Page 34 of Lady of Providence
“You sound like my grandmother,” she said with a bit of a laugh, though he could tell she was trying to swallow the tears that threatened.
“I will consider that a compliment,” he returned, “For your grandmother is a very wise woman.”
They shared a smile at that, and then she turned to look back down at the set in front of her. As she did, her eyes must have rested on the letter below the set.
“Gabriel,” she said, her voice a bit desperate now, “What am I to do with this bank? With having to answer the questions coming my way, proving myself, protecting my family after Henry’s inquisition, and mollifying the clients who wish to leave?”
He stood and took a few steps forward before leaning overtop of her. He lifted his index finger to rest underneath her chin, tipping it up to look at him.
“You continue to do what you are doing, Elizabeth,” he said fiercely. “Be the woman you are — the strong, confident woman who has this in hand. Prove your worth. Meet with clients. And demonstrate that people like your cousin are wrong. Clients will remain with this bank. If they choose not to, it is their loss, and then more will come in their place. Whatever you do, do not let rats like Henry Clarke destroy your confidence.”
“If this bank fails,” she said slowly, “then we will all lose, more than just the bank, but our very livelihoods outside of it. You have the most to lose.”
“I know that,” he said, keeping his gaze intent upon her. “I knew that when I accepted the partnership, and I am aware of it still. However, I am not at risk of losing everything, not with the small size of my share. You, however, could very well lose all.”
“Until a few months ago, I had nothing,” she said. “Now it seems everything is at risk.”
He paused for a moment, unsure of whether she meant anything further than what her grandfather had bestowed upon her. She couldn’t have meant anything to do with him — could she?
She smiled at him now, the smile of a woman who had lost some of the tension of the worries she held. Whether or not she completely believed in what he had said to her, he had no idea, but he hoped so.
“Thank you, Gabriel,” she said. “For everything.”
He withdrew his finger, though only to slowly stroke her cheek with it, and while she didn’t lean into his caress, neither did she turn away, offering him a bit of hope. He was falling for this woman all over again, which both excited and terrified him in equal measure.
He knew she didn’t trust him, and he was worried that if he pushed too hard to win her hand, she would push back in equal measure, creating a chasm he would never be able to cross again. He would have to win her back slowly, a little at a time. First, however, he had to determine if that was his goal at all. Did he truly want her again? Could he, after all they had been through together? For if he did, it would be forever. He would have to forsake all others, and there would be no turning back.
Before he did anything further in the here and now that either of them might regret, he carefully extricated his hand, nodded his head, and wished her good day before he strode to the door. He paused with his hand upon the handle, took one final, long look back at the confusion now reigning upon her face, and then strode out the door.
CHAPTER16
Gabriel became a frequent visitor over the next few weeks — and Elizabeth was as confused as ever. She waited for him to attempt to steal another kiss or to vocalize his intentions toward her, but he did nothing of the sort, which disconcerted her more than any actions actually could. For she didn’t know what to expect, nor how to respond. So, she did what she always had — responded with the politeness with which she was raised.
Quite often she accepted his calls with her grandmother, who welcomed Gabriel’s visits. Justine, along with her husband, had been aware that Elizabeth’s past relationship with Gabriel had ended abruptly, though they had never questioned why, for which Elizabeth was glad. As much as she had wanted nothing to do with the man she considered to have betrayed her, she had no wish to end the friendship he had developed with the two of them.
Now her grandmother had welcomed him back excitedly, and Elizabeth didn’t miss the looks she sent her way, in both question and encouragement.
At the parties Elizabeth chose to attend, Gabriel was always there. He would request his two dances, one always a waltz — nothing improper, and yet Elizabeth was well aware of the many questioning gazes upon her at his continued attention. Some of them were curious, yet there were many others laced with jealousy as well as undisguised ire and dislike bordering upon hatred. She knew Gabriel was a prize which many women were clamoring to win — for themselves or for their daughters — but really, it was not as though she was stealing him from under their noses. He was the one who, as far as she could tell, seemed to be pursuing her. The issue was, she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about it all.
Which was precisely the question being posed to her at this very moment by Sarah, who had arrived to call on Elizabeth before she planned to visit the bank to take care of the day’s business.
Justine was out of the house having tea with an acquaintance, leaving Elizabeth and Sarah alone and free to converse of whatever they wished.
“I am not entirely sure what to think of his advances, for I’m not even certain I could call them that,” Elizabeth said truthfully. “He visits now and again, and we dance, we see one another at the bank on occasion, but since the day he gifted me with the pen set, it has all been quite… cordial.”
Sarah laughed lightly at that and raised an eyebrow.
“Is that not what you prefer —cordialrelationships?”
Elizabeth was well aware of what Sarah was doing, and she smiled at her friend’s tone, for she knew Sarah was attempting to draw out Elizabeth’s true emotions.
“Perhaps I do,” she said with a slight shrug. “But I find myself in a state of quandary as to how to react when I am not entirely sure of what the path forward would be. If he would make a statement of courtship, then I would have the ability to rebuke him. But as it is, I cannot simply ask him to remove himself from my doorstep or refuse his arm when he offers it, now can I?”
Sarah leaned forward, her deep brown eyes as perceptive to Elizabeth’s emotions as always.
“Why would you choose to take such action?” she asked. “Do you not want Gabriel Lockridge, Duke of Clarence, to court you?”
Elizabeth sighed as she stared at the sandwich platter in front of her, which she had barely touched since she and Sarah had begun to speak of this subject.
