Page 80 of A Duchess to Fight For
Louisa, I wanted to tell you first so you don’t hear it from someone else. I’m so sorry, and Gertie and I are not happy with the turn of events.
Nora and Harrison, the gentleman who courted her when she broke it off with Percy, have gone their separate ways.
It didn’t work out for them. She says she has seen the error of her ways, and she made a mistake when she left Percy.
Nora has been spending a lot of her time in our circle. Cecil and Kent grumble about it, but Percy seems to like the attention she gives him. He’s not moping around as much.
Louisa was frozen in place. ‘How can that be? She is giving him attention, and he’s lapping it up. He’s not moping around.’
She didn’t want him to mope, but she didn’t want him to fall for Nora’s attentions. Men.
Louisa reluctantly looked down at the letter. She didn’t know if she could take much more news from Emma.
She skimmed it. Emma talked about Harriet’s ridiculous gowns and the new fashion in dancing slippers with buttons on the side. Men’s shirts continued to have more and more lace flopping around their wrists.
Louisa put the letter down. She wasn’t interested in the fashions. She needed to get back to London
*****
“Father, I would like to go back to London. Tomorrow,” Louisa said when she entered her father’s study without knocking.
He looked up from a pile of parchments in front of him.
“Knock and wait for my answer, Louisa. Do not walk in here unbidden.”
She stood in front of his desk. “I’m sorry, Father. I needed to talk with you, and it couldn’t wait.
“I would like to go back to London as soon as possible. Tomorrow, actually. If you aren’t able to go, I could go on ahead, and you and Mother could join me when you are available.”
“What’s this all about? You have been riding, napping, reading, relaxing. I haven’t heard a word out of you about going to London. Then, now, you want to take off tomorrow?” he said, shaking his head.
“Yes. I miss my friends, and I don’t want to stay here in the country when so much is going on in the city.
“I need to be back there. Right now, while the season is still on,” Louisa said, her knees flexing with her words making it look like one of those marionette puppets on stage in the park.
Frederick leaned back in his chair and looked at her, hoping to find something in her face that would give her away and tell him what was really going on. If he had to guess, it had something to do with Percy.
She rattled around the estate in a daze. Nothing excited her or upset her. Her emotions were nonexistent. She ate her meals as if her food was tasteless. She rode her horse without even a smile.
He was happy she wanted to go back and be with her friends. But something was up, and he needed to know what it was.
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Yes. Why? Why do you want to go? Why today?”
“I told you. I miss my friends. I want to go back and be with them.”
“Do you plan on participating in the season?” he asked.
“Yes. As soon as I’ve returned.”
Frederick waved his hand in dismissal. “Discuss it with your mother.”
He looked down at his parchments in front of him, but his eyes rolled up to watch her leave the room in search of Amelia. He shook his head.
Louisa went to the parlour and sat down. “Louisa, how nice to see you. Have some tea.”
