Page 15 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
“Ah! Bella, your niece is here.”
Andrea should not have been shocked to see that the woman answering the door was Lady Abigail Andrews, her aunt’s best friend. The two widows had been friends for as long as Andrea had been alive, and she was sure that they had been so long before she was born too.
“Good afternoon, Aunt Bella.” Andrea smiled as Abigail stepped aside to let her into the much quainter house.
“I was wondering when you would next call,” her aunt said to her whilst getting up from her chair.“Come in, do notbe a stranger.”
Andrea followed the two women through to the drawing room. She was glad Abigail was there since she seemed to know all of the gossip of the area, and she always offered good advice.
“I come with a dilemma,” Andrea explained as she sat down.
“Well, I did not think your mother sent you over here to see how I was,” Bella muttered, shaking her head.“Of course, I understand that you are both busy. Though, I have heard from local talk that you should be much busier than you currently are.”
“I am sorry?” Andrea asked, her eyes widening slightly at the accusation.
“Can I get you some tea, dear?”
Andrea turned to Abigail and shook her head.“No, thank you, I am fine. Aunt Bella, what do you mean I should be busier?”
“I am talking about all of the suitors you have summoned to the Cotswolds, only to turn away at the first meeting.”
Andrea could feel the heat rising to her cheeks at her aunt’s words. There was no doubt in her mind that the gossip had come from Abigail, but Andrea was still embarrassed by how many people must have heard it.
“I just know what I want,” Andrea tried to brush it off.“That is also partly why I am here.”
“Oh?”
Both her aunt and Lady Abigail were sitting across from her. They were now sitting up slightly as though having to physically crane their necks to hear her better.
“I have a dilemma with one of the suitors,” Andrea began.
“I suppose that is better than having a dilemma with no suitors.” Her aunt sighed.“I say whatever he has done cannot be that bad, and you should accept the proposal anyway.”
“What?” Andrea blinked in confusion.“No, that is not…I have not been…what I mean is…”
“Bella, let’s just hear her out first,” Abigail said in a much softer tone.
“There is one suitor who I have been seeing more and more frequently as of late,” Andrea started again.“He is really kind…and quite handsome, but he also has stories of adventures—the kind that I love—and he has already shown his interest in me.”
“What is his title?” her aunt asked.
“He is the son of a duke,” Andrea said slowly, knowing that information held a lot of weight in comparison to her issue.
“Wow,” Abigail breathed out.“I had heard some rumours that the Marquess of Blandford was getting close to you, but I had not thought anything of them.”
“Well, he is the one that has made the best impression so far, but I fear I have been too quick in pursuing things with him.”
“How quick?” Abigail asked, her old eyes wide with intrigue. Andrea was not sure where this gossip would go once it left the room; she did not know if Abigail was the kind to spread around word as much as she accepted it and learned more about everyone else’s business.
“He has been over for lunch and has been speaking with my mother quite a lot recently,” Andrea said. It did not sound like much, but to her, those were much bigger steps than any other suitor had taken.
“Child, that is nothing. He has not stolen a kiss? You have not been seen unchaperoned?” Abigail was asking whilst shaking her head.“That is nothing to worry about at all.”
Andrea remained frozen in her seat as she tried to take in the scrutiny from her aunt’s best friend. But Andrea found it helpful to put things into perspective for herself.
“We had lunch with my mother earlier today,” Andrea continued.“It was the first time I realised he may just be like all the rest.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Bella asked. She was combing through strands of her greying hair absentmindedly with her fingers whilst listening intently to what her niece had to say.“If he is like the restandhe is one day going to be a duke, that does not sound like such a bad thing to me.”
