Chapter 19
ARABELLA
M y dearest Arabella,
I was delighted to hear how much you are enjoying Bath. Your description of the Pump Room amused me exceedingly. I suspect your aunt is enjoying the waters? I was quite astonished by the final portion of your letter.
At the very least, you owe me a far more detailed account of your courtship, and of the gentleman, if you please, in your next letter, for I shall not be satisfied with a single vague sentence regarding a mysterious man who has evidently captured your attention.
Life carries on here, but I believe your ducks do miss you. As do I. Take care of yourself, my dear girl. I wish you continued success with your courtship. Again, you must write to me with more details! I am most impatient and curious to hear about this courtship.
With love,
Mama
I finished reading as I walked upstairs to my room.
Aunt Julia napped on her bed beside mine, so I tried to be as quiet as possible as I fetched my parasol and reticule.
It was difficult to think clearly while Aunt Julia snored, so I read the letter again.
I cringed at the thought of Mama sitting at home with her mobcap and a cup of tea, bewildered by the idea that I had somehow encouraged a man to court me.
She had likely never thought it possible.
How much more shocked would she be to learn that my suitor was as wealthy and connected as Mr. Campbell?
My heart fluttered at the thought of his face and how very close his lips had been to mine the day before.
Keeping my heart uninvolved was becoming more difficult.
He was kind and gentle and a very good listener.
He had made me feel understood, yet I hadn’t even told him every burden I was carrying.
He made me laugh and smile, and his own laugh was possibly the most joyful sound I had ever heard.
My heart thudded a shallow rhythm, but I shushed it. I tried not to smile, but my lips tugged themselves upward anyway. Was I falling in love? The hushed question passed through my mind like a whisper. I hardly dared examine it further, so I tucked it away.
I had plans to go to the Roman Baths with Kate this morning, and I already knew her thoughts on love. She found it inconsequential. It would be wise for me to try to follow her example, but my heart was becoming quite independent.
Before I could be carried away with thoughts of Mr. Campbell again, I set Mama’s letter down on my bed and made a note in my mind to reply later.
I found Freddy in our drawing room on my way to meet Kate.
He was slumped on the sofa, a book in hand.
He had been losing his mind with boredom since I had run into Mr. Russell.
A small part of me enjoyed seeing him endure some form of consequence for his actions.
I made sure to socialize with him each day, playing cards or chess, but he spent most of his time staring out the window or reading.
When he noticed my entrance, he sat up straight. “Where are you going?”
“To the Roman Baths.”
His eyes glinted with longing. “That sounds delightful. Are you going to bathe in the water?”
“Yes. It should be an interesting experience.” It had been Kate’s idea, and I had agreed with no small measure of hesitation. The thought of submerging myself in hot, sulfurous water in a brown linen dress with dozens of other residents of Bath was not overly appealing.
Freddy sighed, raking a hand through his hair. It stuck straight up as he leaned his head back on the sofa. “I wish I could go.”
“Not with Mr. Russell still lurking about.”
“What are the odds of crossing paths with him?” Freddy cast me a skeptical look.
I placed one hand on my hip. “Any chance at all is too great a risk. He thinks you are out of town. You can’t risk being seen by him or any of his acquaintances.”
Freddy nodded in defeat. I rarely saw any signs of true distress in his features, but I sensed his worry.
He knew his future rested in my ability to marry well, and it likely kept him awake at night.
Confined to our set of rooms as he was, he had plenty of time to think about his actions and the consequences that could soon follow.
“I’m sorry, Arabella. I’m sorry you have to court Mr. Campbell. I know you do not like him. It’s my fault.” He looked down at his lap, a muscle clenching in his jaw.
I walked toward him, stopping in front of the sofa until he looked up. “Don’t fret.” I tried to give him a stern look, but it quickly melted. “I don’t…dislike Mr. Campbell.”
Freddy’s brows lifted. “You like him?”
I paused. Why was that so difficult to confess? A smile forced my lips upward.
“You do!” Freddy laughed, pointing an accusatory finger in my direction.
I turned away before Freddy could begin teasing me in earnest, making my way to the door. My cheeks ached from smiling by the time I met Kate at the bottom of the stairwell.
Dressed in a brown linen gown, I sat in the hot water of the Roman Baths beside Kate, who wore a matching dress.
We had both been given a copper bowl filled with fragrant pomanders and smelling salts to help mask the scent of the water itself.
The bowl floated in front of my chest. I lifted a jar of lavender smelling salts to my nose.
