Chapter 18 #2
David didn’t want that, either, although he didn’t want to back away from their friendship. But he wanted Caroline to stay, and if it made her feel comfortable …
“Alright. I can do that.” He smiled and stepped towards her. “Thank you, Caroline.”
“David …”
Caroline broke off with a gasp when David kissed her forehead. It was brief, but David knew he would savour it later. Stepping back, he saw Caroline staring at him with wide eyes.
“It’s just a kiss of gratitude,” he said. “Nothing more. And it won’t happen again.”
Caroline didn’t answer. She still looked stunned as David turned away abruptly and left the room. If he hadn’t, he would have drawn her into his arms for a real kiss.
And then he really would ruin what they had together.
#
“Do we have to meet this woman?” Gwen asked as Caroline pressed a curl flat on the side of her head and slotted in another pin. “I don’t want to dress up and look like a doll sitting in the corner.”
Caroline couldn’t help smiling at the comparison.
“You don’t need to exaggerate so much, Gwen. I’m sure it’s not going to be that bad.”
“It’s going to be close enough,” Henrietta grunted. She was sitting on the bed, an open book on her lap. “Children aren’t meant to make conversation with the grown-ups when they have to be present. Remember?”
“It never happened with me. My parents were quite happy to interact with my friends. When we did have social gatherings, the children were involved.”
They were probably the happier gatherings, something people in the area found surprising. Of course, there were snooty people who looked down their noses at what they were doing, but Sir Geoffrey and Lady Gabrielle didn’t care.
Caroline knew they had wanted lots of children running around and to have a big family, but there were complications during Caroline’s birth, and so they only had one daughter.
She did feel bad for doing that to her parents, but her mother and father never made her feel guilty about what happened. It was what it was.
Even though she saw them on her days off, she missed them.
They seemed to be coping well enough without her being there every day, but Caroline couldn’t help worrying.
At least her wages were helping things look up; Mrs Marks was pleased that she could buy more for their meals, and they could hire a couple of people to help with the land.
It meant Caroline didn’t have much for herself, but she could manage it alone.
As long as her parents were safe and looked after.
“Caroline?”
“Hmm?”
Henrietta was looking at her with an arched eyebrow.
“Are you alright? You went off there, staring at the wall.”
“Oh.” Caroline hadn’t noticed she was doing that. “I was just thinking.”
“About what?” Gwen asked.
“Nothing important.” Caroline fixed another pin into Gwen’s hair and lowered her hands. “There, you’re done. You’re going to look a pretty picture, Gwen.”
Gwen scowled.
“I don’t want to look like a pretty picture. This is going to be very boring.” She stood up and dusted herself down. “I’m sure the woman David is interested in is dull and only has her wealth going for her.”
“Now, there’s no need to be rude, Gwen,” Caroline chastised her gently. “You haven’t met Lady Mary yet. You shouldn’t make such an assumption about someone.”
“Then what is Lady Mary like?” Henrietta put her book aside and sat forward, a stray lock of hair falling over her forehead, which she brushed away. “You know her, don’t you? What’s she like?”
Caroline hesitated. How did she tell these girls her opinion of a woman she didn’t get along with? That would just cloud their judgement before they met her. Lady Mary could be different with them, and that wouldn’t be fair.
She chose her words carefully.
“Lady Mary is a very beautiful, charismatic young woman.”
Henrietta snorted.
“Really? That’s the best you can do?”
“There’s no need for that remark, Henrietta.”
“I asked what she’s like as a person. That’s the most basic description you could make of someone without insulting their character.” Henrietta tilted her head to one side. “So that means you two don’t get along.”
Caroline wished she weren’t this astute. Gwen folded her arms.
“I don’t think I want to meet someone who isn’t nice.”
“Gwen!” Caroline turned to her. “What makes you think Lady Mary isn’t nice if you haven’t met her?”
“She can’t be if you don’t like her. If someone doesn’t get on with you, then they can’t be a good person.”
“You can’t judge people just on how they treat me.” Caroline backtracked when Gwen raised her eyebrows. “Anyway, Lady Mary and I just have different friends and move in different circles. We don’t interact enough for us to have a proper opinion.”
Now that was a lie, but this was important to David that his sisters met Lady Mary. It wouldn’t be fair to make them dislike her before they met the woman. Caroline didn’t want to ruin it for David, even if it made her uncomfortable that he was meeting Lady Mary Chadwick.
She had no reason to feel like this. It had nothing to do with her. All Caroline was meant to do was get her charges ready to meet their potential sister-in-law, and that was it. She wasn’t supposed to have an opinion on what David was doing at all.
And yet …
“Caroline?”
Caroline jumped when she realised Henrietta was standing in front of her. The girl looked bemused.
“You’re not completely together, Caroline. Are you sure you’re well?”
“Of course, I’m well.” Licking her lips, Caroline adjusted her sleeves. They seemed to have bunched together while getting Gwen’s hair into something presentable. “I’m just tired, that’s all. I may take a nap while you’re meeting your guests.”
