Page 64 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
“But what is there to do? My parents just want me married, and it is my own fault because I have always made that such a difficult task for them. To break off this engagement would be seen by them to seal my fate as a spinster.”
“We are just going to have to hope that the truth prevails, which I think it will,” Lily said.
They remained in silence for a moment, but Andrea did not feel any better about the situation.
“I am sorry for disregarding your judgement. If I had just listened to you then—"
“Andrea, hindsight is a luxury that we did not have at the time. You could never have known. One thing that you should never see as a fault is that you like to try and find the good in everyone, and sometimes there are bad people who will take advantage of that.”
“I still wish that I had listened to you,” she grumbled.
Lily then turned and frowned as she saw the amount of paper that was near the door
“What is all that?”
Andrea turned and was slightly reluctant in answering.
“It is a secret novel that has been written for me,” she explained.
“Pardon?”
“I know who the author is of the novels that I love to read, and he needed to send me a message within the pages of his newest piece of work. I have been reading it this afternoon.”
Lily blinked a few times and glanced from the pile of papers and then back to Andrea.
“So, you also have an admirer on top of all this?”
“Not necessarily, he is…involved.”
“It is the marquess, is it not? He is Dean Morris? The author that you have been so obsessed with.”
“How did you guess?” Andrea asked with a start.
“Because you are always going on about him, and I have often seen the marquess writing in that large book of his in different locations on the estate. For you to now say that someone close to you is involved, to me, it is now obvious that it is either Sir Cecil or Lord James.”
Andrea grimaced at how obvious it did appear as her cousin laid it out to her.
“Well, to me it was a little confusing too. Sir Cecil started to claim that he was the author.”
Lily’s expression reflected the confusion that Andrea had been enduring since Cecil had admitted this.
“But he is not the author?”
Andrea smiled to herself as she glanced back over at the pile of paper.
“I know exactly who the author is.”
Chapter 28
“Ah, my darling, there you are.”
Andrea had got to the point where even hearing his voice caused her to grimace. Nonetheless, she turned around to see that he was now approaching her. It was the next day, and she was enjoying some of the sunny weather outside.
Her parents were nearby, though they were enjoying some tea closer to the house and within the boundaries of the cool shade. Andrea was surprised to see that her aunt was also reclining with them. She chuckled at the thought of her mother and father having to be polite and listen to whatever Bella was saying to them.
“You were looking for me?”
“I wanted to ask something of you,” Cecil said.
