“Of course. Father summoned me two days ago and I told him everything.”
Lady Rebecca looked at him in surprise. “Everything?”
He nodded.
“That must have been so terrible for you,” she replied. “He must have blamed you.”
Christopher smiled. “I thought he was going to do that, as well but I was surprised. He never blamed me.”
Rebecca was stunned. “He did not? So, what did he say?”
“Only that he could see how sorry I am and that there was no need to keep on blaming me. He said I took full responsibility for my actions and that makes me a man.”
Rebecca smiled. “Well, that is great then. I see why you are buried in his work. You want to impress him, do not you?”
He smiled. “That would not be a bad idea if I do, you know.”
“Well, get on with it,” she said, standing leave. Then she stopped and turned around. “I am happy to see you like this and not with Benjamin,” she said before opening the door and leaving.
Christopher wanted to say something but he changed his mind. He had planned to tell her about his doubts about Ophelia but then he realized there was no need.
* * *
Miss Ophelia Campbell
“You do not feel better already?” asked her mother as they walked together along the street.
Ophelia nodded. The walk was helping her to relax indeed.
“So, I was telling your friend, about that gentleman being an agreeable man,” her mother said to Emily.
Ophelia tried not to snort. She could not imagine her mother wanting to start the very discussion that put her on edge. She threw her a look. “You really do not want me to enjoy my walk, mother, do you?”
Her mother turned to Emily. “You see how she talks to me whenever I am trying to say something that would be beneficial to her life?”
Emily smiled. “So which of the men were you talking about?” she asked Mrs. Campbell while avoiding the scowl her friend sent her. Ophelia walked between them.
“Who else but the kind Lord Gibbs?” continued the mother. “Not that I have anything against Lord Crampton. I know he has been somewhat forward in his advances, but I still did not trust his intentions. It does not take long to submit a marriage proposal if you spend that much time together. And, why have you two not seen each other since New Year’s Eve?”
Ophelia inhaled deeply. “Mother, can we talk about something else and not about marriage, please?”
“Well, I do agree with you on Lord Gibbs,” Emily said quickly but Ophelia threw her a look. “What?”
Ophelia shook her head. This discussion would in no way help her. “Do you mind us crossing?” she asked, without waiting for a reply and crossed over with Emily. Just as they did, they heard a loud noise and when the two turned around, they saw Lord Gibbs holding her mother back from crossing.
Ophelia was thankful that Lord Gibbs had been there at the right moment to save her mother. But where did he come from? It seemed too convenient.
“Did you see that?” asked Emily behind her. “He just saved your mother from being run down by that carriage!”
Ophelia could see the carriage that drove past but her mind was not there. She waited for him to bring her mother over safely.
“Oh mine!” her mother gushed. “Lord Gibbs, how can I ever thank you? You just saved my life.”
The man smiled. “It was nothing, ma’am. The coach wasn’t looking,” he said and then bowed at the two ladies who curtsied.
“Might I ask what you are doing here, my Lord?” asked Ophelia, unable to stop herself.
“I was just passing along,” said Benjamin.
‘That is convenient. Too convenient. Are you following me?” she demanded.
“Ophelia!” shouted her mother. “That is really rude! This man has just saved my life and now you are suspecting him of following you up and down?”
Ophelia apologized. She could not understand why Benjamin would magically appear just when they were talking about him. It was rather strange.
“I apologize on behalf of my daughter,” her mother said to him. “She was just surprised that you came at the perfect time.”
Benjamin smiled and Ophelia could see he wasn’t as bad looking as she thought. He was actually a good looking blonde man. He did not have the perfect looks like Christopher and was not as tall but he was broader at the chest and more built.
He had the body of a seasoned warrior but his green eyes still bore some miseries which Ophelia was not interested in solving.
“Thank you for saving my mother’s life,” she said after a while. “God knows what would have happened if you have not been there.”
Benjamin only smiled without saying anything.
“You must come back home with us,” added her mother.
Ophelia was more surprised. “I am certain that Lord Gibbs has somethings to do. He would not be ….”
“I would be happy to come with you,” Benjamin replied with a dashing smile.
“Great!” replied her mother.
“I shall bring my carriage around, excuse me,” he said and crossed to the other side.
“Mother, why would you invite him?” Ophelia asked. “I do not entirely trust him.”
