Page 50 of Married By Twelfth Night
His firm words softened Grace’s anger considerably. In fact, they melted her very soul. Hishighestrespect? Her?
“Aunt Edith!” Bridget called from the door. “What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be home in bed?” She rushed into the room to her aunt’s side and kissed her cheek.
“Yes, yes. Sit down, Bridget. Your energy tires me out.”
Bridget rushed to Grace’s side and took a seat beside her.
“Where have you been?” Grace asked through her clenched teeth.
“Giving you time to confess,” she whispered back.
Grace squeezed Bridget’s hand to communicate her feelings on that regard. The woman who had the potential to save Belside from financial ruin was sitting across from her, and Grace had made the worst possible first impression. Richard’s aunt would never let him marry her in exchange for money.
“Miss Steele,” Richard said, clearing his throat. “Now that my aunt is here, certainly you can dine with us without any concern of propriety.”
Leaving seemed the smartest course of action, but Richard’s eyes begged her to stay. She hesitated, but when Bridget nodded furiously at her, she relented. If they both wanted her here, certainly she could bear their aunt’s derision for one night. “I suppose I can send a quick note to Callis Hall to inform my parents of the change of circumstance.”
Richard gave a nod that seemed laced with meaning. Relief? Gratitude? She could not say what.
Dinner was announced and Richard led his aunt out of the room. Bridget held Grace back. “What happened? My aunt is glaring daggers at you.”
Richard did not so much as glance back at her. “I might have ruined everything.”
Bridget linked arms with her. “That sounds dramatic, especially coming from you. Just fix it like you always do.”
Could she redeem herself? What sort of mad plan could she enact over dinner to undo the last hour? Her mind went blank. If she was going to do something, the time was now. But no ready solution presented itself. Was her cleverness dried up? Is that what love did to a person?
Chapter 21
Aunt Edith clutched Richard’sarm with a surprisingly tight grip for an aged, sick woman. “There is nothing I like worse than a scandal, Richard.”
“They’re nasty things, aren’t they?” He patted her hand while simultaneously leading her to her seat at the table. He had to remain calm if he were to convince his aunt, but the truth was, hehadbeen found in a very compromising position.
“Don’t placate me. I wasn’t born yesterday. I don’t like thatMiss Steele. She has a mischievous look about the eyes.” Aunt Edith waved her hand in front of her face for emphasis.
She wasn’t wrong about that look. Richard knew it well. “If you give her a chance, I promise you will wonder how you ever got on without her.” His lips pulled up on one side as Grace walked into the room arm in arm with Bridget. She had certainly grown on him over the last month. Indeed, he wouldn’t mind knowing her even better.
He had thought he had been dreaming when he had opened his eyes from his nap, and if Aunt Edith had walked in a moment later, he would have kissed her. All his hope for Belside would have been lost.
He would have been made to marry Grace to save her reputation.
He was almost disappointed it hadn’t come to that. He wouldn’t have minded kissing Grace again or facing the consequence of hischoices. What did that say about him? That he was selfish? Wasn’t that what Grace hated about him? Maybe he hadn’t changed at all.
Once they were all seated, the first course was served. Silence hovered about the table. He tried not to look at Grace so his aunt would not make a fuss, but he discreetly stole a glance at her to see how she was faring.
She seemed to sense his gaze, and she looked up at him. Her appearance was altered—more color in her cheeks and soft curls framing her face—but it was her worried eyes that concerned him.
His aunt could be difficult to deal with. How he longed to reassure her and beg her not to fret about what had happened, but he couldn’t console her just yet. Doing the next best thing, he communicated the only way he could think to do and winked at her.
The lines of her face softened and the smallest smile played on her lips. To his surprise, she reassured him and winked back.
Aunt inhaled sharply. “What is this? Onlylight-skirtswink at a man. And at the dinner table, no less. I am quite appalled.”
Bridget snorted, causing her to choke on her food. She coughed a few times into her napkin.
Richard tried not to laugh, and the only thing that kept him from doing so was seeing the horror on Grace’s face. He had never seen her so thoroughly embarrassed.
“Miss Steele never winks,” he said quickly. “She must have something in her eye. Does she not deserve our sympathy?”
