Page 8 of Falling for a Forsaken Marquess
“I remember the anguish in your eyes, your silent cries as you lay in bed weeping, and how you lost your ability to smile for several months. I may not recall everything about the situation, but I know how you felt because it touched my heart as well. A piece of my heart resides in you, just as a piece of your heart resides in me, Aggie. I feel whatever you feel.”
Agnes bit her lower lip to keep the tears that threatened to fall. They had nothing to do with Magnus but the tenderness in Lavinia’s eyes. Her sister understood her well, making it harder to understand why she would wish to put herself in such a potentially harmful predicament.
“Magnus told me he loved me, and he wished to marry me, and I believed him,” Agnes said, covering her sister’s hand with her own. “I didn’t think money would become a problem, but it did. Love is not enough, Livvy.”
“But it can be,” Lavinia insisted firmly. “Paul has given me his word that he shall marry me once I turn eighteen. He believes seventeen is still too young.”
“I would prefer twenty-one.”
“I cannot wait four years to marry the man I love!” Lavinia protested, drawing her hand away. “I can marry younger than that as long as I have Mama and Papa’s blessing, which I’m confident shall be given. You were ready to marry at nineteen, were you not?”
“I was older than my years at nineteen,” Agnes argued.
Lavinia narrowed her eyes; her lips pursed as she placed her hands on her hips, or rather, her thighs.
“Do you mean to say that I am immature for my age?” she demanded.
“You are not worldly-wise,” Agnes explained. “That might work against you if you marry so young.”
“Then Paul shall protect me,” Lavinia replied, chin raised. “He shall be my husband, after all. Oh, can you not be happy for me, Aggie? I love Paul and think I shall die if I cannot be with him.”
Agnes’ eyes widened in alarm. “Do not ever speak of death over a man! No one is worth dying over— no one.”
Agnes had had a second to consider ending her life when Magnus left her and married another, but her love for her family had banished the thoughts away as quickly as they had come.
“I did not truly mean it,” Lavinia insisted. “It was just a silly thing to say.”
“Even silly things can mean something. Promise me that you’ll never think about it again, Livvy. You must promise me.”
Agnes desperately needed her sister to say the words and give her some peace of mind.
“I promise,” said Lavinia, frowning. “I would never do anything to hurt my family, Aggie. Surely you know that?”
Anything was possible under the influence of a broken heart, making Agnes worry that her sister’s sweet and innocent nature would not be able to stand under the pressure of intense emotional pain.
“Yes, of course, I know that,” Agnes said, pasting a smile on her face. “Why don’t we finish our game? I think I might be closer to twenty-one than you are. I will not pick up another card.”
“Neither will I,” said Lavinia as she laid out a queen, nine, and two. “Twenty. Have I won?”
***
Later that evening, after dinner, Lavinia went off early to bed, and Agnes seized her chance to speak to her parents. Lord and Lady Trafalgar were loving parents who relied on Agnes to keep their lives running as smoothly as possible. It was unheard of for a daughter to help manage the family finances, but her father appreciated her financial acumen and never decided without her.
Along with a hand in their finances, Agnes was the strength of her family and the one who everyone consulted when a problem arose. They credited her with why their family was not stressed, unhappy, and angry when they had every ground to experience those feelings.
Living in a small town like Lydney meant that everyone knew details about others best kept between family members but were aired out for all to see. As a result, the Humphries were looked down upon by other aristocrats in the area and were seldom invited to social events.
Lord and Lady Frampton and their daughter Miss Phoebe Philips were a family that never wasted an opportunity to mock them under the pretence of being kind and friendly and influenced other aristocrats to practise the same attitude. Despite it all, Agnes and her family maintained their happiness and made do with what they had.
“May I take a moment of your time?” she asked her parents as they sipped port by the fireside.
Summer had not quite ended yet, but lately, one could feel the early icy winds of autumn in the evenings.
“Of course, dear,” her father replied. “You may take several if that is what you wish.”
“Perhaps you might need several to digest the news I have to tell you,” she told him, taking an armchair beside their settee.
Both her parents sat up straighter, their eyes rounding with concern. “What do you mean?” the baroness asked, setting her glass aside and scooting closer to the edge of her seat.
