Chapter Ten
The next afternoon Wilhelmina met with Anna Cherton in town.
Given the lateness of her assignation with Phillip Moreland last night she wished the arrangements had not been made a week or so before.
If she did not come, though, Anna would wonder why and so, even though it was the last thing she wished to be doing, she found herself in the window seat of Gunter’s in Regent Street just before half-past two.
Willa had loved this place since arriving in London, for the tantalising treats of pastries, sweets and ice cream never disappointed; it was just today she was tired and wanted to be by herself to relive the night she had just spent with Phillip.
As they were escorted to their seats her glance scanned across the many other patrons in the room; family groups and friends all enjoying the atmosphere.
Gunter’s was like a small wonderland after the strict parsimoniousness at Belton Park, the range of delicacies still astonishing to Willa, even after her years of being in town.
‘Isn’t it just magical?’ Anna, by her side, had a wide smile on her face as she rearranged her skirts to a good advantage.
‘It never becomes monotonous, either, because they change things so much and it is always delicious. I think because it is such a warm afternoon I am going to have ice cream in the orange and lemon flavourings to keep cool. After that I shall choose a pastry and perhaps a small bowl of my favourite sweets.’
Today they were both wearing pink, Willa’s gown a darker shade than Anna’s.
She seldom wore this colour but the warm blue summer morning had made her choose it from her wardrobe.
Perhaps the shade was a bit girlish for her but today she could not care because she felt so happy, the delight from last night still very much inside her.
‘You did not come to the Taylors’ soiree yesterday or the Smithsons’ luncheon, Willa. I looked for you especially.’
Wilhelmina found lying hard and a blush of discomfort made her face hot.
‘I’ve been busy.’ Not a fib but not quite the truth either.
‘Did you know that George Fitzgibbon has left for the Continent already?’
She nodded. ‘I had heard he was going.’
‘He blames you for his needing to leave London.’
This surprised her even as Anna continued speaking.
‘He told me you had refused his offer of marriage and he had no more wish to remain in your circle, given such a rebuff. I think actually, Wilhelmina, he was genuinely hurt when you suggested he pursue Miss Leonora Blanchard instead as a suitable bride. You were not so interchangeable to him.’
‘Which I am sorry for but can do nothing about. Everyone in London knows that I will never marry again after my first disastrous union, and who would blame me? I told George this myself a year or more ago and if he fails to accept it as truth, what else can I do?’
‘You danced with Phillip Moreland twice at the Kellands’ ball. Sharon Picton and Amelia Drummond told me you looked quite the pair.’
‘Then I think they might both need spectacles so that they can see properly.’ To change the subject Willa called the waiter over and in consultation with Anna they made two orders of ice cream to begin with.
And it was then she noticed him through the window, dressed in black and crossing the road towards them on the street outside.
Every time she saw Phillip Moreland anew Willa was astonished by his beauty but here in public today it was completely different. She knew that beauty intimately now and the same want she had experienced yesterday began to creep inside unbidden as he walked through the front door into the tea shop.
‘Lord Elmsworth.’ Willa tried for a nonchalance she was far from feeling.
‘Mrs St Claire.’ His effort was far better than hers. ‘Miss Cherton.’
The perfect gentleman. The perfect lover. Willa had always known that he had kept his secrets hidden, so why was she not surprised here? But there was a disappointment, too, because when she met his eyes he looked into hers without passion. And it hurt.
‘Would you join us for an ice, my lord, on this warm afternoon?’ Anna’s voice was flirtatious and that fact gave Willa a hollow and awful feeling.
‘I am afraid that I cannot, Miss Cherton, for I have a meeting I need to be at in a few minutes.’
‘Well, I wish to tell you that you have been missed at the recent events in Society, Lord Elmsworth, for everyone has been asking after you.’
‘I have been busy.’
He was speaking about their lovemaking, Willa knew that he was, and a warm feeling spread across her, although when she looked up she saw Anna watching her and clamped down on her thoughts in consternation.
‘Willa has just told me exactly the same and it is such a bother, for these soirees are starting to feel very empty. Would you not agree, Willa?’
