Page 38 of The Earl's Error
With a small shrug, Lady Yarmouth gave her a cold smile. “Very easily indeed. Do you not recall?” She glanced back to Theodore. “I came to call on the night of Lady Melford’s soiree. It was a little unexpected and, truth be told, I had hoped to make the exchange then. But I could not. You, mydearsister, thought that you would go and find the heirlooms yourself and you brought them back to your bed chamber for your maid to place around your neck.”
Lady Albury snatched in another breath. “But you told me that you thought they looked a little crooked and offered to settle them on me properly.”
Another smile on his aunt’s face sent a shiver down Theodore’s spine. “I did. And it was easy enough to make sure that the clasp did not secure itself properly. Then all I had to dowas wait… and pray that the maid I sent into the house would do as she was instructed.” Her smile grew. “It seems that she did.”
“You told her to place the fake necklace on Miss Trentworth’s bed,” Theodore growled, horrified by all he was hearing. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“Miss Trentworth?” Lady Yarmouth snorted. “No, indeed not. I told her to place it on Lady Melford’s bed, in the hope that it would shame the lady.” The cold smile returned. “I knew how much my sister despised her, wanting to prove herself better than she. Though my maid did not quite manage as she ought to have done.”
Theodore closed his eyes. “You tried to aid my mother whilst stealing the family heirlooms?”
“It was a small gesture, I admit, but I did not think ill of it.”
Theodore shook his head, glad that he had discovered the truth but horrified by just how much had been revealed. “It is despicable, Aunt.”
“Say what you wish, I do not care.”
You are just like my mother,Theodore thought silently, looking at them both. “Both of you are of the same ilk: determined to get whatever you want regardless of how you might go about it. Though in this case, you have both failed utterly.” Seeing Lady Yarmouth frown and his mother’s eyes widen, Theodore spread out his hands. “The heirlooms will be returned to me at this very moment and neither of you shall ever have your hands on them again.” Seeing his aunt about to protest, he held up one hand, silencing her. “And if you refuse, Lady Yarmouth, then I shall speak not only to your husband but to the entirety of theton.Do you believe that society will look well upon you ever again?” He leaned forward. “Are they worth it?”
Lady Yarmouth’s eyes flashed with anger but she fell silent, folding her arms across her chest as Lady Albury let out a sob.Dropping her head, she put both hands to her face and, for a moment, a nudge of sympathy pushed into Theodore’s heart.
“I am sorry for my part in this, my son,” she said, her voice muffled as the carriage drove on. “I did not ever think that such a thing would happen.”
“It is at an end now, Mother,” Theodore answered, quietly, seeing the set in Lady Yarmouth’s jaw.Though something else, I hope, is only just beginning.
EPILOGUE
“Miss Trentworth!”
Joceline lifted her head sharply from her book, her heart stopping for a moment as she heard her name being called again. When her eyes caught sight of Lord Albury coming towards her through the gardens, she snatched in a breath, her eyes widening as she looked to see if her mother was accompanying him.
She was not.
“My dear Joceline.” The gentleman bowed low and then, as Joceline rose to her feet, caught her hands in his. “I came here to apologize. Your mother permitted me a few minutes to speak with you though she will join us soon.”
“Apologize?” Joceline repeated, a little breathless given his sudden arrival. “For what?”
“For missing our waltz,” he said, gently, a light in his eyes that she had never seen before. “I wanted to return to you, wanted to make certain that we danced together again but circumstances meant I could not. I could hardly bear the thought of you standing alone, waiting for my return.”
Joceline blushed, fully aware that shehadbeen looking about the ballroom in the hope of seeing him coming to claim her for the dance. When he had not, she had told herself that it was perfectly understandable, though part of her had been afraid that what she had told him had been too great a shock.
“It is all over,” he told her, as she caught her breath, eyes flaring. “The necklace has been returned to me.”
“Then… then it was as I thought?” she said, as he nodded. “Good gracious! Little wonder that you did not manage to return to the ball!”
He chuckled, a sense of ease and happiness about him that, to Joceline’s mind, was entirely new. “It was quite an extraordinary evening!” Still holding her hands, he took a small step closer to her. “My aunthadtaken the necklace. She had arranged it all, intending to exchange it so that both my mother and I would not notice.” His smile faded. “I am sorry that she tried to have you shamed for the theft. It was her maid who made the exchange, though she was meant to leave the paste necklace in your mother’s bed chamber. It was almost as though my aunt wished to please my mother by doing so, even though she was taking the heirloom from her!”
Joceline blinked quickly, a little overwhelmed by all she was hearing. “It must be rather difficult for you to accept all of this.”
“It has been but, in truth, not only am I relieved to have recovered the necklace, which is now safe and secure, but I have also seen that throughout this difficulty, I have found something I never once expected.”
Her head lifted just a little, her heart beginning to quicken at the warmth in his eyes.
“I do not know if this is something you will understand or even feel, but for myself, the connection between us is something that I have begun to delight in,” he said, an earnestness in his eyes which practically begged her to tell himthe very same. “You are astonishing, Joceline. Your intelligence, your wit, your kindness and your complete inability to hold a grudge make me marvel. There is no other lady like you in all of England, I am sure, and I count myself fortunate to know you as I do.” Taking a breath, he set his shoulders. “That being said, I should like to know you all the better, Joceline. There is so much for me to learn about you, so much that I should like us to share, and, with that being said, I wonder if you would consider accepting my courtship.”
Joceline’s mouth fell open though she snapped it closed just as quickly. Her heart squeezed with happiness, a lightness in her spirit which she had never truly felt before.
“You do not have to accept me,” he added as if her brief silence was enough to make him afraid of her refusal. “I share with you only what I feel, for my heart is beginning to fill with a deep affection for you but I understand completely if you do not feel the same way. There is no demand or expectation, only –”