The green-hued water looked as questionable as it smelled, yet here I was, submerged up to my neck in it.
Golden stone pillars surrounded the King’s Bath, where several guests floated in the water alongside Kate and me.
The men were on one side, the women on the other.
My skin had adjusted to the hot temperature of the water, but it had taken several minutes.
Steam floated up to my face, and sweat gathered at my hairline.
The experience was meant to be relaxing, but the constant eye contact with the other bathers was the main source of my discomfort.
Kate had been rather quiet during our walk to the baths, and even now, her usually smooth forehead bore a faint wrinkle.
She glanced from left to right at all the ladies on our side of the bath.
Many of them seemed to be staring in our direction, though I thought I had been imagining it. Had Kate noticed too?
“Is this the same water they drink in the Pump Room?” I asked with a grimace.
“No.” Kate laughed. “There is a separate underground system that delivers clean water to the fountain inside.”
Relief flooded through me. “I’m glad to hear that.
” I leaned back slightly in the water until it touched the base of my hairline.
Without so many onlookers, the hot water would have likely calmed my nerves.
I rarely enjoyed a bath so hot, though I would still prefer clean water over this.
I inhaled above my smelling salts again and closed my eyes, pretending it was a bar of soap in my bath at home.
Kate leaned close to me with a whisper. “I wanted to speak with you about a sensitive matter.”
My eyes shot open. My stomach dropped at the concern on her face. “What is it?”
She waded a few feet away from the nearest cluster of ladies, and I followed her.
She glanced in all directions again before addressing me seriously.
“As you know, I receive many callers and invitations, and am kept well-aware of gossip.” She sank deeper in the water, hiding her face behind both our copper bowls.
“I have heard many opinions and rumors about your courtship with Mr. Campbell.”
“What have you heard?” My heart thudded faster.
Kate hesitated. “The gossip is that he does not have noble intentions.”
I scowled, fighting the dread in my stomach.
“Ladies are speculating about what reason he might have to be courting you when you have…” she paused “…well, they say you have little to offer.” Her gaze flickered away from mine.
“You know I don’t believe that, but that is what I have heard.
They think he might be entertaining himself with you without any intentions of marriage.
They wonder why he has been secretive about the courtship.
” Kate’s green eyes were wide with concern.
“I didn’t want to believe the gossip, but it did cause me to worry for you. I couldn’t help it.”
A knot formed in my stomach. I had wondered the same thing, though I had been hiding from the potential answers. I had truly started to believe he was genuine, but how could I have any proof?
“Thank you for telling me,” I whispered.
It was all I could say at the moment. I wanted to sink under the water to avoid Kate’s words and the many eyes that drifted in my direction.
How many of these ladies had heard about the gossip?
After confessing to Mrs. Wickerton that Mr. Campbell had been calling upon me, she must have spread the word quickly.
I had thought it would serve my purpose, but now I wasn’t so sure.
If Mr. Campbell was indeed toying with me, then my reputation would suffer at the end of it. I would lose all hope of other prospects.
I sank lower into the water until it soaked the entirety of my coiffure. The water seeped into my scalp, but I didn’t care. I closed my eyes again, leaning back and wetting all of my hair before sitting up straight again. The hot water ran down the sides of my face.
I turned to face Kate. “At the Beresford’s party, Mrs. Aldworth told me how much Mr. Campbell despises fortune hunters. Do you think he’s seeking revenge on me?” Even as the question left my mouth, my heart dropped. How could it be true?
Kate scowled. “That would be unnecessarily cruel. Surely he has better things to do.”
I nodded slowly.
“Let us not worry ourselves over it. Gossip is usually not to be believed. People will have their own opinions on the subject, but that doesn’t mean they’re right.”
To distract myself, I snatched my bowl out of the water, selecting a citrus pomander to hold beneath my nose.
What if Kate was right to be worried? What if I had trusted Mr. Campbell too quickly?
An ember of anger sparked inside my chest, and I assembled a thick wall, brick by brick, around my heart, just in case the gossip was true.
“Tread carefully, Arabella,” Kate said after a long moment. “That is all I ask. I will keep my eyes and ears open. I hope I have not made you too pessimistic.”
I flashed a quick smile, pretending not to be as wounded as I truly was.
“No, there is no such thing.” The true danger lay in being too optimistic, which was precisely what I had been doing.
My heart ached, but I buried the sensation beneath that growing spark of anger.
And then I slipped my hair back under the water again.