Page 70 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
Once she was finished speaking with her aunt, Andrea turned to see that James was waiting patiently by the door of the drawing room.
Chapter 30
James led her out of Sudeley House and towards the gardens at the rear of the property. Andrea was still just so pleased that they were going to be married, and she did not think anything could top it. All she wanted now was to catch up on the last time that had transpired whilst Cecil was in their lives.
“I just wanted a moment between the two of us,” he explained and turned to look at her. “As much as your family have been so kind to me in light of all the new revelations, I just wanted a moment alone with the woman I am going to marry.”
Andrea glanced around the grounds. Whilst the servants had confirmed that Cecil was last seen walking down the main road of the estate, she did not fully trust that he was not lurking around somewhere ready to strike once more.
“He is gone.” James laughed as he clearly realised what she was looking out for.
“I just want to be sure. I do not believe that I have ever met a man like him where I cannot trust anything he does or says.”
“It is quite remarkable the lengths that he is willing to go to,” James said. He was nodding his head, but his eyes were on her. Andrea wanted to return to the moment that they were sharing between them, but she was just too anxious.
“I am just scared that he is still somewhere on the grounds.”
“He would not dare. Even if he did come close once again, all it would take would be one draw of my sword and he would be fleeing for his life!”
Andrea laughed at his remark. It was true that he had appeared far too cowardly to actually come back and do anything. But Cecil was dangerous because of how unpredictable he was.
“Believe me, he is like a fly, a pest. Now that we have swatted him away, his persistence will disappear. He will move on to the next family that he will pester and steal from until they swat him away too.”
“It is rather sad, is it not?”
James shot her a look. “Do not tell me that you are now feeling sorry for the man.”
“I am not,” Andrea said. She smiled at the thought because she could not think of anything being more ridiculous. “I just think that it is a rather sad existence. As much as he has caused us both so much trouble, I do hope that he finds his place in this world.”
In Andrea’s view, Cecil had come across as a man who needed some direction in his life. He had never been good enough to be the best or the bravest, but he was left in the space in between.
“Then you are a better person than I, for I will not tell you what I wish of Cecil.”
Andrea could see the leftover anger in James’ expression as he spoke. But she knew that his and Cecil’s friendship had a much longer history, and she did not even know half of what he had been through with him. This was something that would have normally bothered Andrea whilst they were courting; she wanted to hear about his adventures and the journeys that he went on with the other men. However, this was the first time where she was actually content with only hearing it if James was comfortable talking about it. He had already warned her of the horrors, and the fact that he did not want to relive that through talking about them. That was something that she was now respecting.
“But we did it!” Andrea exclaimed. She quickly changed the subject away from Cecil to the happier topic of the hour. “I am going to be your wife!”
“I cannot believe it. For so long, I thought that Cecil was going to rule our lives and stop us from ever being together.”
“But we do not have to worry about him anymore,” Andrea reassured him. “It is all over, and I feel that he would be a fool to ever come looking for revenge from you again.”
“I knew he was a coward, all we had to do was just let him show that side of himself.”
Andrea stared out at the freshly trimmed bushes. They were bursting with colour since the flowers were in full bloom. The smell that wafted their way, carried on a fresh breeze, was alive with the different scents from each of the flowers.
“I know that it has not been easy for you,” Andrea said. “You have risked your reputation for me. There was always the chance that my parents could have rejected your proposal.”
Andrea had played the situation over and over in her head. She had imagined James finally having the courage to reveal himself as the author, only to be cut down by her parents and their judgement.
Another gust of wind blew around them, and Andrea folded her arms against her chest to brace herself for the chill that followed. The day was not as warm as she had been anticipating, and so she hoped that she could at some point steer James in the direction of returning back inside.
“I could see the confusion on your father’s face when I admitted to writing the stories,” James said. Now that all was said and done, Andrea was glad that this was something he could lie about. “He was so confused as to why I would own up to something like that.”
“I think he just wanted to see me married, and so it really did not matter to him if you were the author or not in the end. But I do appreciate all that you risked today to show that we should be together.”
“It was my pleasure. I will still have the difficult conversations to come with my own parents, but it is not a secret that I need my father to be aware of immediately.”
Andrea had not even thought that now the information was out there, it could travel much further than James was able to. He was going to have to prepare himself for news reaching the capital.
