“Amelia!”
The way his mother reached for her daughter made it all too apparent that she had been anxious about her and thus, Charles gave her a small shake of his head.
“You have discovered her, then,” Lord Banfield said, quietly, as Amelia dropped her head, lifting Charles’ handkerchief to her eyes. “Lord Telford returned to the room shortly after you both stepped outside.”
Quickly directing his mother to take Amelia to the carriage, Charles waited until they had left his side before allowing himself to reply.
“It appears I owe Lord Telford a great deal of thanks,” he said, discovering that his hands were now clenched tightly into fists, his nails digging into the soft skin of his palms. “And he is a gentleman I never expected to have to thank.”
Banfield nodded, his expression serious.
“What will you do?”
“There is only one thing I can do,” Charles replied, heavily. “Return her to my estate and seek a suitable gentleman on her behalf. She has disgraced herself and come very close to disgracing the family name also.”
With a shake of his head, Banfield let out a long breath.
“I wish you success with whatever you discuss come the morrow,” he said, kindly. “Do inform me as to whether or not you yourself will accompany her or if you will remain in London.”
Charles gave his friend a tight smile.
“I will,” he promised, his heart sinking heavily in his chest. “Thank you, Banfield.”
Chapter Seven
Selina bit her lip as she began to pace up and down in front of the mantlepiece. Lord Barrington had not replied to her letter, as she had begged him to do, so that she might know he was aware of the danger. Last evening, had Lady Hayward not injured herself the night before, they would have attended the ball but, given her chaperone’s injury, Selina had been forced to remain at home.
Thus far, she had heard nothing about the ball itself which, she hoped, meant that there was nothing of particular concern. However, if what she had overheard the previous evening was correct, then it meant that Lord Barrington was supposed to have discovered his sister in a certain situation, and that situation be kept as quiet as possible at the time. Lord Barrington would soon be approached, she was sure of it, if he had not been already, and told what payment was expected from him, in order to keep the gentlemen in question quiet about what Lady Amelia had supposedly done.
“Lady Hayward, my Lady.”
Selina started violently at the footman’s announcement, and turned to see Lady Hayward limping into the room, although the limp itself was not particularly pronounced.
“Lady Hayward,” she breathed, hurrying forward so that she might offer the lady some assistance, but her chaperone laughed and shook her head, clearly determined to make her way to the chair herself.
“I am not about to linger at home and wait for my ankle to recover itself,” she said, firmly. “I cannot abide sitting around and doing nothing whatsoever!”
Selina waited until the lady sat down before speaking, her eyes filled with anxiety.
“But you are unwell still,” she said, as Lady Hayward smiled back at her. “You should be resting.”
“So my sons have been telling me, but I shall not listen to them,” Lady Hayward replied, firmly. “I have only just –”
Before she could speak, the door opened again and, much to Selina’s surprise, her father stepped into the room. He did not so much as glance towards Selina herself, but rather looked towards Lady Hayward.
“Lady Hayward,” he said, with a quick bow of his head. “I was informed that you had come to call on Selina. I thought to see how you fared.” A small frown flickered across his brow. “The butler mentioned that you were not walking as freely as one might have hoped.”
Selina, a little surprised that her father had decided to emerge from his study simply to speak to Lady Hayward and make certain that she was well, watched the concern flicker across the Duke’s expression with interest. Lady Hayward smiled warmly at him, her blue eyes meeting his.
“I am much recovered, Your Grace,” she replied, evidently grateful for his concern. “My ankle is still a little painful, certainly, but it is not something that troubles me a great deal.” She glanced back at Selina. “Besides which, I knew that Lady Selina would be worrying about me and so I thought it best to visit just as soon as I could.”
“Well, I am glad to see you recovering,” the Duke replied, as Selina dropped into a chair, wisely choosing to remain quite silent.
She listened as the Duke and her chaperone talked of a few other matters – mostly about the gentleman who had caused Lady Hayward’s accident in the first place and whether or not he was even aware of what he had done – before, finally, the Duke chose to take his leave.
Selina rose with him and rang the bell for tea, smiling at her father as he looked towards her.
“You will be glad to have Lady Hayward back with you, I know,” the Duke said kindly, as Selina nodded. “It is good to see you smile, Selina.”
“Thank you, Father.”
She waited until her father had left the room before letting out a long, pained sigh, rubbing one hand across her forehead and feeling a knot of tension tighten her stomach.
“Lady Selina?” Lady Hayward asked, as Selina looked back at her, having no urge to resume her seat. “Is something wrong?”
Selina, who was still a little intrigued by her father’s obvious concern for Lady Hayward, chose not to speak of that particular thing but instead, realized that she could, in fact, share with Lady Hayward what she had overheard some two nights ago. There had not been an opportunity to do so before, given what had happened to Lady Hayward and her ankle, but now, perhaps, was the right time.
“There has been a matter weighing heavily upon my mind these last two days,”
