Chapter 12 #3
Her fingers pressed his arm. “You are very kind to say so. The more so when I know your heart long desired that house.”
To her great surprise, he reached across with his other hand and pressed hers where it lay on his arm.
“You may think it strange, but I find my desire for Stoneleigh fades with every passing day. I still wish to understand why Lady Warrington did as she did, but my contentment with it grows all the while. I am glad, I think, that you have been given such a gift. The more so for your father’s difficulties. ”
For a moment she could not speak, so sweet were the words, so great their effect on her.
She wanted to lean into him and whisper that his acceptance, his gladness on her behalf, meant more than she could say.
Instead she blinked away the moisture at her lashes and walked quietly on, wishing she knew how to tell him all she felt.
“Besides, I have Glenbrae,” he went on, a twinkle in his eye. “Though I may yet leave it to my brother — should he succeed with Miss Galbraith.”
Viola’s brows lifted. “I had wondered whether there was an interest there.”
“There most certainly is.” He shook his head. “Though my brother is the more fervent of the two, I fear. Still, I hope for his success.”
“As do I.” They fell quiet again, and Viola found a strange comfort in the reassurance that it was Lord Brookmire who pursued Miss Galbraith, and not Lord Carrington himself. A soft smile touched her mouth, her heart taking the greater pleasure in his company for it.
“Is your father to come to London?” he asked, after a while — gently, and she heard what he did not say beneath it: that there were things in that walnut box her father ought one day to know, and that only she could judge the how and the when of telling him.
Viola shook her head. “I have asked him — begged him, very nearly. But there is too much for him to do at home, and he will not leave it, so for now I must stay and hope he may yet be persuaded.” Her heart squeezed, for she missed him dreadfully.
“We had to let many of the staff go, years ago, so there is a great deal he must do alone. But I mean to see that Lady Warrington’s gift goes toward his ease, so that some of his burden is lifted.
He has scrimped and saved for years to better my comfort, even in small ways. It is the very least I can do.”
“An excellent gentleman.”
She smiled. “A little too trusting, perhaps.” At his curious glance, she lifted her shoulders and let them fall.
“I was only a child, but I recall the night he took in three gentlemen to discuss an investment. They sat in our home and spoke of partnership, and laid documents before him. He read them carefully, I am sure, and chose to invest.” Her brow furrowed.
“I can still see him pacing the drawing room, muttering over it. And when the venture began to falter, those gentlemen assured him it was only temporary, nothing to fear.”
“And yet his instinct was right.”
Heat gathered behind her eyes, though she let no tear form.
It had been so long, and still the pain of his loss lingered.
“When the money was gone, his partners were nowhere to be found. He lost the most, I believe. To this day I do not know whether there was something nefarious in the scheme. I know only that he trusted them with all he had.” She studied the path ahead, where sun and shadow shifted restlessly.
“That is why I say he is too trusting. But he is also determined and stalwart, and those I value greatly.”
“As anyone should,” he said, as they came out of the shade into a brighter clearing near the pond. “Now, Miss Trent — if we are to consider Lady Warrington’s will, and her connection to your family, I think we must — ”
“Oh, Lord Carrington! Miss Trent, good afternoon!”
Viola startled at the loud exclamation, and felt Lord Carrington’s arm tighten beneath her fingers, as taken aback as she.
“Miss Galbraith. Lady Henderson.” He cleared his throat, shot Viola a quick look, and bowed. “We were taking the air. You are acquainted with Lady Manion, I think?”
The ladies exchanged their greetings, but Viola did not step away from Lord Carrington, her hand lingering on his arm. There might be glances from Miss Galbraith and Lady Henderson at their closeness. She found she could not care.
“We were just remarking on the weather,” Lady Henderson said. “So steady it ought to be, and yet a day or two has felt quite autumnal.”
“Indeed.” Hannah came to Viola’s side. “Though I am glad of the sun myself.”
“It can make one’s circumstances feel rather provisional, can it not?” Lady Henderson said, her eyes on Hannah rather than Viola. “So much changes with the seasons.”
Miss Galbraith nodded along with her mother, then looked directly at Viola. “Stoneleigh House must feel a temporary arrangement to you, Miss Trent. As though you are to have it only for a Season.”
The words landed softly, and Viola frowned, uncertain of them. “It is certainly taking time to feel I truly belong there.”
“And perhaps you never shall,” Miss Galbraith said, smiling, waving a hand as if it were the lightest of remarks. “Circumstances may yet change. You may decide it is not to be a home for you after all.”
Viola swallowed and looked from her to Lady Henderson, who was frowning now at her daughter. There it was again — the suggestion of impermanence, that she did not belong and never would. Her heart twisted under the weight of it.
“I think Miss Trent will suit Stoneleigh House very well.” Lord Carrington spoke up, his chin lifting, his free hand crossing to settle over hers as if to prove to them both that he meant every word.
“It is only natural for a new house to feel unwelcoming at first, to leave one feeling a guest in it. But in time it becomes home. I look forward to all Miss Trent will do to bring Stoneleigh to life in her own way.”
Lady Henderson’s smile returned at once, and she reached to press her daughter’s arm. “But of course, Lord Carrington. I quite agree. Perhaps we may soon call, and see the house for ourselves?”
Viola caught Miss Galbraith biting the edge of her lip, uncertainty flickering over her — embarrassed, perhaps, at being silenced, or at what she had implied. Then her eyes settled, and she stepped closer to Lord Carrington.
“I am sure Miss Trent will do wonderful things with it.” She tipped her head, her eyes glinting as if there were nothing but friendship between them.
“A ball, perhaps, Miss Trent? We are to throw one within the fortnight, and it has already taken up so much of our time that I am quite wearied of it.” Her gaze went to Lord Carrington, that same coquettish tilt of her head, and Viola’s stomach dropped.
She had thought Lord Brookmire the one interested, but perhaps it was Miss Galbraith who had no interest in him, not while the elder brother, the higher-titled and the wealthier, was still without a wife.
“Might we share the details with you, Lord Carrington? I am sure you could advise us where we are at a loss.”
Without waiting for his answer, Viola inclined her head and drew her hand from his arm. “I think I shall return to the carriage and leave you to your conversation,” she said, praying she did not sound petulant. “The sun is very high, and I confess the heat is oppressive. Good day.”
She did not curtsy, but turned and walked away before she could see what Lord Carrington chose to do, the summer air thick and heavy in her lungs. Hannah came beside her, slipping an arm through hers, and from behind them Viola heard his low voice, and then Miss Galbraith’s gentle laugh.
“It meant nothing,” her sister said, the words trickling in but unable to mend the wound.
“Miss Galbraith only meant you might think of selling the house one day, that is all. Neither said you do not belong there. For heaven’s sake, Viola — Lady Warrington gave it to you, in clear distinction from all others.
What you do with it after is your own affair, whatever anyone thinks. ”
Viola said nothing and walked on, her steps quickening, desperate to be away from all of them — Miss Galbraith, Lady Henderson, and Lord Carrington too.
* * *
“I do not want to be here, Hannah.”
Her sister only smiled, to Viola’s displeasure. “And yet here we are,” she said, as the ball swelled in volume and number around them. “We cannot hide away. You know that as well as I.”