Prologue
Bath Assembly Rooms
Lady Josephine Cranfield entered the brightly decorated ballroom on the arm of her brother Richard.
Her distant cousin and chaperone Mrs. Julia Elford followed close behind.
The room was already abuzz with sparkling conversation, and Josephine heard the musicians in the gallery tuning their instruments.
Her parents had instructed Richard to take Josephine to Bath for the Season in the hopes she would finally find a husband, having run through any possible suitors in London.
None of them had held any interest for her, and who could blame her?
The men put before her by her parents were ready to put one foot in the grave, and the others only wanted her for her dowry.
She searched the crowded room for the one man who had caught her eye this summer.
He was one of London’s most eligible bachelors and as handsome as sin.
If someone had told her months ago that she and her brother’s best friend would be romantically involved, she would have laughed.
She had known Lord Milton Sutton for most of her life, along with several others in Richard’s close circle of friends, even before their days together at Oxford.
But secretly, she had always held a crush on the man.
Her eyes met his, and Milton nodded in her direction from across the room.
It seemed like hours passed before he finally made his way to her, and she wondered why he seemed to be avoiding her. Considering the amount of time they had spent together in recent months, it was unusual. He gave her a bow and she returned the formality with a curtsy.
“May I have the next dance, Lady Josephine?” he asked with a charming smile.
“Yes. Yes, of course, Lord Langley,” she murmured after taking his arm, still wondering why it had taken him so long to come to her. Was it her imagination, or did he seem somewhat aloof instead of the affectionate way he had been with her for the past months?
There was no further time to discuss pleasantries when the beginning chords to a quadrille sounded and the dancers took their places.
She became breathless as she hopped and skipped to the patterns of the dance, and when the dying chords faded away, Milton asked if he could have a moment to speak with her privately.
This is it, she thought happily to herself.
He was finally going to declare himself, and she nodded her head in agreement as he escorted her out into the moonlight.
She knew she was safe with Milton and trusted he would not take advantage of her.
She was thankful they would have a private word together.
He led her into the garden and she took a seat on a marble bench.
She waited for him to join her, but instead he began to pace back and forth in front of her.
Now she was worried. Something was terribly wrong.
He should have been sitting next to her and kissing her senseless, not wearing a path in the grass beneath his shoes.
He rubbed the back of his neck in apparent agitation, and she held her breath waiting for whatever news he was about to impart.
“There’s no easy way to say this, Josephine,” he began, dropping any formalities previously put in place between them.
“Whatever is wrong and troubling you, we can find a solution together,” she said with pleading eyes, although he avoided looking at her. In fact, he was doing his best to cast his gaze anywhere but on her. “Milton… please… tell me what’s wrong.”
He ran his fingers through his thick black hair, causing several strands to stand up on end.
She wanted to reach out to him and push them gently back into place, but the seriousness of his features made her stay where she was.
A feeling of dread filled her heart when his blue eyes finally turned to her with what she could only term as regret.
“I’m afraid any plans I may have had for our future together will have to be put on hold,” he finally answered, taking a seat next to her and reaching for her gloved hands.
“You’re worrying me, Milton. What’s wrong?”
“My father has been terribly ill, and I must take over his business dealings. Unfortunately, that entails a lengthy journey that will take me far away from England’s shores,” he said, while his thumb traced the fabric of her glove.
She swallowed hard, trying to keep her composure. “For how long?”
“I may be gone for close to a year, maybe more. At the moment, I have no way of knowing when I’ll return. I’m sorry, Josephine.”
She frowned, thinking back to previous conversations.
She knew his father had not been well for some time.
She began to surmise that Milton knew more than he was telling her.
“How long have you known you would be leaving? That you’d have to travel in order to take care of your father’s investments? ”
“I knew you wouldn’t take this well,” he sighed, wiping his hand across his eyes before tugging at the edge of his cravat as though it was too tight. “But… I realized I was going to have to leave about a month ago.”
“And you’re only telling me this now?” she cried out.
“There’s nothing that can be done to change the course my life will now take. My father is depending on me, and I cannot let him and my mother down.”
“But what about us?”
He reached over to wipe the tear that cascaded down her cheek. “I cannot ask you to wait for me, Josephine. Go live your life and find yourself a worthy husband. I cannot make you an offer for your hand.”
She rose angrily to her feet. “You led me to believe you would marry me. How could you lead me on like this? Was I just a game to you?”
“That’s not fair. You know I have feelings for you.” He stood reaching for her hand, but she darted out of his grasp.
“Apparently your so-called feelings are not very strong, or you’d be asking to marry me so I could come with you,” she said, as a sob caught in her throat. All her hopes and dreams were being dashed away, and she didn’t know how she could keep Milton from leaving.
He gave a heavy sigh and ran his hand across his nape again. “Since I don’t know what my future will bring, that wouldn’t be fair to you. I’m sorry to disappoint you, Josephine. It was never my intention to hurt you.”
“I’ll never forgive you…”
She gave one last glimpse upon his handsome face before she picked up the hem of her gown and ran back inside to look for her brother.
She spotted him. He appeared as bad as she felt, and for a moment, she wondered what had happened that caused him to appear so lost. There would be plenty of time to discuss their evening once they were in their carriage.
“Can we go home?” she asked, trying to keep from making a scene by sobbing out her heartbreak. Such behaviour was sure to end up in the latest column in The Teatime Tattler.
“What’s happened?” Richard asked, in brotherly concern.
“I just want to leave. Is there anything wrong with that?”
“We’re at a ball, and you were enjoying yourself, earlier. If I recall, you were happily dancing with Milton. Where is he?”
“Who cares! I want to go home, Richard. Now.” Her raised voice caused several nearby couples to turn in their direction.
He watched her suspiciously, clearly wondering what happened. “Do I need to call Milton out?”
Her eyes widened and tears pooled in their depths before she shook her head. “No. We had a falling out. Now, can you please take me home?”
“Of course.” He took her arm after sending a servant in search of her chaperone, and escorted Josephine from the Assembly room.
Any thoughts of becoming Milton’s wife were now completely dashed. With no other prospects for a husband, Josephine began to wonder if she would live out the rest of her life as a spinster.