Chapter 2
“This is for your own good, Elizabeth!”
“You said that last year,” she pointed out, not bothering to raise her voice or even look up from her book as she turned the page and settled back against the chair, trying to get comfortable.
“And it would have been if you’d accepted a proposal!
” her father stubbornly argued as he continued trying to pry the library door open so that he could drag her off to London, where she’d be forced to attend balls and dinners night after night all while her parents shoved every single man with a title to his name in her direction.
She wasn’t interested in marrying for a title, but they refused to listen to her, so now she was forced to take matters into her own hands and barricade herself in the library.
It wouldn’t stop them from dragging her off to London, nothing would, but it would grant her a little more time to relax before she was forced to endure the hustle and bustle of life in London.
It would also probably get her father to-
“Fine,” he said, sounding out of breath, “let’s discuss the matter.”
Biting back a triumphant smile, Elizabeth placed her book down, smoothed down her skirts and walked over to the door, but she didn’t open it.
She wasn’t foolish, after all. There was no doubt in her mind that her father had at least two footmen standing with him on the other side of that door, waiting to grab her and drag her to the carriage waiting outside.
“I’m listening,” Elizabeth said, leaning back against the wall as she waited to find out what he was willing to offer in exchange for her corporation.
There was a slight pause before he asked, “Are you going to open the door, sweetheart?”
And make the same mistake that her two older sisters made when they’d been forced to take the same action?
No, she really didn’t think that would be wise.
Besides, unlike her sisters, Elizabeth couldn’t be bought, and he knew it.
She didn’t care about dresses, silks, shoes, ribbons, jewelry, shopping, or any number of trinkets that the other women in her family adored and her father used against them when the need arose.
Not that Elizabeth didn’t appreciate pretty things, she did. She just didn’t care enough about them to cave to her father’s demands or justify spending a small fortune on them. Most people considered her to be odd, and perhaps she was, but she didn’t care.
“I’ll get this door opened eventually,” her father said, sounding hopeful that it would be enough to scare her into unlocking the door and going to her doom quietly.
It wasn’t.
“And then, I’ll just find another way to avoid going altogether,” Elizabeth said, smiling when he let out that annoyed growl that usually worked on her sisters.
“What do you want?” he asked warily, no doubt expecting her to ask for something outrageous.
He knew her so well, Elizabeth thought, unable to help but smile.
“I want my independence,” she said, not terribly surprised when he released another one of those vicious growls that he seemed to love.
“This again? Really, Elizabeth?” her father demanded in exasperation.
“It’s what I want,” she said, wondering just how early she’d be able to talk him into letting her go to her north estate.
Technically, she was supposed to wait until her twenty-fourth birthday to take control of her inheritance, but since her inheritance was under her father’s control, he could release it to her early.
Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about his youngest daughter living alone, which, of course, was the reason why he was trying to drag her off to London.
He was desperate to see her married and her inheritance in the hands of a capable man.
Actually, at this point, he would probably be happy to see her inheritance in the hands of any man that would have her.
Right now, he controlled her life and in his mind, kept her safe, but that would all change in just a few short months when she turned twenty-four.
“I want you to have one last season before you do something foolish, Elizabeth,” he bit out.
“And I don’t want to have to stay for the entire season,” she pointed out.
A long-suffering sigh reached her ears and she knew that she’d just won...for now.
“I expect your full cooperation. You will attend every single ball, dinner, and musical that your mother can gain an invitation for. You will allow men to court you, but you will favor the men that we approve of with your time. You will not sabotage this in any way, and, in return, I will accompany you to your north estate two months early,” he said and she knew that it was probably the best offer that she was going to get, but still…
“Three months early,” Elizabeth said, hoping that he’d accept her counteroffer.
“I’m not that much of a pushover, my dear,” he said with a snort of amusement.
He really was, but she decided that right now was not the time to point that out.
It probably also wasn’t the time to point out that he’d just agreed to let her leave when the season officially started, Elizabeth decided as she unlocked the door and prepared herself for two months of pre-season hell.
