Page 3 of The Spring Promise
He was passing the Lacey farmhouse, and made an impulsive decision to turn his horse up the lane. Who better to help him in his quest to win Celeste than his oldest friend, Molly Lacey? Molly was always full of sensible advice, and she was a woman. Surely she would know how Will could secure the hand of the woman he loved and wanted to marry?
Will felt a sense of tremendous relief. Molly would help. She would guide his next steps on his way to the altar.
CHAPTERTHREE
“Molly? Will is here to see you.”
Grace widened her eyes as if asking her:What is he doing here?Molly frowned, silently telling her younger sister to be quiet. Then, after she had smoothed her skirts and tidied her hair, Molly went to see what he wanted.
Will had not visited for over a month, and that hadn’t even been a private call. He had accompanied his mother to visit Molly’s mother. The Starlings and the Laceys had been friends forever, and until Celeste Morton arrived on the scene, there had barely been a week when Will did not knock at her door. That he was here now seemed like a portent.
Had something happened with Celeste Morton? Perhaps she had turned him down and he needed her sympathy—Huh! Or he had changed his mind—Unlikely!
Molly entered the cluttered sitting room. Her mother had been sorting through old trunks of clothing, thinking it would be a thrifty idea to use some of the material to fashion new garments, and the contents were spread everywhere.
“Molly! There you are,” Will said as he edged around a stack of ancient petticoats. He was smiling, but it wasn’t one of hisrealsmiles. There was a tightness to his face, as if he was actually quite worried.
Despite all of her commands to herself about not becoming involved and vowing to set aside her love for Will, she immediately wanted to do whatever she could to make that look go away.
“Will? What is it?”
His smile wavered. “I…” He bit his lip. She expected him to make more of an effort to ask after her or at least pretend this wasn’t a visit with a selfish end in mind, but he didn’t seem to have it in him. “I need your help, Molly.”
“Is one of your family ill?” she asked. She loved the Starling family almost as much as her own, and the thought of one of them suffering was unbearable to her.
“No, they are in good health,” he assured her. “Couldn’t be better, really.”
Ah. It was aboutthe flirtthen, just as she had feared. Molly waited for him to explain, hoping she didn’t look as dejected as she felt.
“It’s Miss Morton.” Will cleared his throat, not meeting her eyes. “I want to marry her, Molly. She is so…” His face lit up, but he held back from going into the detail. Just as well, Molly thought, because she was beginning to feel quite queasy. “I am in love with her, but there is someone else sniffing around her, and I am afraid she will be taken in by him. He is a rake from London and I need to save her, Molly.”
For a moment, Molly couldn’t find her voice. It was worse than she had feared. Will truly was lost to her. He seemed to think he was a hero in a romance novel, gallantly rescuing his lady love. What could she do with that? How could she compete? And the worse thing was Will didn’t even know she was in love with him. Molly decided then that she wasn’t going to weep or wail, and she pushed back her shoulders and assumed a stoic pose.
“Who?” she asked.
“His name is Mark Hunter.” Will’s face darkened. “He is a cad, but Celeste seems to fancy him.”
Although Molly had guessed it must be something like this that had brought him to her door, the revelation still hurt. To know the only reason he was bothering to visit her was to ask her to help him win another woman. Her eyes blurred with tears and she blinked them back. He probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway, his head being full of his wonderful Celeste.
“He is your rival,” she guessed quietly, thinking of herself as well as Will.
He nodded, and strode across the room and back again, narrowly avoiding more piles of old clothing. He was always like this when something was troubling him, unable to keep still while the thoughts raced through his head.
Molly tried not to admire how he looked today, the fit of his beige pantaloons, blue superfine jacket and polished boots. Will had become very fashionable of late, and Molly suspected that was down to Celeste as well. The Will Molly had known before hadn’t been concerned with what he wore, and only noticed a hole in his sleeve when someone pointed it out to him.
He was continuing with his rant and despite her growing boredom with the subject of it, Molly tried to pay attention.
“When Miss Morton is alone with me, I know she favours me. Ifeelit.” He thumped a fist to his chest, where his heart would be. “But when Hunter is there, she is swayed by his smarmy manners and tall tails of the life he leads in the city. I doubt he’s done half of the things he claims to have done. He is determined to have her. He admitted as much to me just now. What’s worse, Molly, is she will be leaving Barton Lacey soon, returning to Shropshire. I am worried that before she goes he will propose and she will say yes. I’m running out of time. I need her to see thatIam the better man.”
“So you haven’t proposed to her yet?” Molly asked, despising herself for hoping his answer was ‘no’.
“I almost did this morning. I called on her with the express purpose of asking her to be my wife.” Again, his handsome face darkened. “Hunterwas there.”
She turned away to hide her tangled emotions. Not that he had noticed. Will was too full of his own passions and longings, oblivious to those of his childhood friend.
Molly’s heart was already aching, and if she helped him to marry someone else… No, she could not do that. Better to tell him now and send him on his way. Then she could have a good cry.
“I’m not sure how I can help you, Will,” she said slowly. “I barely know Celeste, and I am not acquainted with Mr Hunter. I am afraid you will have to sort this out yourself.”