‘Perhaps,’ she began and then stopped. With the Earl looking at her directly now she could barely remember Anna’s question. The blue in his eyes was darker here, the silver almost disappeared. Different eyes than the ones that had taken in all of her nakedness late last night.
But he had moved back now, and as he replaced his hat he bade them both good day and left, walking across the road towards Bond Street with that particular and easy gait of his.
‘I hope you know what you are doing, Wilhelmina.’
Anna seldom called her by her full name, so Willa knew exactly what was coming.
‘The Earl of Elmsworth will need a wife and heirs. It is the way of these ancient aristocratic families and you will only be hurt by the scandal should you imagine it otherwise.’
‘Phillip Moreland is a friend.’ She tried to imbue that statement with nonchalance and sternness.
‘Oh, please, Willa. If I am noticing the spark between you both, others soon will be, too. You have a place here in London that is solidified by your reputation of widowhood and wisdom. Silly women with air in their heads might make the same mistake, but you…’
‘I am fine.’
‘I don’t think you are.’ Anna’s voice was lower still now, worry easily discernible.
‘I don’t want to see you crucified by Society’s unwritten protocols.
You are not from a family of the first water, Wilhelmina, and even though you have risen up the ranks of the social ladder by intelligence and talent it will not take much for those who are jealous of you to plot and throw you off.
And believe me they will, because that is how it works here and every one of those jealous mamas and their daughters will want the Earl of Elmsworth for themselves.
I am your friend, Wilhelmina, and I am warning you.
Do not continue this affair, for it will lead to ruination. ’
Willa took in a breath and gathered her courage. ‘I know you mean well, Anna, and I appreciate it, but you are worrying about something that does not exist.’
But her friend was not one to give up so easily. ‘Why don’t we take a trip to the Continent, you and I? We could wind our way through the sights of France and head to Italy. I have a second cousin in Paris who would love to show us his city and it would be a good break for us both.’
Willa put one hand over Anna’s. ‘You have always been a friend and I know what you are doing, but I do not need protecting.’
‘Very well, I will say no more, but if you ever wish to talk I am here.’
‘And I thank you for it.’
Much, much later she and Phillip lay in each other’s arms and watched the stars in the night sky through the opened windows of his bedroom, the endless blackness dotted with lights.
‘If you could make one wish here and now, what would it be?’ she said softly, noting the cluster of Pleiades bright in the northwest.
‘I’d wish that everything would disappear and we could be alone together in the country at Elmsworth Manor.’
A smile surfaced.
‘It might be more difficult to be so discreet there, and social acceptance in the countryside can be very traditional, particularly on an estate such as yours.’
He did not answer, and his silence was somehow jarring. Did he agree? Was he already tiring of her? Is this what happened in the sensual world of the Bon Ton? A quick affair and then an end?
To take her mind off such a problem she stroked the fourth finger of his left hand. ‘What happened to your wedding ring?’
‘I took it off because it felt wrong to keep on wearing it, here like this.’
‘Because of Gretel and her promise of abstinence? The one that she wanted you to adhere to forever?’
He frowned. ‘No, because it felt like a symbol which made moving on difficult.’
‘And you have now? Moved on?’
‘How can you ask me that after the past few nights?’
In his question, the disquiet pressing close shifted further away. They were not hurting anyone. They were just living.
‘Stay with me till the morning, Willa. Don’t go home.’
‘I think you should know that Anna asked me today at Gunter’s whether we were lovers. She said she’d noticed a spark between us and if she could see it she said that others would too. She urged care.’
‘We are older. We have both been married. We are immune from all the silly rules Society sets out so arbitrarily.’
‘You may be, my Lord Elmsworth,’ she drawled, ‘but I am not, for a double standard applies only to the upper echelons. My background is more lowly and I could easily be placed beyond the social pale with my behaviour should we be discovered.’
He rolled her over and lay on top, looking down at her with a wicked smile on his face. ‘I will protect you, I promise.’
‘How?’ Two could play at this game.