“Would you be quiet, child? What is wrong with you? Is it because he is Lord Crampton’s friend? If that is the case, you do not have to worry. I am certain Lord Crampton is not interested in marrying you. If he was, he would have made a proposal already and you are free to go with his friend.”
Ophelia gasped angrily. “It is not because of that at all. I just do not understand how he could just come from nowhere exactly at the time we were talking about him. Emily,” she said turning towards her friend. “Surely, you agree with me that this is a bit odd.”
Emily sighed. “It does seem a bit strange.”
The carriage stopped right beside them and Lord Benjamin stepped out to allow them in. First, her mother, Emily, herself and Benjamin finally followed.
Chapter 28
Miss Ophelia Campbell
They got home some minutes later, had tea together and then moved to the dining room to eat dinner. All the while, her mother spoke to him endlessly and he flowed with the conversation.
“So, you are the only child of your parents?” asked Mrs. Campbell asked as they finished eating.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “I currently stay with my grandfather while my parents travel. I do not see them as often as I like,” he explained.
Ophelia was surprised to hear this and she felt a little bit sorry for him. She understood what if felt like to not have a parent around often. It almost makes one feel that they have been neglected and forgotten. “What happened to them?” Ophelia chimed in. That was the first question she had asked him since they began eating.
“My father and mother are not around. They are always away on travel,” he explained. “I was mostly brought up by my governess and my grandfather who was very strict.”
“I am so sorry to hear that,” she said. “It must have been a very hard childhood.”
“It was,” replied Benjamin. “But I’ve learned to adjust to whatever life throws at me,” he said with a smile.
Ophelia was surprised to see herself smiling back. She understood what it was like to not have a parent present in her life. Emily had left for her house earlier and shortly after, her mother had excused herself. Now it was just the two of them.
Ophelia didn’t know what else they could talk about, but suddenly her mind drifted to Christopher. Should she ask him about Christopher?
“I understand you wrote to Christopher,” he said all of a sudden and she was more surprised. How did he know what was in her mind?
“I also know that you do not wish for your mother to know that your feelings for him still linger,” he continued.
She was speechless and casted her eyes down to her plate.
“I think you did the right thing by letting him know your stance
. You can both release yourself and you can move on.”
She inhaled. “How did he feel when he read the letter?” He shrugged. “He was relieved. He had actually been expecting that. He only needed you to put it into writing. Now, he’s living his life and you should live yours.”
She was supposed to be relieved to hear this, but she was not. Her mood was further dampened and all her expectations were completely watered.
“You look disappointed,” he said, studying her.
Quickly, she forced a smile. “I just, never knew he would so quickly forget about me.”
He smiled. “But what did you expect? He does not deserve you at all. You must know that. Even right now, he’s going back to his old ways.”
Ophelia sighed. “Well, then, I guess there is no reason for me to be emotional. I have done the right thing and I should be happy about it.”
Benjamin nodded. “Exactly what I need to hear,” he replied, standing up. He grabbed his jacket while she accompanied him to the door.
“I do not want you to worry about a thing,” he said, facing her and holding her hand. “I hope you do not mind if I call in to check on you at any time?”
She nodded. “Of course not. You can always come any time you want,” she said with a smile.
He returned the smile and raised her hand to his lips to plant a soft kiss on it before retreating out the door.
Ophelia closed the door behind her only to see her mother coming out of her room looking excited.
“Such a charming young man,” she said. “He must come again.”
“Yes” she said with a tired nod. “Goodnight, mother” was all Ophelia said before retiring to her room. She was on her way to her room but then remembered she had yet to check on her father.
He had been sick for about two weeks now and the physician would come to check on him daily to treat him. Even though they had been told that he was improving, Ophelia could not see any sign of improvement.
She opened the door slowly and walked to the bed where her father laid.
“Ophelia, is that you?” he asked in a faint voice.
Her once vibrant father who was always traveling over the world was no longer as vibrant. He had grown thinner and hardly left the bed.
“It is I, father.” she replied, walking closer to him and holding his hands.
“Your visitor has left?” he asked.
She was surprised but then she understood that her mother must have been speaking about him.
“Yes, he has,” she replied.
“You sound a bit relieved,” he said.
Ophelia raised her brows. She never knew she was that obvious.
“You do not like him so much, do you?”
She shook her head.
“What about the Crampton’s son?”
Ophelia looked to the floor.
