Page 31 of The Lover's Eye
He flipped over on the lumpy mattress with a sigh.God, what had he done in life that he could actually be proud of?So far from that, Giles was ashamed of himself.Ashamed of the role he had played in Aurelia’s demise.For being idle and useless to everyone around him.
He wanted to be good.He wanted to be needed.It had seemed like he could give both of those things to Aurelia, but neither of them was ever fool enough to think theywantedeach other.
That’s what made tonight’s feeling so different.Giles was here, in Cumberland, because he desperately wanted to be here.It wasn’t about tickling his own pride; it was borne of a genuine concern for Isobel.A depth of feeling that smarted and ached to even look upon.
If he was fortunate enough to offer her marriage, it would be different this time.His heart would be in the bargain.
♦
Giles’s boots scuffed as he mounted the stairs of Ridgeway House.Now that the moment was upon him, it felt like a daydream.
The stout country house possessed a broken-down air.Cracks laced the mortar joints, and the tall wooden doors were dry and stripped of varnish.It took several seconds for a footman to swing one of them open, his brows lifting with open curiosity when he saw Giles.
“Lord Trevelyan, here to see Lord Ridgeway.”He presented his calling card.
Under better circumstances, he would have left the card and come back tomorrow.That would have given Isobel time to prepare for his visit.But time was a commodity in short supply, if the letters she’d been sending to her sister were any indication.
The footman returned a minute later.“His lordship will see you now, sir.”
Outwardly, Giles maintained a calm air, but he was plagued by a sudden wash of uncertainty as he was shown into a long, dark study.An old man with ruffled white hair and a crooked cravat rose to greet him from behind the desk.
Giles bowed formally, swallowing the gigantic lump that had formed in his throat.“Giles, Lord Trevelyan.Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
The viscount ran a wary gaze from his feet to his scalp, and lingered on the latter.Giles broke into a light sweat.He felt like he was a lad again, petrified of how he would be received and judged.
“Yes, yes,” Lord Ridgeway said.“Pleasure to meet you.”He flapped his hand in the direction of the chair opposite his desk, and Giles took a seat, smoothing his hands down his front and begging himself to breathe like a normal man.
“I beg your pardon for the strangeness of my visit.Under different circumstances, I should like to have left my card—”
Another dismissive hand gesture.“Pray, that doesn’t concern me.What is the nature of your business?”
Straight to the point.Usually Giles would’ve appreciated that, but he was wound tight with apprehension.“I wish to call on your daughter, Miss Isobel.”
The declaration didn’t seem to surprise the old man.He eased back into his seat and lifted a pair of silver-rimmed spectacles off the desk, tapping the tip of them against his teeth.“I believe I owe you my gratitude for taking her in in that weather.Never would have sent her, had I known it was so rough.”Lord Ridgeway’s expression revealed nothing.“Not sure my girl wanted me to hear of that bit, but her lady’s maid has got a loose tongue.”
“It was no trouble, I assure you.”
The men stared at each other for a moment.“Very well,” Lord Ridgeway said with a sigh.“What are your intentions with regard to my daughter?”
There was an old clock somewhere in the room, and it beat a clattering tattoo that gnashed against Giles’s nerves.He attempted a faint smile.“While I acknowledge the nature of our meeting was most unusual, I feel very fortunate to have become acquainted with your daughter.It would be an honor, if she welcomed my company.My courtship.”
God, he sounded like a stuffy old whitebeard.He just needed to reach her.To see her.
The old viscount continued tapping the arm of his spectacles against his teeth.“Did she not tell you she was promised to a local fellow?”
The muscles under Giles’s shoulder blades tightened into knots.“Lord Pemberton was of the understanding she had no formal attachments.”
“She has now.”
Giles wasn’t sure he trusted this man, or if he should even believe him.There was a cloud of secrecy about his eyes.“Is she betrothed, sir?”
Lord Ridgeway’s wrinkles shifted as he frowned.“Her betrothal to Captain Sempill shall be announced at the Everly Ball in three weeks’ time.I regret you exerted yourself in coming such a distance, Lord Trevelyan, but my family’s connection to that of the Sempills is of such long standing.It is difficult to explain the particulars of our arrangement, but perhaps you will understand when I say that certain … expectations exist among us men.”
Among the men, perhaps, but there was no mention of Isobel’s feelings on the subject.Giles fidgeted in his seat.“Would you allow me to call on her today, sir, to offer my felicitations?”
The spectacles dropped with a thud.“I do not think that’s advisable.”
Giles could only stare and hope his tumult of feeling didn’t show through the noble façade.What could he say?The viscount was intelligent enough.He knew Giles’s only motivation could be affection.That was the force that had driven him here, and the same one that made this rejection a scalding stab to the chest.
