“Excuse me, ladies, but would you care to accompany me to the buffet tables? I am here alone this evening and should be very glad of the company.” Out of nowhere, the Earl of Addison seemed to appear.
For a moment, Emmeline could hardly speak. She was barely acquainted with the man and could only think that they had likely had but two minutes’ conversation together in all their lives. Why it was that he should have come to their aid, she could not imagine.
“Yes, indeed, my sister and I were just thinking to make our way to get some food. Please, do join us.” Emmeline had recovered herself quickly and was quietly grateful for this man’s unexplained presence.
As he walked with them to the buffet tables, he talked happily of the musicians and the dancing and, curiously, the sheer number of chandeliers. At times, it almost made Emmeline laugh and forget her own troubles. In a bid to remain with her but say nothing of her plight, the Earl of Addison was clutching at conversational straws, and he managed to do so, in the end, for more than two hours.
As the evening began to draw to a close, Emmeline wondered how long she could last. She still wanted the comfort and privacy of their carriage so that she could finally allow the shock of it all to come out.
“Lord Addison, it was very kind of you to spend this evening with my sister and me.”
“Not at all, it has been a pleasure. The both of you have saved me from an evening spent alone eating too much food and standing too close to the musicians.” He smiled warmly.
“Would you think me terribly dull if I decided to be one of the early leavers?”
“Not dull at all. I think the evening is coming to an end anyway, do you not?”
“Yes, I think it is.”
“Well, I see that Mr and Mrs Lennox are hovering by the door, so perhaps you would allow me to escort you to your carriage. You can stop on the way to say good evening.” He smiled, and Emmeline understood perfectly that he was still helping.
He was directing her as best he could, reminding her that she still needed to thank her hosts for a wonderful evening before she left. And she was grateful for it, for he had clearly seen how hard she had fought to maintain her dignity throughout the entire event, and he was obviously keen that she should continue to maintain that dignity right up until the end. She really would have to find a way of thanking him one day, she knew that.
“Yes, I should be most grateful,” Emmeline said with enthusiasm. “And I am most grateful,” she said in a quiet tone designed to let him know that she was very aware of the unnamed support he had given her and her sister that night.
Pleased that there was no sign of Christopher or Clara by the door, Emmeline and Rose said polite and hasty farewells to Mr and Mrs Lennox, both of whom looked distinctly uncomfortable. In truth, they looked very much more uncomfortable than Emmeline and her sister, and Emmeline thought it served them right.
True to his word, the Earl of Addison had walked them all the way to their carriage and bowed deeply before turning to leave them in the care of their driver.
The moment they were in the carriage and she felt the draw as it pulled away from Ashton House, Emmeline slid sideways in her seat and wept bitterly.
“My dear Emmeline, you look terribly pale. Are you quite well?” Kent Fitzgerald was out of his chair and fussing about her, his breakfast barely touched.
When he slid an arm across her shoulders, Emmeline hurriedly pulled herself together. There was something about his touch, however innocently it might have been meant, which made her shiver uncomfortably. She had not realized how long she had been lost in thought.
“I am perfectly alright, Kent. Just a little contemplative that is all. I beg you would excuse me.” She smiled and rose from her chair before hastening out of the room.
Chapter 7
It had been a great relief to Emmeline and her family when Kent Fitzgerald had completed his business and returned to the Midlands.
“Really, I thought he would stay forever,” Rose complained humorously.
“I suppose, in the end, he will stay forever,” Constance Fitzgerald said sadly.
As the three women sat in the drawing room, each trying to busy themselves with some hobby or other, Emmeline could not help thinking that they seemed to take it in turns to dwell in melancholia. It would seem that it was to be her mother’s turn, finally.
“Oh, Mama, I really am so very sorry,” Emmeline said sadly.
“But my dear girl, it is not your fault. It is just the way of things, but I cannot help feeling so adrift today. I think it is time now for us to search for some lodgings that we can afford.”
“I think we must,” Emmeline said and felt thoroughly dejected.
She knew that the moment they took the sort of impoverished lodgings that their small income would afford them, they would cease to be a part of the society they had always known. They would no longer be invited to the sort of events that would eventually lead to Emmeline and her younger sister finding suitable partners.
“I am just afraid of what it means for us; all of us. As soon as we make that move, Mama, we have set the seal upon our fate.” Emmeline sighed. “And I realize that I have done much to cause this, but there is nothing else that I can do.”
“You have not caused it, my dear girl. Christopher Lennox treated you very ill indeed, and there was not a thing that you could have done about it. I really cannot have you take the burden of everything upon your shoulders. I could very easily blame myself for not being able to produce a son, but that would get us nowhere.”
“Perhaps we could wait just a little longer, Mama. After all, there are almost five months until we must be out of here,” Rose said, trying to be helpful.
“Yes, and a lot can happen in five months, can it not?” Constance Fitzgerald had clearly decided to take an optimistic view of things suddenly. “And if the worst comes to the worst, I am sure that we can find lodgings in a matter of weeks at the end of the period of grace.”
“I realize that the only way out of this is for me to marry, Mama, but I cannot imagine young men queueing to ask me now, especially after the way I was so humiliated at Ashton House. I cannot help thinking that I am a laughingstock throughout the county, and what man would want to marry me anyway?” Try as she might, Emmeline could not hold back the first of her tears.
“You are nothing of the kind, Emmeline. You are beautiful and intelligent, and you are my daughter, and I will not hear you say such things about yourself. Oh, if I were a man, I would march all the way to Ashton Hall and call out that dreadful young Christopher,” Constance’s sudden fury made her red in the face.