“I do know he likes you and I know you like him too. Has he not made any effort to propose to you?”
Ophelia inhaled. “I do not want him to propose, father.”
“Yet, you seem sad about it.”
This was one reason she missed having her father around, he studied her and understood her too much.
“I believe it is for a better cause,” she said. “Mother thinks that Benjamin is the more appropriate of the two.”
“And what do you think?” he asked.
“I think she may be right.”
“Do you know what I think?” he asked and she nodded.
“I think you have been hurt. You should not jump into another relationship so soon.” He allowed her to leave the room after their conversation had ended.
When she got to her room, she slumped on her bed and shut her eyes. Her father was right. It was like he could see everything.
Stupid emotions!
Why should she still be so concerned about Christopher? Why did she care about how he was feeling? She had hoped he would be devastated just as it was written in his letter but no.
His friend said he was moving on. How could he move on so fast while she was still here, brooding over what could have been and wishing that things would change.
Why could he not come and talk to her in person?
She knew she had been the one to extract herself from the relationship, but she could not help wishing that he at least made a grand attempt to win her back. To tell her how he would change for her. If she had not realized it before, she could now see his true intentions.
He never truly loved her like he said he did. Her mother had warned her not to stupidly fall for him but that was what she did. Now, her heart was breaking all over as she stupidly kept giving her more hope in her thoughts.
She had to stop thinking about this. She was trying to think of how he would feel when he realized she had grown close to Benjamin. Whatever he feels, she thought, is no longer my concern. She would start living her life as if he never existed.
* * *
Lord Benjamin Gibbs, the Baron of Salsbury
Benjamin smiled at himself all the way back to the gambling hell. Things were working even better than he had hoped. If he could get Ophelia to trust him completely, she would fall into his hands sooner than he expected.
But he was surprised that she would still be thinking that Christopher would call for her, or that he would be trying to get her back.
“She still loves him,” Luke said after he narrated everything to him at the gambling hell.
“How can she still love him despite all that she heard that night?”
Luke puffed his cigar and shrugged. “It is a normal thing with your friend. He has a gift of making a woman fall so deeply with him that your efforts to win her are worthless. I felt exactly the same way with the lady I told you about. Nothing I did made any sense to her and I tried to so hard to please her. Your friend did not have to do a thing.”
Benjamin shook his head. He hated it when he asked him how he had reacted.
“I was disappointed but I tried not to show it. I hope she didn’t see it.”
Luke smiled. “You still have work to do. It is a good thing that you are sealing their fates. It will make things work better and faster for you. Just try to spend more time with her. Do not rush and do not be too hard on her.”
Benjamin nodded. “I know what I need to do. Her mother already likes me. I will keep up my charming facade to impress her mother so that she will continue to speak highly of me. I am certain that she will listen to her mother.”
“Thought she had a friend too?”
Benjamin nodded. “She does. I forgot her name.”
“You need to work on her too. If you can get both friend and mother in your good graces, the lady will already be yours.”
Benjamin smiled. “You are brilliant, Luke! Your next drink is on me.”
Luke laughed as he signaled to the bar man for more drinks.
* * *
Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington
Christopher was busy as usual in his father’s study. Being busy helped him not think too much of Ophelia, nor did it give him time to visit the gambling hell.
After the encounter with Benjamin, he begun to start question their friendship. First, he had lied about the other man at the bar. Later, he had blamed him for the fall out with Ophelia and then told him to go back to his old ways. He could not understand what kind of friend he had anymore.
While he was doing his work, the door opened and his mother came in. She was in her night dress. He was surprised for he had thought he was the only one awake.
“Mother,” he started. “What are you doing awake?”
“I believe there is no harm in coming to see my son, is there?” asked his mother as she came over to kiss him on the head.
Christopher smiled. “Well, what can I do for you, mother?”
His mother feigned surprise and sat down. “So, I cannot just come and see my son without wanting something?”
Christopher laughed. “No, you cannot.”
His mother laughed a
nd then leaned forward, resting her arm on the table.
“I am happy to see my son every night, being busy and doing something responsible. I am also happy that as of late, I have not heard of any gossip about you and some random woman.”
Christopher smiled but was quiet.
“I want you to continue like that and I know that the lucky girl are destined to be with will find you soon.”
A Lady To Redeem A Rakish Lord (Historical Regency Romance) Page 21