Page 55 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
Half expecting one of the maids to have brought her some supper after missing dinner, she was surprised when her father entered instead. For one so eccentric, he appeared quite sheepish as he entered, hovering in the doorway as though he was uncertain as to whether he ought to enter at all.
“Are… are you well, my dear?” Viscount Lloyd asked, his cheeks blushing slightly at the question and at his inquiry. Priscilla felt a fresh wave of tears threatening.
“I am, papa,” she insisted, though it was at that moment she recognised the sadness in her father’s usually warm brown gaze, so opposite to her own that it made her feel all the worse.
Immediately upon seeing his expression, she asked, “Mrs. Lyttleton has told you everything, hasn’t she?”
She bit the inside of her lip, determined to remember that it had not been Mrs. Lyttleton’s intention to gossip but instead to warn her father that she might be a little ‘sensitive’, just as her own mother had done were she alive. And the knowledge of both those things—of Mrs. Lyttleton’s caring for her and of her mother’s death—made her stomach clench, causing the tears to bead upon her lash line.
Viscount Lloyd cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his thinning hair before he pointed out, “You have always been well aware of the agreement between Mrs. Lyttleton and myself regarding your well-being.”
“Yes, papa,” Priscilla responded,and it is the only reason I am not enraged with her.Knowing that neither Mrs. Lyttleton nor Sophie would keep her father in the dark if it meant the possibility of missing something regarding her well-being. Though it was an odd sort of arrangement, they were practically family in that regard. Sometimes, Priscilla even wondered whether they might become such were anything ever to happen to Sophie’s dear father, as it had her own departed mother.
“May I?” her father asked, gesturing towards her bed and Priscilla gestured him forwards, forcing a smile. As soon as he had taken a seat upon the bed, he patted the bedsheets beside him and said, “Sit with me a moment, won’t you?”
Gritting her teeth, already knowing that this was bound to be an awkward conversation, Priscilla moved across the room to sit beside her father. When he took hold of her hand, she wasn’t entirely surprised, however, she was surprised by his words when he said, “Cilla, I have never been very good when it comes to talking about emotions and courtships and the possibility of your having a romance, and I apologise for that but I shall always be here for you when one has gone wrong.”
Hair rising on the back of her neck, Priscilla was quick to retort, “Papa, I can assure you no such thing has gone wrong; for no such thing has ever existed!”
Even as she said the words, her heart clenched, telling her she wasn’t entirely telling the truth. But how could she when all she had to say was that she had begun to hope that one might soon arise?
“Mrs. Lyttleton suggested that you were quite upset after overhearing the argument between Lord Sinclair and Lord Montgomery,” her father said, raising one thick, bushy eyebrow as if he did not quite believe her.
Turning to her usual stone-hearted self, the one that she had been having a hard time connecting with of late, she removed her hand from her father’s and stated, “It was the stress of the situation that got to me. That is all. And I felt dreadful for all involved.”
Seeing the look on his face that suggested he was not yet convinced, she continued to reassure him. “Father, I have never and shall never have any wish to be courted. My plan remains the same as it ever was.”
A quiet look of concern crossed her father’s face, and he sighed deeply before asking, “But if the opportunity arose and you were amenable, you would consider it, would you not? If you had any belief that it would make you happy?”
That is entirely the reason why I find myself in this very position. In this particular conversation,Priscilla thought, struggling to stop herself from cringing at the realisation. Even without really knowing it, she had allowed Lord Sinclair to make her see the opportunity. She had even begun to allow him to give her hope that she might actually have more awaiting her in the future.And look how it has all turned out.
Nausea threatened to overwhelm her then, and she had to bite it back just as she was having to do with the tears that still threatened to spill.
“I shall be a happy spinster just as I have always planned to be, papa,” Priscilla insisted, forcing a smile, though she was almost entirely certain that her father could see the tears brimming in her eyes. “I simply wish to be alone.”
At her final words, her lip started to quiver, and she knew it would only be a moment or so before the floodgates were opened.
She was almost relieved when her father leaned forward and pressed his lips comfortingly against her forehead, giving her just a moment to wipe away a single tear that had escaped to roll down her cheek.
Gripping her hand again, her father squeezed her fingers reassuringly and stated, “All will be better in the morning.”
And it was at that moment that Priscilla realised her usual cold character had failed her. Even with her father, she had always been so good at keeping her cool, offering him gentle affection unlike any other man, but still cool in her mannerisms and her words, even if she did offer him an affectionate smile from time to time.
And it was clear from the way that he gazed at her, a continued sadness in his brown eyes, that he did not entirely believe that she was alright with everything that had happened that morning.
Though he said nothing else and averted his gaze as though he did not wish to make her any more uncomfortable, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for a fatherly embrace before repeating, “All shall be well in the morning.”
Placing a kiss upon her head, just as he had done a hundred times before during her childhood, Viscount Lloyd discreetly picked himself up from the bed and made his way towards the door. He did not stop to look back at her until he had opened it up.
“I shall leave you in peace, as you wish,” he assured her with a gentle yet sad smile before he looked at her more sternly and added, “You know where to find me if you have need of me.”
“Good night, papa,” Priscilla replied with a clenched jaw and gritted teeth, the only way that she was able to hold back the wave of tears that were slowly building up behind her eyes. The way her chest tightened had already given her warning that she was close to another sobbing episode, as she had experienced in the carriage that morning with the Lyttletons.
Chapter 20
Hours after finally having come to an agreement with Lord Montgomery, Lionel sat in the library before the fireplace, a large glass of scotch in hand. With each lengthy swig, he brooded over all that had been done, numb to the emotions that had been plaguing him all day.
Absentmindedly staring into the flames that danced in the hearth, he barely heard the approach of his cousin until he practically stood over him.
