by Anna Macy
“Miss Wains, I am sorry to interrupt your day.” Georgiana swallowed, dropping into a curtsy. Robert’s face darkened in recognition. Almost imperceptibly, he moved step-in in front of his sibling. “And begging your pardon my Lady, but my brother is in that shop.”
Marian went white, her jaw slack.
“I didn’t want him to cause you any more pain than he already has.” Georgiana finished, shifting her feet. Marian looked beyond her at the shop, as if worried Teddy was preparing to jump out at any moment. Georgiana didn’t blame her.
Turning to look up at Robert, Marian gave a tight smile. “I’ll just dash into this one then.” Blue eyes, nearly identical to Roberts, keenly studied Georgiana.
“It’s Georgiana Conning, isn’t it?” Marian’s voice was soft, lyric. Georgiana nodded dumbly. Marian stepped towards her; one delicately gloved hand reached out to press against Georgiana’s forearm. “Thank you, Miss Conning.”
Marian moved past her, selecting a different shop from the small row of businesses. The twinkling of the door’s bell announcing her departure. Suddenly Georgiana found herself facing an inquisitive Robert.
Dropping a curtsy again, Georgiana realized how strange she must look, just staring up at him on the sidewalk. Her father would be furious if he knew she was interacting with Robert again. Georgiana couldn’t’ count on Teddy to keep his mouth shut either. Memories of her father’s anger, the yelling flooded her mind. Picking up her skirts and stepping back, she looked for a shop to flee into. Any shop would do at this point.
Immediately his face changed, the handsome lines filled with nervousness.
“Wait, Miss Conning. Please.” It was Robert this time who stepped into her path, the bulk strength of his frame filling her vision. He still regarded her with the oddest of looks.
“Begging your pardon, sir, but I should get back to my brother.” Georgiana’s voice was meek, her hands fidgeting as his large man observed her.
“Miss Conning, would you like to join me for a turn about the square?” Robert’s deep voice surprised her. She froze in place. Not even her heartbeat dare continue. “My sister will be there in a few minutes, and I’d appreciate the company.”
Georgiana’s mouth was as dry as a bone. She managed a quick nod. To her boundless surprise, his face broke out in a genuinely bright smile. He offered her an elbow, which she took silently.
“Thank you,” she practically whispered.
“The pleasure is mine,” Robert said grandly, beginning their stroll. His booted feet made large imprints against some lingering snow. Georgiana watched as their feet made a path together. Her winter boot prints were overshadowed by his, drawing a smile on her face.
After their uncomfortable meeting at the Grand Theater, Georgiana had craved the opportunity to apologize, for her brother, for her family’s treatment of him the other night. But now, she found herself tongue-tied and nervous. All thoughts and preparation flew out of her mind as she smiled dumbly into the winter air.
She may be a coward, but strolling along with him, was like being too close to lightning. The energy bubbling through her was enough to make her forget everything else.
“Do you come here often?” Robert’s voice politely filled the space between them. Georgiana mentally shook herself, getting a grip on her runaway thoughts.
“Not usually. My brother and I just badly needed to get out of the house. I asked him to join me on a trip to the shops.” Georgiana glanced up at him. “And now I can't seem to get him to return home.”
Robert huffed a laugh. “Interesting man, your brother.”
“Please, I’d rather not talk about him. If it’s not too much trouble.” Georgiana realized too late how sharp her voice sounded.
Robert smiled at her, the relief in his voice palatable. “Of course, I’m sorry. Excuse my rudeness. What would you like to talk about?”
Georgiana gaped at him for a moment, her brain struggling to find purchase. She quickly latched onto the last time she had seen him. “What were you hiding from the other night?”
“I believe I told you, my mother was in full matchmaker mode,” he answered, the heat of his breath creating white puffs in the winter air.
Georgiana shook her head, disbelieving. “You’re Robert Wains, future Viscount of Devonshire. Your mother had been matchmaking for you since you were in the cradle. You must be used to the setups by now. What was it that got to you the other night?”
Robert considered her, his blue eyes shining and honest. Shrugging the shoulder between them Robert began, “My bethrothal was broken a few months ago. Since then, I’ve avoided our home here in London. Both due to unusual situation, and to avoid the matchmaking schemes that my mother has been investing herself into.”
“Someone broke off an engagement to you?” Georgiana had to clench her jaw to keep herself from shouting it. She gave him a cursory look. Rich, powerful, handsome, and compassionate. What could that woman have been thinking?
Robert laughed softly. “It is not that outrageous once you get to know me. And besides, I cannot believe that you haven’t heard about this already. It caused a bit of a commotion this fall.”
Georgiana gave him a wan smile, her mind still racing with the audacity that a woman, any woman, would break off a bethrothal to this man. “I don’t have many friends left amongst the ton. The Conning name is not what it used to be.”
Robert gave her a curious look; it seemed like he wanted to say more, but instead trudged onwards down the corner.
