by Fanny Finch
It would have to be.
Chapter 19
Robert was conducting business in London and had only thought to himself—well, it was one of those rare days with sun.
He didn’t have an appointment for a little while. Why not enjoy one of the parks?
He was walking along the perimeter of one when he heard someone calling out his name. He turned in surprise and saw—
Well, of all the luck. The universe had to be laughing at him.
Sitting just a short ways off from him was a lovely young lady with dark hair, sketching something. Approaching him was a man about his age. The man had been sitting with the lady but was now quite near.
And it was Lord Reginald, Duke of Foreshire. Miss Reginald’s brother, Edward.
“Captain Trentworth, I thought that it might be you.” The duke smiled. “It has been ages. I had no idea that you were back in England. Is… is my sister aware of your arrival?”
“We met one another in Bath,” Robert replied, unsure how else to respond. “She looked quite well.”
“Wonderful.” The duke looked as though he were hoping for something else to be said, but when Robert was silent he added, “Would you like to meet my intended?”
He brought Robert over to meet the lady sketching. “This is Miss Maria Worthing. Soon to be Lady Reginald.”
The duke sounded immensely proud when he said it. As though he could not think of anything in the world more wonderful than making this woman in front of him a duchess.
Miss Worthing curtsied to Robert. “It is a pleasure to meet you. You know my lord and Miss Reginald?”
“I was friends with them, a few years ago,” Robert said. “Before I was called off into the navy. I’ve been away serving my post for some time. I only just returned.”
“That is marvelous. We are glad you’ve come back safely,” Miss Worthing said. She smiled up at the duke. “Perhaps we could invite you to dinner sometime. I am still getting used to the idea of playing hostess. I shall need practice. And there is no better practice than among friends, is there not?”
Robert was completely taken aback by the charming, guileless nature of this girl. It was as Miss Weston had said. He could sense a bit of wildness to her. Rather like when a man had a pet lion. The lion was tamed but it was still a lion.
And the duke was looking at her as if she were the center of the universe. Robert would not quite say he looked besotted. The duke had too much of a dignified bearing for that. But it was something quite near it.
“Tell me, what brings you to London?” the duke asked.
“I have some business to take care of,” Robert explained. “I recently came into an unexpected inheritance. On top of what I earned during my career—I’m looking into buying an estate. Establishing myself as a member of the gentry.”
“Marvelous,” Miss Worthing said. “I think that’s quite good of you. I do admire you men, I had to marry into it.”
The duke looked as though he was biting down laughter. Robert could see why they got on, if Miss Worthing entertained the duke so easily. And how could anyone not be charmed by her sweet nature?
“You should return to your art before the light changes, my darling,” the duke pointed out.
Miss Worthing cried out. “Oh, you are quite right. It’s such a fickle thing. A pleasure to meet you, Captain Trentworth.”
She curtsied, and then went back to her sketch.
The duke looked at Robert, and his eyes were much graver now. “Have you spoken with my sister?” he asked quietly.
“Upon what matters?”
“You know what matters I speak of,” the duke replied. “I am surprised that you have not called upon us to ask for my blessing.”
Robert stared at him in amazement. The duke… expected Robert to come and ask for his blessing? He could hardly expect such a thing if he did not want it to come to pass, could he?
The duke was speaking to him softly, conspiratorially, as though he were eager to hear Robert say that yes, he was there to ask for the blessing to marry his sister.
“Forgive me,” the duke said, still speaking quietly. In deference to Robert’s privacy and Miss Reginald’s, no doubt. “Perhaps things have changed. I have not asked if you are married or engaged with another lady. I should not have assumed.”
“But you did assume,” Robert said. “Why did you?”
“I cannot betray the confidences of my sister,” the duke said.
Robert swallowed hard. “You think that she still holds me in her affections.”
The duke looked away, out over the horizon. “As she was to you then, she is now. That is all I will say on the matter. I cannot elaborate. She would curse me if I betrayed her thoughts to you or to anyone. Our privacy is our greatest privilege. Our father was not fond of providing us with any.”
“I recall his preferences well.” Robert could not keep the bitterness out of his voice.
The duke gave him a wry smile. “You have little reason to love him, alive or dead, I should think.”
Robert could feel his face heating up in embarrassment. “He is your father. I should learn to be more respectful.”
He should also apparently learn to hold his judgement. The duke was smiling at him and seemed to have been waiting expectantly for Robert to propose marriage to his sister.