2 Weeks Later…
London, England
“Really, Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth ignored her mother as she smiled down at the young man shifting nervously in front of her. Young man might not be a fitting description for a ten-year-old boy, but he was certainly acting like one.
“I c-can carry your bags, m’lady,” the little boy said as he pushed his too-long hair back with dirty fingers.
Elizabeth leaned down to look the little boy in the eye as she said, “That’s a very important job. Do you think you’re up to it?”
The boy nodded enthusiastically as he tried his best to bite back a smile.
“Hmm, I have a very busy day today. I’m going to need someone to wait outside the shops for me and to bring my packages to my coach. That’s a hard job and it may take a few hours. Do you think that you can handle such a big job?” Elizabeth asked in a serious tone, biting back her own smile.
“I can do it! Honest, I can!”
“What’s your name?” Elizabeth asked, unable to help but smile when she saw the determined look on his face.
“Really, Elizabeth! This is beyond the pale!” her mother said in a huff. “Do hurry up with this nonsense. We have too much to do today to waste time on the likes of him.”
She waited until her mother left, feeling her heart break when she saw the little boy’s crestfallen expression. “Your name?” Elizabeth asked softly.
“Toby, m’lady,” he mumbled sadly.
“Well, if you still want the job, I need a strong man to help me today. Now, as you can see, my first stop is here at this shop to make sure that my gown fits just right. If you could be available in an hour, I would truly appreciate that, Toby.”
Looking confused, he nodded slowly. “What do I do ‘til then, m’lady?”
Elizabeth pulled five shillings from her purse and handed them to the boy, watching as his face lit up. “M’lady, that’s too much for carrying packages!”
“Hush, I want you to take that and get yourself something to eat,” Elizabeth said with a pointed look at the two small boys trying to hide behind a carriage. “I suspect that your brothers could use something to eat as well.”
“They’re not my brothers, m’lady. They belong to the family I am staying with,” he admitted with a helpless shrug.
“Just be back in an hour and make sure that you eat a proper meal. Save the sweets for later,” Elizabeth said, shoeing him away with a smile.
Toby nodded as he took off running. Elizabeth watched as Toby gathered the boys, who couldn’t be older than four years old and felt her heart break.
Biting back a sigh, she thanked the footman holding the door open for her and walked inside the shop, not surprised to find her mother and sister glaring at her.
“Really, Elizabeth, Papa does not give you an allowance to waste on the likes of them. He gives his alms every month. This is insulting him, to say the least,” Heather said haughtily, adding an indignant sniff as she tried to look down her pudgy nose at Elizabeth, but she didn’t care.
“Don’t bother asking your father for more money. If you choose to waste your allowance, then that’s your problem,” her mother added.
“I never do,” Elizabeth murmured softly.
Her family didn’t understand why she used her allowance to help the less fortunate instead of on new trinkets, ribbons, and gowns.
Well, that wasn’t true. Mary understood perfectly.
She was the one who’d taught Elizabeth compassion.
Just thinking about Mary made her smile until she remembered why she was here.
Her parents were dragging her to every ball, dinner, and social occasion they could find, desperate to see her married before her twenty-fourth birthday.
It wasn’t difficult to guess why. She’d turned down fifty-five proposals in the last five years and her parents were becoming worried that they would have another spinster on their hands.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to marry.
She just didn’t want to marry for anything less than love.
Mary had found love and Elizabeth was determined to as well.
There was one thing that she was sure of, she wasn’t going to find love at one of the ton’s parties with the same men that she grew up with.
She knew that she wasn’t going to find love in some dusty old ballroom.
When she found love, it would be somewhere unexpected, she knew that much at least.
“Now, come along. We have a lot to do today. We need to be back before five so that we can be ready on time. I want to arrive in time for you to dance the first waltz.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at that comment.
Why was her mother suddenly worried about her missing the first waltz?
She normally liked to arrive late, everywhere.
