Chapter One #2
“Dearest Lavinia, you came.” Lady Clementine Basingthwaite rose from the sofa and, heedless of social expectations of decorum in young ladies, ran to her best friend and grasped both hands, tugging her into the drawing room.
Anticipation and expectation raced through her body, and she found it impossible to join her friend on the sofa.
Since the arrival of the flowers from William, she had been unable to settle.
Now, desperate for her friend’s thoughts, she paced while Lavinia settled herself.
“You appear to be excited. Can it have anything to do with William?” Lavinia carefully arranged her skirt and set aside her reticule before looking up expectantly.
Clem’s soft pink skirt swished as she walked to the window and looked out, knowing it was far too early for him to call but looking all the same, as though through strength of will alone she could draw him to her door.
Clem spoke over her shoulder before joining Lavinia on the sofa.
“Maybe. Perhaps. He sent the most beautiful bouquet of red roses this morning, and his card was—” Heat warmed her cheeks as she thought of his words, committed to memory and repeated in her mind so often she would remember them to her last day on earth.
Words so simple yet which conveyed a depth of feeling she reciprocated in full.
Coupled with red hothouse roses, which must have cost him a fortune, they were as close to a declaration as it was possible to make without uttering the words.
Turning her head to the vase in pride of place on the table beside her, she stroked a finger over one soft petal.
“From Will, I’m guessing.” Lavinia’s tone was amused but gentle.
Since meeting Lavinia at Madame Dubord’s finishing school, they had been as close as sisters, perhaps closer, given their enjoyment of shared but illicit adventures: nighttime raids on the kitchen and climbing out of their shared bedroom onto the tree branch that tapped on their window when the wind blew.
In three years on “the marriage mart”, as Clem tartly referred to it, they had supported each other as both appeared to seek a good marriage while avoiding an actual proposal. They’d had small expectations of a love match but high hopes that such a match might be possible.
And then one day out of the blue, Lavinia had introduced Clem to her cousin Will.
Lavinia was the only person Clem had shared her feelings with, and she knew Clem’s heart and approved, though often a touch of impatience for Will’s slowness in declaring himself colored her comments.
But Clem knew why he waited.
“I’m not a lord, which you, my darling girl, deserve.”
“I don’t care about your social position. What I deserve, William Ravenshoe, is a man who loves me completely, who will dare any dragon, including my dear Papa, to be with me.”
How daring she had been as she added softly, “I deserve you.”
“Such flowers are a bold statement, dearest. At last.” Lavinia’s words drew Clem back to the present and made her believe she was not mistaken.
“I hope Will might propose tonight at Jasper’s ball. Has he spoken to you?”
Lady Lavinia Clermont shook her head and set her free hand over Clem’s. “He would not do so before speaking with you, but my cousin speaks only of the very high regard in which he holds you—a regard I know you share. You’re hoping for a wedding before Christmas?”
Clem nodded, sharing her dearest wish with her friend. “Of course. For three years I’ve refused suitors as gently as I could, not knowing why none of them felt right. And now I know. Not one of them stirred my heart as Will does.”
How patiently she had waited, certain that a real love like her parents’ was possible.
Then one day, she encountered Will by the lake at their country estate.
Visiting with his cousin, he’d been strolling by the lake when they met.
He had returned the book she’d set down and forgotten on the park bench.
One look into his sherry-brown eyes, which seemed as unwilling to lose their connection as hers, and Clem’s heart knew.
Before her stood the man she would marry.
As soon as she returned to the house, she found Lavinia and demanded a formal introduction to her cousin. “I’ve seen my future in Will, and I want it to begin here and now.”
Warmth crept up her cheeks that had nothing to do with the fire flickering merrily in the hearth as she admitted, “I love him, and I think Will loves me.”
Tears sprang into Lavinia’s eyes, and she freed her hands from Clem’s hold, found her handkerchief and dabbed her eyes and nose. “Oh, my dearest friend. I cannot wait to call you ‘cousin’, too.”
“I shall contrive to keep two dances for Will, including the supper dance. If you find us missing from supper, please do not send out a search party, Lavinia.” Implicitly trusting Will’s honor, Clem knew she would be safe, but she hoped that contriving a few quiet moments together would elicit his offer for her hand this very night.
Turning her face to the hearth, she lost herself in dreams of Will sitting beside her in front of their own fire, alone. Smoke rose up the chimney, and she sent her prayers up with it.
By this time tomorrow may I be engaged.