Page 37 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
“Good morning, Lady Andrea,” Cecil said whilst bowing his head.
“Good morning, Sir Blakewell,” Andrea responded, trying her best to keep her curiosity and confusion at bay, but it was no use.“Wait outside, please,” she instructed the two maids, who quickly obeyed and hurried from the room.
“What a lovely surprise that you have called on me this morning. I suppose you are here to escort me to church?” Andrea went on to ask as soon as the door was shut.
“I…what?” Cecil squinted at her in confusion, but this only baffled Andrea more.
“To church…it is Sunday,” Andrea stated in as plain a way as she could.“Are you not a worshiper of the Lord?”
“I…have been known to forget when Sunday comes around,” Cecil murmured.“Otherwise, I would have stayed at home and waited until after service to come and see you.”
Andrea was not sure she believed what he was telling her. Cecil often avoided church. That was not the kind of man she wanted to be with. Andrea was trying to find the joke in his eyes, that this was all some strange jest that she was not understanding. But she then started to realise that he was being serious.
“You do not go to church.” She had not meant to say the remark out loud.
“I pray often,” Cecil said in his own defence.“But I find that the Lord has done little for me over the years, and I am not sure I have it in my weekly schedule to make time for him every single Sunday.”
“Do not you think that he may be more inclined to answer your prayers if you did attend Sunday service?” Andrea asked with narrowed eyes. The shine of Cecil Blakewell was quickly fading in her mind.
The door was opening slowly, causing both of them to turn around.
“Forgive the interruption, Lady Andrea, but your mother is urging us to be leaving for church immediately,” Lara mumbled, keeping her eyes down.
“All right,” Andrea said whilst stepping closer to the door, watching as the maid opened it a little wider.“Perhaps I will see you later, Sir Cecil,” Andrea said after giving him a passing glance. She did not wait for his response before stepping out the door and having her maid close it behind her.“Make sure that he does not linger,” she instructed the maids before leaving to find her mother.
*
After the service, Andrea could not even get close to James before he was off and heading back towards his residence.
“Andrea.” It was Lily’s voice, and she was clearly a little hesitant.
Andrea was not sure how to react since neither of them had spoken to one another since the day before when Lily had walked off.
“I think you were right,” Andrea said before Lily could say another word.
“I…what?” Lily walked off with her to the side, leaving Andrea’s parents to make their own way back to Sudeley.“I was coming here to apologise and to tell you that I think you should do as you please…”
“Well, I think I actually prefer your original advice,” Andrea murmured. It was not an easy task to admit that she was wrong in a situation like that, but she had no other choice.
“What happened?” Lily’s voice was much softer now, as though she was preparing herself to comfort her.
“Cecil called for me again this morning,” Andrea said. She decided to leave out the part where she had caught him staring at one of her maids.“I thought it strange because we were just about to leave for church, but it turns out he does not even go to church much.”
“Wow,” Lily breathed out.“And he admitted this to you freely?”
“I suppose I caught him out, in a way, he had no choice but to admit that he had not even known it was time for church this morning,” Andrea explained.
“Are you all right?” Lily asked after a slight pause.
“I am fine, I just feel…disappointed.”
Andrea did not like to admit such a thing, but it was how she felt. She had been so certain that Lily had been incorrect in her judgement, but it appeared as always that she was in fact right.
“I am sorry.” Lily sighed.“It is not a nice feeling, and I wish he had just left you alone so you would not feel this way. There is still always James, though? He was the one who really had your interest the entire time.”
“He was,” Andrea said, letting out a deep huff of frustration.“But I fear he has lost interest. He did not even try to acknowledge me today at church.”
“He seems like the pensive type, perhaps he is just unsure of what to do next,” Lily suggested. Andrea was now much more inclined to listen to her cousin’s advice. She had already made the mistake of doubting her once and had got it horribly wrong.
