Page 80 of The Viscount in her Bedroom
Stunned, Louisa could only blink at her. “Georgie, while it is sweet of you to want to help, I’m not sure their parents would appreciate my interference.”
“Interference?” Lady Wade said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. You’ve done a world of good for Georgie, hasn’t she, boys?”
“Yes, Grandmama,” Mr. Wade answered dutifully, unable to meet Louisa’s eyes.
When Simon didn’t answer immediately, his grandmother repeated his name.
“Louisa has a great talent for helping people,” Simon finally said softly. “It would be a true shame if she didn’t understand that.”
So now he was trying to lift her spirits, Louisa thought tiredly. Weren’t they at Enfield Manor yet?
“Of course I’d like to help your friends, Georgie,” Louisa said, mustering a smile.
When they finally arrived, Lady Wade couldn’t understand how tired all the young people seemed, when she herself was energized by the evening. Louisa was able to retire, while the grandchildren listened to the evening’s gossip.
When Louisa was finally in her room, she felt exhausted and sick at heart. There were no more tears left to cry, and it was time to figure out what to do with her life, now that she knew the truth.
But nothing came to her, even as she lay in bed and stared up at the dark ceiling. An hour later, she heard a tap on the balcony door, but she ignored it. Simon even tried to turn the handle, but she’d locked it against him.
She didn’t know what to say, how she would face him again. Or how she could stop this slow slide into falling in love with him.
~oOo~
When Louisa awoke the next morning, she was grimly determined to finish the job she’d been hired to do. Regardless of what was being said about Louisa, Georgie and Lady Wade trusted her to help. And Louisa wanted to do that above all things. It might be her last opportunity, because when Georgie no longer needed her, Louisa would have to return to her sister’s home and hope for the best—either spinsterhood or a marriage based on her dowry.
Neither option overjoyed her, but it was all she had. She would make the best of it.
Louisa spent the morning avoiding Simon, then in the afternoon, she was introduced to her new students. The Misses Chester were twin sisters with twin squints. You could only tell them apart because one wore her black hair curly, and the other straight. The first thing Louisa accomplished was getting them to wear their spectacles.
“Ladies,” she informed them, “squinting calls attention to your eyes—and not in a pleasant way. With your spectacles I can see how lovely your blue eyes are—and even better, you can see me. Correct?”
They leaned toward each other and giggled.
“Besides that, what do you need help with?” she asked.
“Talking to men,” said Miss Chester of the curly hair.
“Georgiana says you are very good at it,” said the other Miss Chester. “Although I’m quite jealous because Georgiana has gotten better at it, too.”
Louisa glanced at Georgie, who looked surprised, though pleased. It was good for her to know others saw her improvement.
But didn’t Georgie understand that Louisa had onlythoughtshe could talk to men? Maybe Georgie hadn’t considered how Louisa was affected by these rumors. Or perhaps to Georgie, the only thing that mattered was how Simon and Louisa fared together.
Louisa set them to practicing their conversation using riding, a topic men found interesting. But during the exercise, Louisa silently questioned everything she’d ever said to a man. Hadn’t Simon warned her early on, that men didn’t always converse straightforwardly? How could she tell that to innocent girls?
She felt so alone, so sad, because everything she’d ever assumed about her life was not as she remembered it. Striding calmly to the windows, she looked out, only to see Mr. Wade guiding his brother through the garden at a pace that Simon must surely be protesting.
Louisa’s sadness deepened, and she wondered if this was how Simon had felt when he became blind, like his whole life had changed.
But how could she compare her situation to losing one’s sight?
She thought of his inability to roam his own grounds at will. If only there was some way that he could walk outdoors like he did indoors.
She pressed her hand to the glass as she watched him disappear around a turn of the path. She’d only been avoiding him for less than a day, and already she missed him.
An hour later, Louisa suggested to the girls that they walk the grounds, in hopes that they’d run into the Wade brothers for extra practice conversing. Louisa begged off, then went to see if she could be of help to Lady Wade. The woman was sitting in her morning room, writing a letter.
Lady Wade looked up with a smile when Louisa entered. “Well, Louisa, how did your new pupils do?”