“You’re the first person I’ve run into since we’ve been back in town who hadn’t heard. I can’t decide whether it is a relief or not.” Robert admitted. Georgiana raised her eyebrows.
“We don't have to talk about it if you’d rather not. I was just surprised,” Georgiana said.
“As you can imagine, I was also,” Robert grinned at her, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go ahead and get it over with then. We can’t let you be the last person in London not to know my tragic love story's intimate details. And it’s certainly a fantastic tale, especially if you're not the one involved.”
Using his other hand, Robert paused to help her clamor over a remnant of the past week's snowstorm. “My former fiancée, a friend of my sister Marian, visited us at a friend’s country home late this past summer. There she fell madly in love with another man. A friend close enough I call him brother. William Huntington, the Marquess of Mansfield Park.”
Georgiana bit back a gasp. Robert held up a hand, his face serene and pleasant as he retold the story of his betrothal ending.
“Oh, don’t worry. They are overwhelmingly happy and in love. I cannot disparage their happiness, save for my own loneliness. Especially when we were never a love match, to begin with.”
“You gave them your blessing?” Georgiana asked in quiet awe. Robert nodded. “That’s very considerate of you. If you truly meant it.”
Robert barked out a laugh. “I wasn’t sure I did for a few weeks. Not that I was mad, but it felt like something was stolen away from me. I’m not sure what precisely, but I didn’t enjoy that feeling.”
He tucked her hand back into his elbow, continuing their jaunt. Georgiana nodded sympathetically. “It feels like you’ve missed out on a chance that everyone else receives. And then they don't even realize how lucky they are.” She cringed at the underlying sadness in her words.
That was how she felt every day, but she had never told another soul, let alone this man she barely knew. She dared to look up at her companion. Sure she had overstepped their limited acquaintance with her unflattering confession.
Robert didn’t seem to notice; his steps continued, measured, and sure against the frost-covered streets. But his face was intent upon hers, the expression he wore somewhere between curiosity and suspicion.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” Georgiana couldn’t bring herself to break their eye contact. His eyes were stunning, the blue hue earnest.
“It’s not that.” Robert turned
away, breaking their eyes. “No one else has said things so clearly before.”
Georgiana blushed, subtly tightening the grip on this arm. They were quickly approaching the shop that Marian had ducked into. The time had passed quickly, and Georgiana needed to find her brother. There wasn’t much of an explanation for Teddy finding her on Robert Wains’ arm. He would go straight to their father, and God knows what he would say.
“I should get back.” Georgiana released him, stepping back. Suddenly dozens of eyes were on her. A nervous queasiness quickly spread through her body under the gaze of other shoppers and passersby.
“We wouldn’t want your brother to be missing you,” Robert said, his lips curling into a polite smile.
“He won’t - I mean, of course. Thank you for the company.” Georgiana offered him a curtsy, hastily looking towards the front shop windows. Thankfully, Teddy couldn’t see her from here.
“It is me who owes you a thank you. I appreciate the conversation.” Robert had stepped forward and, with such deliberate care, reached down and brought her hand to his lips. He was brushing his warm mouth over her knuckles before offering a quick smile.
Georgiana hastily pulled her hand away. Her face must’ve registered some shock because she could see it reflected in Robert’s face.
Perhaps it was because she had not gotten her debut into society and spent more of her days locked up in the house with her depressing family, but Robert’s kiss had been one of the first times in many weeks that Georgiana felt something sincere. And in this case, tingling pleasure ran the full length of her body as he released her.
“Good day, Miss Conning,” he said, smiling.
“Mr. Wains,” she said, rushing through another brief curtsy.
Before she could offend him further, Georgiana swiveled on her heel and hurried into the shadow of the shops. The warmth of the shop's interior did nothing to calm the heat that had flown to her face when Robert had kissed her fingers.
She found her way across the crowded room to Teddy’s table, halfway expecting him to question her return or even the deep blush across her face. But instead, he barely noticed her renewed presence; he was so enamored in his wife. For a moment, Georgiana's blood heated in anger, in disappointment that her brother, like everyone else in her family, barely knew she existed.
“Ready to go?” Her voice was more hurried than she meant it to be, but at least they looked at her. Teddy gave her a practiced smile, his mouselike face turning to help his bride out of her chair. As they walked out of the shop, Georgiana fell in step.
She could be mad at her brother for forgetting she existed, but it was the unfair nature of love that struck her the hardest. Thinking again of his chaste kiss on her knuckles, she raised the hand in question to her own face, pressing her bare fingers against the skin. Her fingertips were still cold, the feel of them against her cheeks burned.
Pitiful schoolgirl love had no place in her life, no matter how handsome Robert had grown up to be. And no matter what her father’s mistakes had done to her family. She needed to focus on what was important, keeping the Conning family safely afloat.
