Page 3 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
His hair was the kind of fine blonde that almost disappeared whenever it caught the sunlight. It sparkled as he positioned his china cup to his lips. Andrea thought about Francis with his dark locks, similar to hers, a brown as rich as tree bark. She imagined the hair pushed back from his face as he roamed through the jungle. It was certainly a far cry from the combed blonde before her.
Despite the plush cushion she was sitting on, Andrea found that as time droned on, she was shifting around a lot more. Her façade was falling, and despite her lack of interest in the young man before her, she would have done anything to hear him askhera question instead of it being the other way around.
“Lord Greyson,” Andrea leaped at a sudden pause and cut in, her voice slightly louder than she had been intending,“you speak so fondly of the outdoors, tell me, you must enjoy travelling, then, and going off on your own adventures?”
To call it a leading question would have been a large understatement, but Andrea could not stop herself from getting the chance to ask such a question.
“I…I suppose so,” he said after a slight pause.“I always enjoy the carriage ride from around here to London, I think the scenery is often beautiful whilst travelling during the day.”
Andrea forced the smile not to slide from her lips as she nodded along with him. She had been expecting the kind of travel that would take one overseas, where new cultures would be a shock and different languages would place unexpected barriers in the journey. The road from Oxford to London was almost as straight as her posture.
Her disappointment had left open a pause that the earl was only pleased to fill. Off he went once more about his rowing and how he hoped to be good enough to be in the team for the regatta one year. But he was still yet to ask her a question about herself, and—aside from her own expectations in a man—Andrea could not marry someone who was as uninterested in her as he was in embarking on adventures.
“Lady Andrea, I am afraid your mother would like to see you…I am so sorry to interrupt.”
“Not at all, Charlotte,” Andrea said whilst flashing the maid a smile. Little did the timid girl know that she had just provided Andrea with the perfect escape plan.“I should not keep my mother waiting, she can be impatient.”
“Will I get to see you again, Lady Andrea?”
“I am sure that my mother will be in touch,” Andrea said, trying to brush his question off whilst rising to her feet.
“Can I write to you?”
“Why, so forward,” she said with a delicate laugh. She had also become a master in the art of politely declining a man’s request, no matter how persistent he may be.
“Forgive me,” the earl said, his cheeks flushing scarlet.“You are a difficult woman to gain an audience with, but I shall honour your wish and speak with your mother.”
“Very well,” Andrea said.
Before she could decline, the earl was taking her hand and delivering a tender kiss to its top.
“I hope to see you soon,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Charlotte, would you show our esteemed guest out?” Andrea asked whilst gesturing for her maid. She did not dare break eye contact with the earl, but she also did not return his comment about seeing him soon.
She waited patiently for him to leave the room, her shoulders sagging almost as soon as the door closed behind him. Andrea let out a shaky breath that she had not known she was holding in, her eyes screwed shut and her tense body was finally able to somewhat relax. But her relief was short-lived. The sound of the door opening caused her to gasp and stand to attention like a soldier to a general.
“Well?”
“I cannot marry him, Mother,” Andrea said quickly, not caring if he was still in the hall and listening intently.“I cannot and will not.”
“Andrea…”
“He did not ask me a single question! He only spoke about himself,” Andrea said, knowing this was a much better reason to not be marrying him than the fact that he was not a decorated adventurer with an exciting history.“I cannot be with someone who is not interested in who I am.”
“Very well,” her mother said, but Andrea could hear the exhaustion in her tone.
Her mother was standing in the doorway and suddenly looked rather frail compared to the space around her. Andrea felt her stomach knot at the thought of her mother’s health declining anymore.
“I am running out of men who are interested in your hand,” Lady Celeste commented as she stepped further into the room.“And I am running out of excuses to tell the men that have already tried with you.”
“Just tell them that when they become more exciting people, I will perhaps consider them.”
“I do not know what you are expecting from the English nobility, but I fear your expectations are far too great.”
“Mother, I know what I want,” Andrea said, sitting down once more.“I do not want a man who will talk about himself for hours. I want someone who will listen to me and my curiosities about the world. Someone who has travelled further than Birmingham, for goodness’ sake. Just someone interesting.”
Andrea was never quite so brash with her feelings when speaking with her mother, but she could see her mother was glad to have learned a little more about her expectations.