How could he have gotten it so wrong?
The duke shook his head. “Neither of us were fond of him. One must not speak ill of the dead and all of that. I doubt that he would approve of my union with Miss Worthing, despite her being the daughter of his best friend.”
The duke glanced over at Miss Worthing, and the love that Robert saw in the man’s gaze took his breath away.
“Are you engaged with someone else, then?” the duke asked, turning back to him. “Are congratulations in order?”
“I am afraid not,” Robert replied. “I was… under a misapprehension. There is another man attempting to court your sister. I thought that he might make her a better suitor.”
It was a lie, but he could hardly delve into the entire story.
The duke shook his head. “If I may give you some encouragement, there is no man better suited for her than you. That has always been my opinion.
“I ought to have said so to my father. But I tried to keep out of what I felt was my sister’s battle, out of respect for her. She appreciates it, or at least says that she does. But I wonder if I should not have said something.
“In any case, if that is all that is keeping you from pursuing her, I would say Godspeed. The wind is in your sails and not his. And if the two of you were to come to me asking for a blessing, I know which man I would bestow it upon.”
Robert could only stare in surprise and amazement. He had not expected this in the slightest.
He truly had some apologizing to do.
“I will seriously consider what you have said,” he told the duke.
“Good. And do please come and dine with us tonight if you do not have a previous engagement. Miss Worthing is serious in her need to practice her hosting skills. She is quite nervous about it and we must do all that we can to ease that.”
He spoke with such open affection for her. It was clear to Robert that this man was not at all like his father. The former duke had never shown such affection for anyone. Yet the current Lord Reginald looked like he worshipped the ground that Miss Worthing walked on.
“I am not engaged tonight,” he told them. “It would be my pleasure to come to your house for dinner.”
“We look forward to it,” the duke told him.
Robert walked away feeling as though he were in a daze. He had been welcomed in with open arms. The duke had apologized for not helping to plead his case with their father all those years ago. He had expected that Robert would be asking him for his blessing to marry Miss Reginald.
He had sorely misjudged the new duke. He would have to send a proper apology to Miss Reginald.
No wonder she had defended her brot
her. And with such fire and spirit as well. Miss Weston had pointed out that Miss Reginald had risked losing someone that she loved in order to defend her brother.
It was precisely what he had wanted her to do all those years ago, only it was to defend him to her father and risk losing her father instead.
They had both been so much younger then, however. Miss Reginald had grown in maturity. Perhaps it was now, then, that she possessed more strength of character and fire and could stand up to people in a way that she could not before.
Perhaps it was that now she did not have anything left to lose.
And did it really matter either way?
She had risked herself for him as he had asked her to all those years ago and he had all but spat in her face for it. He had allowed his bitterness to cloud his judgment and make him assume the worst in people.
If he got back to Bath and she was already married to someone else, he would have no one to blame but himself.
But did he deserve, even, to go back to Bath? To make a claim for her?
After the way that he had behaved, he would not be surprised if he had lost all chance with her. Miss Weston seemed inclined to slam the door in his face, at any rate. Goodness knew if she’d even let him get through her to speak to Miss Reginald.
It had been weeks since he had left Bath. So much might have happened in that time. She could be planning on putting up the banns right at that very moment.
No, she would not, he told himself. Not without writing to her brother. If there was truly a proposal afoot, then the duke would know about it and therefore he would have said as much to Robert.
This must have been what Mr. Norwich was talking about when he said that Robert would need some time to go and get a clear head and see things better.
Mr. Norwich of course could not have known about running into the duke. But he must have realized that time would help to get rid of the pesky cloud of emotions—namely anger—that were in Robert’s way. He had realized that something, anything, would come along and help Robert to see things in their true perspective.
Could Miss Reginald ever forgive him for his deplorable behavior?
He had wrapped himself in his righteous anger and his judgment and had not allowed himself to see things as they really were. The shoe was on the other foot now and he was the one who had indeed wronged the other.
Miss Weston had been right in all that she said. As rudely as it was delivered.
No wonder Mr. Norwich had been so amused by the entire thing. He had realized that in a few weeks, Robert would come to his senses and agree with everything that Miss Weston had said.
Everything that Miss Weston had called him, he now called himself. He was a coward and a hypocrite. He had truly behaved like the worst of men.
What could he possibly do to make it up to Miss Reginald?
Perhaps… he could take the duke into his confidences somewhat.
