Page 47 of Loving a Noble Gentleman
“Her sister has written to you. I think that is a sign. This Charlotte will only have Mary’s best interests at heart. If she assumed that her sister would be too upset by your presence, she never would have asked you. She would not want to upset her sister any more. She is going through enough.”
Edmund glanced at the large clock that sat in the corner of the room, noticing the time. “It is much too late for me to go now; I shall have to wait until morning. That will give me enough time to work out what I am going to say.”
Edmund left Iris with a smile on her face. She knew her son would do the right thing, and she also could not help hoping that this would get things back on track with him and Mary. With her, he was the happiest that she had ever seen him be. She was the key to Edmund’s future happiness; she just knew it.
Hopefully, some good can come from this tragedy,she thought.I hope that they both get what they want.
***
Edmund checked the paper again to ensure that he had the right address. He did, he felt certain of it, but he was still far too afraid to take that step forward. The fact that Mary was inside there, in a state of distress, crushed him, but he did not know what her reaction was going to be to seeing his face again.
He spent all night long tossing and turning in the sheets of his bed, trying to work out how he felt about all of it. While giving Mary her space, he had tried to distance himself too. He had tried his hardest to push his feelings right down so he could keep on going because he did not want to get too upset about everything. He did not want to lose himself in the idea that he had lost the only woman that he could ever see himself falling for ... but the emotions had not gone anywhere. His feelings for Mary were still there, very strong, circling his chest.
I have to do this; I have to face up to everything. I need to see her, to help her.
He did not know how he would have felt about marrying Mary now before his own reputation was ruined, but he did not think that he would care. He had always wanted to find the sort of love that he shared with her; he did not think that anything else would matter ... but now, after what he had suffered himself, he cared even less. Even with a ruined reputation, no inheritance, no dowry or family fortune, he still wanted to be married to Mary.
He just hoped that she would have him.
With a bolt of determination, Edmund stepped cautiously forward and reached the front door of the home. He lifted up a trembling hand and pressed the doorbell. His pulse raced nervously, but he could not ignore that there was a bit of excitement sitting in his stomach too. He wished that it were under better circumstances, but he was looking forward to seeing Mary again.
The door swung open to reveal a butler standing on the other side. He asked Edmund who he was looking for which made him pause for just a second. Was it rude to go to a home and ask to speak with someone who was not the Lord or Lady of the home? It probably was, so just to be safe, he decided to ask for Charlotte instead. She was the one who had sent him the letter after all.
“I would like to meet with Lady Jones if I may. Please inform her that Duke Smith is here to see her about the letter she sent.”
“Of course.”
Edmund stood in the foyer, just inside the house, as he waited for Charlotte to arrive. He did not know what to expect of Mary’s sister, but he felt certain he was about to find her angry. She said in the letter that she reserved no judgement for what he was said to have done, but Edmund knew that could not be true. Of course Charlotte would have a coloured opinion of him.
Oh, my goodness.
Admittedly, Charlotte came as a little bit of a surprise to Edmund for three reasons. One, she looked very much like her sister. Their colourings were a little bit different, and it was clear that they both took after different parents, but there was a glint in their eyes that they shared. The second thing was the rounded belly. He was not sure why, but he did not think that Lady Jones would be pregnant, although there was no reason at all for him to think that. The third, and most terrifying of all, was the bruise that stained her cheek. It was not an obvious one, maybe if he had not caught it under a specific shade of the light he would not have seen it, but he did, and now he felt worried.
Maybe that is the reason she did not ask her husband for help. Maybe he is a brute!
“I ... I have come to visit,” he rasped, trying to pull himself together. “Because of the letter that you sent me.”
Charlotte eyed him curiously; she looked as if she was trying to work out what his motivation was for turning up out of the blue. She probably expected him to send a letter first.
“Thank you, Your Grace. Would you like to come and sit with me for a while? I can give you some more information. I could only really give you the basics in the letter. I hope you understand why.”
“Of course, yes.” Edmund was so keen to see Mary that he could hardly wait, but Charlotte was right. He did need all of the information first. “That would be lovely.”
As he followed Lady Jones through her home, he could not help admiring the place. She had certainly taken a step up in the world from the home that she had come from, not that the Roberts home was a bad place, yet she was clearly not happy. And Edmund knew why.
Once they took their seats, and Charlotte delved into the full extent of the story, she felt a weight lifting off of her chest. She had been carrying around a huge burden and struggling under the pressure of that because Mary was suffering so badly. Now she had someone else she could share these problems with. Maybe His Grace had done some bad things, but if he was here to help, that was what they needed right now. Maybe Mary would even find it in herself to forgive him, especially if it turned out that Lady Victoria Hartmon was to blame, which Charlotte definitely thought was the case.
“Now that you know,” Charlotte finished while pushing herself into a standing position, “would you like to see Mary? She does not know that you are coming, but I am sure she will want to see you.”
Edmund gulped down the nerves and nodded. He wanted it more than anything in the world. He just hoped that she did too.