According to her mother, it made for a better entrance and left Elizabeth’s suitors nervous, which was the way a suitor should be.
Her mother expected her suitors to pine over her and to be in despair if she didn’t arrive on time.
Something was going on and she was afraid that she was going to find out too late to do anything about it.
An hour later, Elizabeth and her maid carried several large parcels out of the shop. She stopped in front of the store and looked around, only to bite back a sigh. Toby was nowhere to be found.
“I told you, Elizabeth. You’re far too trusting,” Heather said with a sniff as she walked past her, arm in arm with their mother, towards their next destination while a footman carried their large pile of parcels to the carriage.
“I was sure he would remain, m’lady,” her maid said with a smirk that said otherwise.
“I was too,” Elizabeth said, sighing heavily as she held the parcels higher. “No use fussing over it. What’s done is done.”
In truth, she didn’t mind one bit. If he’d returned, she would have found a way to give him more money without insulting his pride, but if he needed to leave, then that was fine. She had no doubt the boy would use the money to fill his tummy and that was all she cared about.
“M’lady!”
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder to see Toby running towards her. His brown hair was windblown and his pale grey eyes were as round as saucers. “I’m so sorry, m’lady!”
Biting back a smile, Elizabeth nodded as she handed her packages over to the boy. “That’s fine. You’re here now,” she said, smiling down at the boy, pleased that he’d returned.
“I was so worried you’d find another lad. I swear that I tried to get back sooner, m’lady.”
“What took you so long?” her maid demanded rudely.
Elizabeth threw her a look of warning. That seemed to work, but unfortunately not before Toby’s hopeful expression turned worried.
“I’m sorry. Timmy isn’t used to a full stomach, so I had to see him home,” he explained in a rush.
“That’s fine, Toby. I quite understand. Shall we be off?” Elizabeth asked with a warm smile.
He nodded. “Which one is your carriage, m’lady?”
She gestured to the black carriage across the busy street that bore her family’s seal.
With a nod, Toby took off running across the street and nearly gave Elizabeth heart failure when he narrowly missed getting struck by a passing carriage.
He quickly handed the packages over to the coachman, ran back to take her maid’s packages and quickly delivered them to the carriage.
When he was done, he returned to Elizabeth’s side and walked with her to the next shop.
For the next three hours, Toby was at her beck and call.
He never complained about the number of packages or how long he was forced to wait for her.
When they were done for the day, Elizabeth turned her back to her mother while they climbed into the carriage and faced the small boy, shifting nervously.
“I’m sorry I was late,” Toby mumbled softly.
Elizabeth gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s fine, Toby. Do you know where Belford Manor is?”
He stood straight and nodded. “Well, if you can find Belford Manor tonight, go around the back to the kitchen and tell them that Lady Elizabeth sent you. They shall have some very delicious treats for you,” Elizabeth promised him, hoping the kitchen staff would do more than just give the boy something to eat.
“Really?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth smiled, “and I suspect if you were to offer some help, you’d earn some food to take home to your friends.”
“I will! I’ll work real hard!” Toby said excitedly.
She reached into her reticule and pulled out a pound note and handed it to the boy. “This is for doing such a fine job, Toby. Next time I’m shopping, I shall ask for you by name.”
His fingers shook as he reached out for the note.
He noticeably swallowed as his gaze flickered to meet hers, terror in his eyes that this might be a cruel joke.
“Go on, take it,” Elizabeth encouraged him when he began pulling his hand back.
After shifting nervously one more time, he reached over and took the note from her.
“Thank you, m’lady,” Toby said, his chin trembling while Elizabeth was forced to bite her lip to stop herself from crying when his lips pulled up into a shy smile.
“Take care of yourself, Toby.”
He nodded firmly. “I will, m’lady.”
He watched as she climbed into her carriage with the help of her coachman. Once he’d made sure that she was safely inside, Toby quickly hid the note in his shoe and walked away, smiling as he thought about the angel that saved him.