Page 34 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
“I am sorry about her, she gets confused sometimes,” Andrea said, trying to cover for her cousin. She was not sure what was so wrong with her having some tea with a man who had already been over before.
“As I was saying, I just wanted to apologise for the way I acted the last time I was here. It was rude of me to eavesdrop,” Cecil went on to say, bowing his head slightly to show that he truly meant it.
“I must admit that I am much the same as you in terms of wanting to know details about other people’s lives,” Andrea said, chuckling. It was true, she had gotten into trouble many times for eavesdropping when her father had important guests over. It was just something that she could not help, but it was something she could not exactly be angry at someone else for doing either.
She had not been expecting to receive a notice that Sir Cecil Blakewell was calling for her that morning. Andrea still was not fully certain why he had bothered to spend some time with her, but she was determined to find out. Also, the fact that he had come without James and was not mentioning him much was starting to concern her.
He was also telling her stories of adventure. Andrea realised he had been out there with James too, and he had seen much the same thing. The only difference was that Cecil was much more obliging to answer her questions on the topic of travel.
“I do not think you would do very well on a ship,” Cecil remarked, chuckling to himself.“And I am not saying that because you are a lady, but because you simply do not understand how to live on a boat.”
Andrea could not argue with that. She had once travelled on a quaint barge down the river Thames, but that was nothing compared to the kinds of ships that Cecil was talking about in great detail.
“Then how do you live on a boat?” Andrea quizzed, her eyes narrowing in intrigue.
“Well, the first rule is that one must follow the boat’s movements, especially when you are out on open water. You are going to be moving about quite a lot, and it will only upset your body if you fight those movements.”
“I have heard of men becoming seasick,” Andrea said, remembering one of her books where she had read about it.
“Yes, and when it strikes, it really is awful. Some men cannot keep down any food and are pretty much useless for the entire voyage. I remember one awful trip when some of the crew refused to give a man any more food because they saw it as a waste. He was only going to be sick again, and so they stopped feeding him,” Cecil explained.
The image in her mind slightly put her off the cake that had been served with their tea, but Andrea was too exhilarated by the conversation to care.
“And you? Did you ever suffer from this ailment?”
“Once or twice,” Cecil admitted whilst shrugging his shoulders.“Though after a time, I learned how to move with the boat. If you let your body sway when the boat sways, then it becomes much easier to go about your day.”
Andrea could not hide her intrigue. With everything that Cecil told her, it only ignited even more questions within her.
“I am surprised you even went on a boat again after you were seasick. To me, it sounds enough to put me off ever travelling by boat again,” Andrea said whilst taking a sip of her tea.
“And how do you propose I would have gotten home?” Cecil asked, laughing.“It is not as easy as just walking home from China.”
At this, they were both chuckling. The notion of walking back from China was ridiculous.
“It would take you as long as the entire war took!” Andrea continued to laugh, shaking her head at the thought.“I see that you just have to bear it then.”
“Exactly, it is not a choice so much as the only option.” Cecil nodded his head slowly.“But enough about me, I want to hear about you.”
Andrea was caught off guard by his question. He had been so interesting up until that moment, but now he was asking questions about her. It was not that she found it suspicious, but she did find it rather strange that he was talking to her as though he wanted to begin courting.
“Well, I suppose there is not much to tell. I spend my days here on these grounds reading and wishing that I could be on the other side of the world and having adventures.”
Andrea was so used to trying to be clever about how she said it that she had gotten to the point where she was just saying it as plainly as possible and hoping for the best.
“I am sure there is more to you than that,” Cecil said, chuckling.“I also fear that you are far too beautiful to be kept out here in the Cotswolds. Tell me, when was the last time you were in London?”
Andrea had to think for a moment. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes; it had been some time since she had last had to dodge an event in the capital.
“I am not sure, but it was a long time ago,” she said whilst shrugging.“There is talk that I will become a spinster. I prefer to stay out here where I do not have to hear about such talk to my face. The women in London are much braver and less reserved in their opinions of others.”
“Yes, the women do make it feel as though you are walking into a lion’s den,” Cecil said.“But I am sure you could simply charm them with your beauty and that would all be forgotten.”
“I am afraid you do not know the nature of these women then,” Andrea said, laughing slightly.“They do not tend to forget things like that. If you have a glaring weakness, it will be used against you in the form of rumours in the ton. Sometimes you could enter a room, but your reputation would have been a few steps ahead of you.”
“Yes,” Cecil agreed,“I know what that is like. To know that everyone was just talking about you before you entered the room is not nice.”
Andrea was slightly concerned that he was referring to his reputation. She had thought back to the different events she had been to over the past year; she did not remember seeing Sir Blakewell at any of them. Even her mother had appeared rather confused as to who he was or what his relation was to the nobility. Though, judging by his title, Andrea was of the opinion that he must have bought his way in.
