Page 21 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
“I will hold you to that, Cecil,” James said whilst lifting his glass of orange juice to honour his former friend’s word.
Cecil held up his own glass.“Here is to the next two weeks.”
Chapter 10
Andrea was pacing. Normally, she would be bothered by the way her shoes caused the wooden floorboards beneath them to groan and protest against her movements, but her mind was elsewhere. The letter was sure to be with James by now and it was completely out of her hands. She felt terrified that he would be angered by her words, and so she kept herself confined to her room, fearful that she had ruined everything.
“Your mother said you were up here.” Lily’s voice in her doorway startled Andrea as she turned and stopped pacing. She had been so enraptured by her thoughts that she had not even heard Lily open her door.“Sorry, I did not mean to startle you.”
“It is all right,” Andrea said whilst brushing her dark locks from her shoulders.“Please, come in.”
“Your mother also requested that I ask you to stop whatever it is you are doing. I believe she’s in the room below yours, and…”
“She could easily move rooms if it bothered her so much,” Andrea found herself grumbling like a child.“It is not as though we have a lack of rooms.”
“Are you all right?”
“No.” Andrea shook her head, though she chose not to elaborate any further.
Lily moved further into the room and perched on her cousin’s bed, waiting patiently and not saying a word.
“I have sent out a letter to James and I am waiting for his response back,” Andrea said finally.
Lily’s eyes widened and she was blinking more than usual.“You did?”
“I had to, I did not want him to get the wrong idea. I like him and that is more than I have ever been able to say about any man, so I feel it must be right for us to explore this,” Andrea said decisively.
She was playing with one of the ruffles around the neckline of her dress, the soft material passing through her finger and thumb as a bout of worry returned to her.
“I was thinking we could perhaps go out for a walk or a ride? Your mother said you have not—”
“Lily, I do not think I will be able to do anything like that until I have received a response,” Andrea cut her off.“I am sorry for how rash I sound, but I cannot focus on anything else. I fear that I will grow to vex you with my talk of the marquess.”
In reality, Andrea just wanted to be alone. She did not want to have to deal with her cousin or anyone else constantly asking if she was all right. Frankly, she could only answer honestly and that she was not all right, and that was not what her family wanted to hear.
“Does your mother know about this letter?”
“No, and I would appreciate it if you did not say a word about it,” Andrea warned Lily. She held a hand out with a pointed finger as though warning her cousin there would be consequences.
“I have never seen you this way before,” Lily answered with a chuckle.“I am not sure whether to be worried about your state of mind or pleased that you are finally seriously considering the affections of a man.”
“He can tell me stories of adventures,” Andrea said, her eyes glazing over at the thought.
“I am sure that he can offer much more than that,” Lily said whilst shaking her head.“But I suppose some things will notchange.”
Andrea shrugged off her friend’s comment, Lily was family, but she was much closer than anyone else around her. She was Andrea’s confidant, and she knew she could trust her with anything.
Lily looked pensive before speaking again.“Besides, I am sure he will be pleased to receive a letter detailing your feelings.”
“I suppose,” Andrea said.“But I was very honest…bluntly honest. What if he does not like that?”
“No man with half a mind would not like a woman to be honest with him in a letter.” Lily smiled at the idea.“Trust me, I am sure he was very pleased.”
*
James had walked deeper into the woods than he had ever gone before. He was beginning to question whether he had gone so far that he was no longer on the grounds of Sudeley and within the boundaries of Baron Rivers’estate.
After finding a thick tree to lean against, he took the letter out of his pocket and let his blue eyes pore over the words once more. Even though it was not the first time he was reading the letter, nor was it the second or third, he could still feel his stomach fluttering at each phrase. Whilst James had suspected something was wrong, he had never expected Andrea would be so open and honest with him when it had been completely unprovoked.
