Page 12 of A Spinster to Reform the Duke
“Wait…” Timothy sat forward so far that he nearly fell off his seat. “You wish to court the lady after justtwomeetings?”
“Do you think she would say yes?”
Chapter Five
“Good Lord, they are sat close together,” Rebecca whispered to herself as she peered around the yew bush, trying her best to see a little more of her sister and Lord Herberton together.
They were sat in a remote corner of the garden, between a large formal pond, and the summerhouse that was placed behind it. Perched on the bench, neither one of them seemed particularly interested in the grand view before them, they were both much more interested in turning their bodies to face one another, talking animatedly.
Rebecca tiptoed forward, moving from one yew bush to the next, trying her best to avoid being seen. She hardly wanted to be caught spying on her sister, but she felt she had to.
We do not know much about Lord Herberton yet. What if he treats her even more poorly than I was treated?
The maid that was accompanying the two of them turned her head in Rebecca’s direction, making her dive behind another of the bushes, so quickly that she nearly fell into the bush. Only by pushing out her hands and grabbing the branches was she saved from falling into it face first.
“I’m making a fool of myself!” Rebecca muttered, yet even with the words, she couldn’t stop. She peered round the other side of the yew bush, pressing her face into the leaves to hide herself better.
She could see spring was just beginning to break, for though Eliza was dressed in a spencer jacket with a fur shawl upon her shoulders to keep out the cold, snowdrops had broken through nearby soil and in front of Eliza and Lord Herberton, there was a flowerbed of tulips, each one with small pink buds, waiting to pop open.
The maid had lost interest in looking in Rebecca’s direction, and was instead staring down at the pond, watching the fish swim back and forth. There was an emptiness to the space, yet Rebecca was so distracted by how close her sister was to Lord Herberton, with his hand nearly on her arm as he rested it on the back of the bench, that it took a minute for Rebecca to realize what was missing from the image before her.
Where is the Duke of Frampington? Perhaps he did not accompany his friend today.
Realizing she had been looking for him, she cursed under her breath and turned away, trying to busy herself with other things, but it didn’t last long. A few minutes later she returned to the same yew bush, watching her sister and Lord Herberton together.
The time must have come for him to take his leave, for he stood to his feet, urging Eliza to do the same, then he took her hand. When his lips found the back of her hand, kissing it softly, something in Rebecca’s chest ached.
She persuaded herself that jolt was fear, mere worry that her sister would have to endure the heartbreak she herself had gone through, yet deep down, there was another feeling there. One she was reluctant to acknowledge was real at all.
Envy…
She closed her eyes, hoping to dissuade the feeling from her body. She hardly wanted Lord Herberton to kiss her hand in such a way, not at all. Yet to have someone look at her, touch her, with such affection… It was something Rebecca now knew was lost to her.
“No one wants a spinster,” she whispered to herself.
Just as Lord Herberton bowed to Eliza and took his leave, followed by the maid who went to escort him back to the house, he passed by Rebecca’s location. It forced her further back into hiding, having to circle the yew bush to keep hidden at all times.
Only when he was gone, and Rebecca had become in such a muddle with the bush that her skirts were all gathered up in the branches, did she attempt to extricate herself. She fell onto the path with a kerfuffle, having to wrench her skirts from the twigs and tear her chemise.
“Rebecca? Is that you?” Eliza’s voice from the far side of the pond urged Rebecca to look around.
Eliza was practically giddy with happiness. She was bent down at the pond, trailing her fingers in the water.
“I see my attempt to be invisible has not worked yet,” Rebecca teased as she rounded the pond, moving closer to her sister.
“Were you watching us?” Eliza asked. Rather than looking irked by the situation, Eliza merely looked amused. “What a sight we must have made! I was practically hanging on his every word. I’m fairly certain I nearly fell off the chair twice in my attempt to be closer to him.”
“Yes, you were sat together like a courting couple already,” Rebecca mused as she reached her sister’s side and offered a hand to her, helping her to stand.
“How amusing you should say such a thing,” Eliza giggled as she stood.
The words brought Rebecca up short, making her pause and tilt her head to the side, watching Eliza carefully.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that Lord Herberton goes this very moment to our father to ask for his blessing for a courtship. Is it not wonderful?” Eliza released her hand and stepped back, dancing in a circle as she squealed in delight.
Rebecca could say nothing, not at first. She merely watched her sister from what felt like a distance, as an audience would watch an actor on stage. The words left her numb, recollecting how she had been in this same moment.