Henrietta’s expression said she didn’t believe her. But she said nothing more, looking past her towards Gwen.
“Shall we go downstairs, sister? I’m sure Lady Mary has arrived, and we don’t want to embarrass David by being late.”
“Alright,” Gwen grumbled, heading towards the door. “I wonder how long it’ll last. I don’t want to sit there and do nothing while they talk about something I probably won’t understand.”
“You’re not going to do anything bad, are you?” Caroline asked as she followed the sisters into the hall.
Gwen didn’t respond, but she cast Caroline a look where she had a gleam in her eye. That didn’t bode well. If she did do something, David wouldn’t be impressed. Caroline wondered if she would actually be able to rest while Jenny was looking after them.
Even then, Caroline couldn’t shake the feeling that the younger sister would do something silly.
David was already in the foyer, talking to Joseph.
Caroline paused at the top of the stairs and watched him, noting how his pale grey jacket and matching breeches fit on his frame, cutting a fine figure in preparation for his meeting with a young lady.
He had freshly shaved, and his hair looked like it had been trimmed.
Lady Mary would certainly be impressed by him. Caroline certainly was.
Both gentlemen turned as the sisters came down the stairs. Joseph beamed and approached them.
“My, my, both of you scrub up really nicely.” He held out a hand to Henrietta. “I wouldn’t have thought you were the same person.”
Caroline saw Henrietta roll her eyes as she swatted Joseph’s hand before stepping past him.
“I can see why you’re still unmarried when you speak like that to a lady,” she said.
Gwen laughed. Joseph pretended to look affronted and clutched his chest.
“No! Don’t tell me I forgot you were a lady too!”
David shook his head, but he was smiling.
“Just stop it, Joseph. My sisters will hand you back on a platter if you’re not careful, and I don’t want squabbling this afternoon.”
“Forgive me, David. I could not resist.” Joseph’s eyes glinted as he took Gwen’s hand and bowed over it. “You’re looking lovely, Lady Gwen. Very ladylike.”
“I don’t want to be ladylike.” Gwen looked at her brother. “When is Lady Mary going to get here? And how long is she going to be here?”
“She’ll be here shortly,” David replied, glancing up at Caroline. “As for how long she will be visiting, that I cannot answer. But you don’t have to stay for the entirety of her stay.”
Gwen pursed her lips.
“Why do we have to meet her if we don’t have to stay the whole time?” she asked. “I don’t want to meet her.”
“But she might end up becoming our sister by marriage, Gwen,” Henrietta reminded her. “David wants us to get along with her as well. Don’t you, brother?”
Caroline had suspected that this was the case, and it was confirmed when David nodded. He reached out and squeezed his sister’s shoulder.
“You know me too well, don’t you?”
“Sometimes, I don’t think that’s the case,” Henrietta responded, and Caroline realised that the girl was glancing over at her. What was that about? Did Henrietta suspect something?
Did she guess that David and Caroline had practically admitted they had feelings for each other?
Caroline hoped that wasn’t the case. It had been almost a week since the two of them had had that conversation, and Caroline had done her best not to spend too much time with David alone.
Even then, despite things going on, she couldn’t shake the need to be in his presence.
She shouldn’t desire anything beyond her status, and Henrietta should know that. So why did it feel like Henrietta was trying to make a point?
From how David cleared his throat, he seemed to understand what his sister was implying.
“Well, anyway, I want you and Gwen to meet Lady Mary and spend time with us, and then the two of you can head back to what you want to do.”
“If only we could do that anyway,” Gwen muttered.
Caroline squeezed her shoulder.
“It won’t be for long,” she whispered. “I’ll take you and Henrietta out later.”
“And we can go to the tearoom and get some cake?”
Caroline smiled.
“I think we can stretch to that.”
Gwen shot her a grin, and she went to stand beside her sister, dusting herself down.
“Alright. Let’s get this over with.”
Joseph chuckled.
“There are times when you sound like my grandmother. She has the same sort of attitude.”
“At least it’s an improvement on bouncing around and being unable to sit down,” David said, shooting Gwen a look. “Just behave yourself, Gwen. I know you and that acerbic tongue of yours. You don’t have that under control yet.”
“Don’t you trust me, David?”
“Not when it comes to you speaking before you think.”
Gwen rolled her eyes. Henrietta shook her head and patted her sister on the head. Scowling, Gwen pushed her hand away. David sighed.
“Just behave, you two. I don’t want any problems from either of you. I want Lady Mary to have a good impression of you.”
“Don’t worry about us, David,” Henrietta said, lowering her arms and folding her hands together. “We’ll be on our best behaviour.”
Gwen muttered something under her breath, which had Caroline biting her lip to hide her smile. Then she saw that David was looking at her. Something flickered in his eyes, but then it was gone as he turned away.
Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wondering, not for the first time, if she should have looked for a post elsewhere. Being around David, even if it was superficial compared to before, left her feeling light-headed and fighting an ache she didn’t like.
Get a grip on yourself. You need to stop thinking like that and focus on the girls. They are more important.
Even then, Caroline knew that was not going to be easy.