“We will think of something,” Lady Selina finished, smiling warmly at Lady Amelia. “This has been something of a shock for many of us, remember. It is only because our shock and surprise are so very great that we now struggle to think of a way forward. I am certain it will become clear to us very soon.”
“Thank you, Lady Selina,” came Lady Amelia’s reply. “I will do as you ask.” She swallowed hard. “Are you to attend Lord Irving’s soiree and card party this evening?”
Lady Selina glanced to Lady Hayward, who immediately nodded.
“Yes, of course,” she answered, with Charles quickly recalling that Lady Hayward’s ankle still pained her. “Lady Selina and I fully intend to be present.”
The look of relief that filled Amelia’s face told Charles that she needed Lady Selina to be present before she could even feel remotely comfortable with being back in the company of the beau monde.
“You must also prepare yourself for the fact that Lord Telford and Lord Havers might also be present, however,” Lady Selina added, speaking with great gentleness. “Of course, you will have your friends with you and that will encourage you, but be aware of their presence and do not allow it to overwhelm you.”
For a moment, Charles feared that his sister might collapse against their mother and refuse to attend this evening’s soiree, such was her fear, but after a moment or two, Lady Amelia dragged in a shaking breath and nodded, a slight gleam of determination coming into her eyes.
“We should take our leave,” Lady Hayward said, removing herself carefully from the chair and standing tall, despite the injury to her ankle. “Thank you, Lord Barrington, for allowing us to speak to you – and to the rest of you also.”
“I will send out a dinner invitation so that we might converse about this matter again very soon,” Charles replied, rising from his chair so that he could offer Lady Hayward his arm, given the pain to her ankle. “I do hope that you will accept?”
“Of course.”
She took his arm gratefully and, after bidding the rest of them farewell, walked with him to the door. Lady Selina joined them, walking just a little behind them both, although Charles remained acutely aware of her presence.
“Thank you, Lord Barrington.”
Lady Hayward took the arm of a footman and was helped carefully into the carriage, leaving Charles to turn to speak to Lady Selina. She was standing quietly just behind him, clearly waiting until her chaperone was seated before she herself climbed inside.
“Lady Selina, you cannot know of the depths of my gratitude,” he told her, speaking the truth from his heart. “or of my guilt and sorrow that I did not treat your letter with the seriousness that it deserved.” She did not smile at him, nor tell him that he did not need to feel any such thing. Instead, she held his gaze, as though considering what it was that she was going to say. “You are very good to my sister,” he continued, as Lady Selina finally dropped her gaze. “I know that she has not always behaved correctly towards you and even I myself must have appeared rude on occasion, but –”
“That does not matter,” Lady Selina interrupted, with such fervor in her voice that he looked at her in surprise. “It was an unfortunate set of circumstances which prevented me from calling upon you in person, Lord Barrington. If I had been there last evening, then I –” She broke off, shaking her head. “It does not matter. Regardless of what has occurred in the past, Lord Barrington, I am entirely committed to helping your sister in this difficult time. I cannot imagine the suffering that she must be enduring at present.”
Again, there speaks her kind heart, Charles thought to himself, finding himself smiling at the lady who, after a moment, gave him a smile of her own, although a hint of color infused her cheeks as she did so. Without intending to, Charles discovered that he now held one hand out to the lady and, when she gave it to him, he bowed low over it, hoping that it spoke of his consideration and admiration for her.
“I am more grateful to you than you can know, Lady Selina,” he informed her, seeing the way that her cheeks flared with color as he held her hand in his, ignoring those about them, those who might be watching what he was doing. “My sister also. And my mother.”
She pressed her lips together and then returned his gaze, her hazel eyes glinting with specks of gold. A curl of her fair hair escaped from her bonnet and brushed at her temples, and with the color in her cheeks fading to a delicate pink, Charles found himself suddenly overwhelmed with the beauty of the lady.
“You are all more than welcome, Lord Barrington,” she said, graciously. “Although I fear that I do not deserve such gratitude. It was only fate which permitted me to overhear the truth of Lord Havers and Lord Telford’s plans.”
“But you did not have to share it,” he answered her. “You did not have to speak of it to me. You might have chosen to allow things to progress as they were meant to and, instead, focused on seeking out your own happiness.”
She frowned.
“I hope that I should never have such a selfish heart,” she responded, making Charles smile.
“Your heart is to be greatly admired, given its kindness, consideration and sweetness,” he found himself saying, seeing how Lady Selina’s blush increased again as she looked away. “You will find my gratitude and my thankfulness only increasing, Lady Selina. I pray that we will be able to find a solution to this dreadful circumstance.”
“As do I,
