Can a person not keep some things to themselves? Do I not have the right to have my own opinions and live my life as I see fit?”
Cecilia turned to her and rolled her eyes. “You always attempt to explain everything away with your open-ended questions. Do not think that I have not noted your style of debate.”
Elizabeth looked heavenward and closed her eyes. It seemed as though her sister consistently wanted to pick fights with her for no good reason.
“What is it that you wish for me to speak about? What do you wish for me to reveal to you, oh dear sister of my mother's womb?”
Cecilia brought her hand up and started counting. “Well, the first thing is that you refuse to tell me what is going on between you and the baron. Secondly, well, that does not matter anymore.”
So this is what it was all about, Cecilia wanted to know about her night with the baron. Of course, Elizabeth knew that already, but she did not realise just how desperate Cecilia was to hear of her brief dalliance with the dashing baron. Although from now on it would be anything but brief.
“Very well, what is it that you wish for me to tell you about the baron and I?”
Excitement lit up Cecilia's eyes. "How did you meet? I had not yet seen the baron, and yet you appeared with him out of nowhere. Can you imagine? My own sister appears with Lord Cavendish, and I know absolutely nothing about it."
Elizabeth could see that Cecilia would not relent on the matter. She would have to tell her something, but how much to say she was not yet certain about.
“I met Lord Cavendish by chance on the balcony. I had gone there to get some fresh air, and he was of the same mind.”
“Did you immediately recognise him?”
Elizabeth was embarrassed as she thought about the manner in which she discovered his identity.
"No, not at first. It was dark, and I did not see him, and as I did not know what his voice sounded like, there was nothing to indicate just who he was."
“But how
did you come to recognise him?”
“He revealed himself to me.”
“Oh, my goodness. How did this take place? You need to tell me everything, Elizabeth. You must!”
“So that you may gossip about it?”
Cecilia's mouth dropped open before she looked away. Oh, there it was again. Her affronted expression. Why must she pretend that I do not know about her favourite pastime? Elizabeth counted backwards from ten, knowing full well that Cecilia could not resist having her say.
"How can you possibly say so? Of course, I shall not gossip about my own sister."
A Courtship to Remember: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 11