Chapter Eleven
Louisa rode alongside Daniel in the park. They took their horses for a slow walk. Daniel seemed content to enjoy the silence between them, but Louisa felt restless, especially after everything that had happened with Fletcher.
She was furious at Fletcher.
She was thus trying to overcome her doubts by spending time with Daniel, but riding horses through the park, even at a slow pace and side-by-side, was not especially conducive to conversation, especially not with Louisa’s right leg starting to go pins-and-needles from being in the side-saddle too long.
As a girl, she’d borrowed an old pair or Fletcher’s breeches to ride astride. No one in her family seemed to think it improper, but here in London, with all of society looking on, she did not have that luxury. But whoever decided ladies should ride like this was likely a man.
Still, spending time with Daniel was likely the right thing to do.
Even if she worried marrying him was the wrong thing, well, what was the alternative?
If she ended the engagement, it would be a huge scandal, would it not?
Not that she cared. She’d long been perceived as a bit odd, but her parents wouldn’t like it.
Still, she had to figure out how to make this situation work.
She looked around. She spotted see Adele and Grace walking the distance. It was hard to miss them; Adele was taller than most women and Grace had shiny blond hair but seemed allergic to bonnets.
“Daniel?” she called out.
“Yes, my love?”
“Do you mind if I walk for a bit? I’d like to go greet my friends.”
He looked up and must have also seen Adele and Grace.
“Of course.” He slid off his horse so that he could help her down from hers.
She didn’t really need his help—she’d been riding since she started to walk—but she indulged him.
His firm hands on her waist probably should have made her feel… something. But they didn’t.
“I can return the horses to the stables if it pleases you,” Daniel said. “Then return in a little bit to escort you home.”
“Oh, you don’t need to—”
“I’m happy to, truly. You looked uncomfortable in the saddle.”
“I don’t love riding side-saddle, truth be told. I can ride, but this leisurely pace over the uneven ground was making my leg sore.”
“Oh.”
“That is, I don’t want you to think I’m uncomfortable with riding generally. Just…this particular ride was uncomfortable for me. I love to ride normally. I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I should have insisted on a faster pace.”
He smiled. “No worries, my dear. I’ll be back shortly.” He took her horse’s reins in his hand and then climbed back aboard his own mount. He walked the horses back toward the stables.
With a sigh, Louisa dusted off her thighs and then walked toward her friends.
Adele and Grace greeted her warmly. Louisa and Adele had grown especially close; Adele had been hidden away as a paid companion to an elderly countess before she’d married Hugh and had not known many in society, so Hugh had asked Louisa to help her integrate now that she was a duchess, and they’d become fast friends.
Grace had been a harder nut to crack because she spent part of the year in Wales, but Louisa liked her a lot, and now it seemed she and Adele had bonded over being mothers.
The three of them had spent a lot of time together the previous season, and Louisa genuinely liked both women.
Would Louisa join their ranks as mothers? It remained to be seen. If Louisa stayed with Daniel, she hoped the act of making heirs was more pleasant than kissing him was.
Lord, what a mess. To the devil with Fletcher.
“My friends, I am glad to see you,” Louisa said.
“Was that Rotherfeld?” asked Adele.
“Yes. He is returning the horses, so I have a bit of time to talk with you candidly.”
They began walking slowly.
“I’d hate to take you away from your fiancé,” said Grace.
“You aren’t. That is, I needed a bit of a break. We’ve spent time together nearly every day this week.”
“Oh, that is nice. You must be excited for the wedding,” said Adele.
Louisa recognized the empty platitudes for what they were. Adele was, of course, being polite and didn’t know the whole truth, but Louisa did not want to pretend everything was fine right now. “Ladies, can I confide in you?”
Grace looked at her a bit mischievously. “Please do.”
They formed a bit of a triangle. Not many people were out today—the air was crisp and the sky was overcast, not exactly ideal conditions for promenading in the park—so Louisa felt safe speaking to them. “I’ve had a terrible week. I need to talk to someone neutral about it.”
“Oh, dear,” said Grace. “Yes, tell us.”
Louisa explained about how she worried she and Rotherfeld had little in common and how her attempts to engage him in conversation had not gone especially well, and the cold fish kisses, and then she explained what had happened with Fletcher.
“Wait,” said Grace when Louisa was done. “Go back. You kissed Fletcher.”
“Yes.”
“And?” asked Adele.
“It was amazing. I did not know kisses could be like that.”