At dinner, or rather after dinner when Miss Worthing had retired, he could ask the duke what he ought to do. He would say that he had been unkind in his manner and wished to make amends. No need to go into details.
He would ask Lord Reginald what could be done. Did his sister fancy a particular kind of sweet that could only be gotten in London? Was there a book that she had her eye upon?
He would then purchase the gift or say whatever the duke thought it best that he say. He would write it down so that he would be sure to remember it.
And then, he would return to Bath at once and apologize using whatever gifts and words that the duke had suggested to him.
Robert paused. But could he ask for anything more than forgiveness?
She might no longer love him. After the way that he had treated her, what sensible woman would? But sense did not always come into love. Perhaps there might be hope for him.
Did he dare to ask for anything? Perhaps he ought only to ask for forgiveness and then go from there. He could return to her life slowly. Get her used to the idea of him in her life once more. Prove to her that he was serious in his apologies.
And then… then he could propose to her. Not right away. Doing it slowly and giving her time so that it was not a shock to her. After all, an apology and then a proposal all in one fell swoop, it would be a great shock to her.
She would have known, of course, that his last apology was a shallow one at best. Miss Reginald had read plenty of his letters back in the day. His style had not changed that much.
In reading it she would have realized that he was still angry with her. But now he had a chance to make a proper apology to her, to mend things the right way. Instead of simply casting off whatever half-hearted apology-cum-farewell that he had given her previously.
He might have to do it when Miss Weston was out of the house, however. He did not trust that young lady to not try and claw his eyes out or something else unseemly.
But he could wait until Miss Weston was gone, at any rate. He had a feeling that Miss Reginald, if she did forgive him, would do so much sooner than Miss Weston did.
Right. He would go to dinner and enjoy himself. And then he would ask for help in making amends with Miss Reginald. He would return to Bath and apologize.
And somehow, someway, he would make it so that he could propose to her. Life had given him two chances with her. She had ruined the first, or perhaps they both had. He had certainly ruined the second.
They said that the third time was the charm, and besides, if he messed this one up, he wasn’t all that certain that the universe would grant him a forth chance.
He had to get this one right.
Chapter 20
Georgiana told herself the next day that she was ready. She was prepared.
She could do this.
Dinner last night had been fine. Julia had seated her across from Mr. Tomlinson but not next to him, thank goodness. Georgiana had needed a moment more to get her bearings.
Mr. Norwich had been seated next to her, which had been wonderful. He was gracious and thoughtful and she was ever so grateful for his attentiveness.
Miss Everett and Miss Perry expressed their dismay that Captain Trentworth would not be joining them any longer. Julia made up the excuse that he was called into London for urgent business concerning his new inheritance and that he sent his condolences.
It was a truly believable excuse and delivered with all the aplomb and grace of a true hostess. Nobody, Georgiana was sure, suspected a thing.
There was another young man at dinner by the name of Mr. Lawson. Trust Julia to find another man to round out the party at the last minute.
Everything had gone fine. Georgiana had not spoken much. Mr. Tomlinson had been eager to engage her in conversation and so she had simply asked him about topics that he had studied well. Then she listened to him while he spoke at length about them.
“Cleverly done,” Mr. Norwich murmured to her at one point.
Having Mr. Norwich at her side was almost as good as having Edward there.
Edward.
She would have to tell her brother at some point what had transpired. She was not yet sure how. How did she even go about telling her brother that she had found her love, and lost him again, and that this time it was even uglier than before?
Edward would be so disappointed. He had always held out hope for her and for Captain Trentworth as well. He had liked the man and respected him greatly.
Perhaps other sisters would not tell the full story to their siblings. But she and Edward had no secrets from one another. They had only one another to rely upon growing up. They certainly couldn’t ever confide anything in their father.
She would feel awful if she did not explain all that had happened to her to Edward. But he would be furious, of course. Ready to track down Captain Trentworth and defend her honor.
Maria would hopefully help with that. She was wonderfully good at helping Edward to let go of his bad tempers.
It would still be an awkward letter to send, however. Georgiana could not deny that.
She would have to send the letter soon, of course… but if things continued as they seemed to be with Mr. Tomlinson…
Perhaps she should save her letter until later? When she could balance out the bad news with the good?
Mr. Tomlinson did not seem to be wasting a moment of his time, after all.
Hopefully if she was to tell her brother all the unfortunate business that had transpired, she could end it with some good news as well. He would be happy for her, he would have to be.