Page 13 of Choosing Her Earl at Last
“It is not only mother’s approval that I am apprehensive of,” Emmeline replied, anger reentering her voice.
“What or whom, then?” Louisa’s brow rose in question.
“The Earl of Ravenshollow,” Emmeline stated flatly.
“The earl? What would he have to disagree with over the match? Mr. Barrington himself said that their family is afforded the rare luxury of marrying for love, not wealth or title. What would he have to protest? Even if the title were the issue at hand, Rebecca is the sister of a marchioness. Surely that would be enough to please most.”
“Revenge,” Emmeline shrugged as if it were the plainest motive of all.
Louisa looked at her as if she had grown another head. “Revenge?”
“I cannot dismiss the notion that Michael might forbid the union out of revenge for my marrying the marquess.”
Louisa sat stunned. “Do you truly think so little of the man to whom you once professed eternal love? I thought you a better judge of character than that, my friend.”
The disappointment in Louisa’s eyes brought a blush of shame to Emmeline’s cheeks. She turned her eyes away and out of the window.
“No.” She shook her head. “I do not know.” She turned her gaze back to her friend. “I only know that I do not wish for my sister to suffer the same fate that I did, while at the same time I am maddeningly filled with envy that she is being allowed the freedom to follow her heart.”
“When you were so cruelly denied such a comfort,” Louisa finished, nodding her head in understanding.
“Yes.” Emmeline sighed in answer, her shoulders slumping dejectedly. “I do not wish to be petty. It is not in my nature to be so, but where Michael is concerned…” She paused, lifting hereyes to Louisa’s. “I cannot seem to find my way to a sensible solution.”
“The heart is a weighty thing.” Louisa smiled sympathetically. “Do not lose hope, my dear. There is still time enough to make amends. The earl may be hurt and angry, but he has remained unwed for a reason. A man of his station and wealth should have wed long ago in an effort to produce an heir, but he has chosen to remain unattached. All is not yet lost.”
Emmeline appreciated her friend’s encouragement, but she was not as convinced of Michael’s forgiveness as Louisa was.
“Perhaps, but much time and hurt have passed since our golden days of childhood when we played together. I am no longer the innocent, naïve young woman that he once knew. I fear that I am rather jaded when it comes to the affairs of marriage and the heart.”
“I wish it were not so for you. Marriage can be a truly beautiful bond between a man and a woman when it is entered into with love and mutual respect. My heart aches that you have never known such bliss.”
Louisa reached out and gave Emmeline’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Promise me that you will try to open your heart toward Rebecca’s choice of suitor. She deserves to know such love and adoration as that which I saw shining from Colin Barrington’s eyes.”
In truth, Emmeline knew that Louisa was right, and she wanted such a life for her sister, but in the deepest darkest parts of her heart, the bitterness of being denied her own happiness warred with her better self. As if reading her mind, Louisa leaned forward, once more holding her eyes. “Promise me.”
Unable to speak for the myriad of emotions swirling within her, not the least of which was shame, Emmeline nodded.I promise…
Chapter 6
“I know that you do not wish to hear my concerns about your choice of a female companion,” Michael began as he and Colin walked side by side along the shady, dappled paths of Hyde Park.
“No, I do not,” Colin confirmed.
“But,” Michael continued in spite of the warning look that Colin shot him. “I urge you to reconsider. From what you have told me of your conversation with the marchioness, you are in grave danger of being disappointed in your pursuit.”
“Miss Rebecca is not her sister,” Colin argued. “While I must admit that my first visit to the Frampton house was less cordial than one might desire, Rebecca had no hand in it.” He looked at Michael with true sympathy in his eyes. “It sorrows me to seewhat the marchioness has done to you, my dear cousin, but I will not allow it to dissuade me from my course.”
Michael sighed, shaking his head. “As much as I might wish to save you the pain, I cannot force you to act upon your own best interests.”
“In the time since our meeting, Rebecca Frampton has not once given me reason to believe that she is disingenuous. She does not care for titles or wealth. You should hear her speak of the working man’s plight. She is most ardent in her desire to aid them. She shows an intellect that is lacking in many of our own peers concerning the deplorable conditions of the impoverished, along with the present state of politics and the monarchy.”
Michael shot Colin with a sharp warning look. He grabbed his cousin by the arm, stopping him in his tracks. “Have you lost command of your senses?” he hissed, his eyes flickering to the other men and women who were promenading around them to see if they had overheard Colin’s declaration.
“To speak ill of the king is treason. Do you wish to be hanged as well as broken-hearted? Neither of you should be speaking of such matters.”
Colin frowned. “We did nothing treasonous,” he argued, keeping his voice low. “We simply shared with one another that which we held of import. We have much in common, she and I, in how we think and feel.”
Once Michael was certain that no one around them had overheard Colin’s declaration, he turned his eyes back to his cousin. “I thought the same of the marchioness and I, but as you can see, she deceived me. I fear that the same deception waits for you.”