Grace made swooning noises. “Okay. So, you kissed him, and it was much better than kissing your actual fiancé, but then Fletcher offered for you, but only if you broke your engagement with Rotherfeld and couldn’t find anyone else?”
“Yes. He’d pity marry me.”
“Oh, Fletcher,” said Grace.
Adele stared at her. “Oh, Fletcher? You mean oh, Louisa. What a dreadful thing for him to say! I’m sorry he said that to you.”
“Fletcher’s a fool,” said Grace.
“I’ll say,” said Louisa.
“I see two possibilities,” said Grace. “Either Fletcher feels sorry for you and has offered to marry you as a last resort because he cares enough to offer but not enough to follow through. He reasons that, even if you break things off with Rotherfeld, you’ll find another husband.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Or,” said Grace. “He cares for you and wants to marry you but didn’t want to be presumptuous, so he tried to thread the needle and failed.”
“I doubt it’s that second thing,” said Louisa. “He’s never expressed any desire for me beyond friendship. But even if that were true, it’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. He doesn’t want to be presumptuous? Why do men not just say what they mean?”
“He may not understand your doubts about Rotherfeld,” said Adele.
“I don’t see how I could have been clearer.”
“Men are foolish creatures,” Grace said.
“I love my husband, but he can be an idiot. We took the baby to visit my parents this week, and Owen tried to leave the house without the pram. When I explained to him that he could not, in fact, just carry the baby to my parents’ house because Dafydd has grown quite heavy, Owen did not believe me. ”
“I hesitate to call my husband foolish because Hugh suffered a head injury from which he will probably never fully recover, and that is not his fault, but sometimes he mixes up the name of our son with the name of our dog.”
“My father did that when I was growing up,” said Louisa. “Called me Rosie, which was the name of our cocker spaniel. So that is not unique to Hugh.”
“My guess?” Grace said. “I don’t know Fletcher as well as you do, obviously, but he and my husband are close, so I see him a great deal, and I’d wager that Fletcher misspoke when he…
offered to take you off Rotherfeld’s hands.
I know, for example, that Fletcher has been worried that your marriage will mean you will spend less time together. ”
“But even if that’s true, I’m not sure Fletcher wanting to take me to the opera is a better reason to marry than Rotherfeld being rich and handsome.”
“Fair,” said Grace.
“But Fletcher cares for Louisa,” said Adele. “They may not be in love now, but they could fall in love and be happy.”
“The two of you seemed awkward at dinner the other night, and I suppose I know why now. Have you spoken since The Kiss?” asked Grace.
“No, not really. I was cross with him. I still am.”
“Well, let me put it this way,” said Grace. “If it were solely up to you, would you rather marry Rotherfeld, or would you rather marry Fletcher?”
“Fletcher.” His name flew out of her mouth without her making a conscious thought, but she realized she didn’t have to think about it. Given a choice between Daniel and Fletcher, especially after that kiss, her choice would be Fletcher. If he actually wanted her, that was.
“Then I think you should have a frank conversation with Fletcher and find out if he feels the same. Ask him if he truly wants to marry you or if he was just offering as a worst-case-scenario.”
“But if he does want to marry me, what of Rotherfeld?” Would they ever recover from the scandal? Would Daniel grow to hate her?
“He’s a very good-looking man,” said Adele. “I expect he’ll have no trouble finding another wife. And he is coming this way so we should find a far less interesting topic of conversation. Needlepoint, say.”
Louisa laughed. What a predicament she found herself in now.
Daniel approached their little group with a smiled. “Your Grace. My lady. It is agreeable to see you again.”
“Thank you,” said Adele, whose manners were more polished than Grace’s. “Lovely to see you as well.”
“Yes, nice to see you,” said Grace. “We shall return your fiancée to you now.”
“Much obliged. Will we see you at the Atherton ball a few days hence?”
Grace and Adele glanced at each other. “I suppose you will,” said Grace.
“I had quite forgotten about it, to be honest. My family keeps robbing me of my sleep and it is making me feel empty-headed, you see. My son has grown old enough to sleep through the night, or so the doctor tells me, but Dafydd does not seem to know that.”
Daniel tilted his head like he didn’t understand a word she’d just said.
“Swynford and I will be there,” Adele said, nodding at Daniel. “Let me take the countess home now so she can sleep properly.”
After they left, and Louisa and Daniel turned to walk back toward Louisa’s home, Daniel said, “What was that about?”