FOUR
Robert shifted from one foot to the other; his nervous energy was practically driving him mad as he waited for Marian to come back out of the shop. His eyes were glued to the tea shop that he knew Teddy Conning was currently inside. With Georgiana.
Robert leaned against the stone façade, pondering the strange interaction he’d just had with Georgiana Conning. He’d again enjoyed their conversation even more so when he had managed to make her dimple appear several times. He had had to focus intensely on the discussion at hand; otherwise, he would’ve risked being entirely distracted by the sweetness of her smile.
But the look on her face when Robert had kissed her hand goodbye had been one of pure shock. Robert couldn’t remember the last time a woman reacted like that to him, and it shook him far more than he wished.
Perhaps he had said something else during their short walk. He couldn’t even remember why he had asked her to accompany him. Well, other than the painfully obvious fact that she was, in a word, stunning. In the bright light, her hair had flashed like burnished bronze, a thousand colors in one, and those eyes had stared up at him with all the hope and richness that he’d ever seen.
Of course, he had wanted to spend more time with her. Any man would be struck dumb if a woman like her turned her gaze to him. And in this case, she had come to Marian and him to help. She hadn’t wanted his sister hurt, which confused him as much as the rest of their conversation had.
He had struggled since returning home from William and Juliet’s wedding. He was thrilled for his oldest friend and gave his blessing willingly and happily. He even went so far as to stand up beside William during his vows.
He had been relieved to hear that the newlyweds planned to spend most of the winter at Mansfield Park, William’s family home in the English countryside, rather than in the town where Robert would be.
But upon returning home, he had let himself fall into work again. Ignoring the questioning looks from his mother and his sisters. As he had his entire life, he buried himself in work in an effort to stomp out the ache of loneliness that filled his chest.
He just needed a bit more time to come to grips with his new path. Regardless of his mother’s belief that finding another bride would ease his problems, he was not ready to be meeting anybody new right now. Least of all these beautiful title-chasers that Lady Catherine seemed to select every time. Perhaps that’s why he had enjoyed his discussion with Georgiana Conning so immensely. There had been no pretense, no fluttering eyelashes as they spoke.
Sighing, he turned once more to the shop Marian had vanished into. To the side, he saw a flash of skirts and turned to see Georgiana walking into the street. Head down; she seemed to stare at the stone beneath her toes as she waited on her brother and his wife.
She had changed, Robert thought. He could barely remember her from their shared childhood days before the Connings and the Wains families separated. She had been a vivacious child but more keen to find a book and reading in the shade of trees than playing dress-up with the other girls.
Those joy filled memories were overshadowed by the knowledge of what happened a few short years after. Robert had been away at boarding school, and Marian only a child when Bert Conning, who had been is father’s second in charge, had left to start his own company. He salvaged some clients from the Wains’ account list, as well as a handful of shipwrights, and got into business for himself.
Conning Family Shipwrights, he had proudly called his new company. When the new Port of London docks were completed, both companies procured a large stake in the riverside network of dockyards. Wains Shipbuilding acquired one corner. Conning Family Shipwrights along the other.
There were so many reasons that he should avoid Georgiana and everything that had to do with the Connings. But there was something about her. He kicked at the ground, lips wrinkling as he remembered that sweet face, her eyes warm and kind. She didn’t seem like Teddy or Bert Conning and it intrigued him to no end. And yet couldn't imagine his mother’s face if he ever mentioned Georgiana.
“Sorry that took so long,” Marian’s soft voice grabbed his attention.
Robert pushed off of the stone exterior and smiled at his sibling and greatest confidant. Perhaps their relationship had been hurt during his obsessive work schedule of late, but he was hoping to rebuild it entirely. After everything they’d been through recently, Robert had been reminded of just how much his family needed each other.
He offered Marian his arm. “I hadn’t noticed.”
She gave him a quick, appraising look. “I saw that you took Georgiana Conning on a little promenade.” She left the question unsaid, but he felt it creeping up his arm like a snake. “I hadn’t seen her in many years. She’s grown up quite pretty.”
Robert shifted uneasily. “Whatever you may be thinking, don’t get worried. I have more than enough on my plate
without adding Miss Conning to the list. Or rather any Miss.”
Marian gave him a sad smile as they strolled along. “I simply meant that it was lucky for her that she is pretty. A good marriage will save her from going down with the proverbial Conning ship. As for you, things will get better. People will forget about Juliet and William, or more than likely, celebrate them. Father will return, and Mother will be so distracted with him that she’ll probably let matchmaking plans drop for a few weeks.”
Robert chuckled. “So at least I have that to look forward to.”
Marian squeezed his arm, “Quietest weeks of the whole year, I’d wager.”
Robert nodded. While Marian was teasing him, she was right. Things would get better soon. The business was doing very well, and his father would be proud once he returned. And yes, his mother would soon be wrapped up in other things more exciting than pursuing her future daughter-in-law.