“I thank you, Lord Addison,” Constance spoke gently. “And you have lost your own father so recently too. Please accept my condolences.”
“I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a good deal of time with him at the end.” He smiled, and Emmeline thought there was a certain peace about him. “And he was most comfortable and content.”
“And he passed away in Scotland, did he not?” Constance had clearly recovered from the shock of being called upon, and Emmeline realized that their family had not been called upon at all since that dreadful night at Ashton House. Something about that made her feel a little angry, and she wished she had not even thought of it.
“Yes, just outside Edinburgh. It was his wish, you see, to spend his last days there. My father had spent a good deal of time as a child in the home of his mother’s parents.”
“I believe it is a very beautiful part of the world, is it not?” Emmeline said, keen to show some interest in him after all he had done for her and Rose.
“Indeed, it is. I must admit, it was my first visit to the house that we have there and, although it is in want of some repairs, it really was a very charming place.”
“And you were gone from the county for some time, were you not?” Emmeline said and then wished she had not when she saw the look of pain on his face.
Of course, she had heard the gossip as well as everybody else. When the Earl of Addison had returned to England after his father’s death, it was to find that the woman he loved had married somebody else altogether. The Duke of Galcross.
“Forgive me, I did not mean to pry,” Emmeline added hurriedly as she felt herself blush.
“Not at all, you are not prying. It is nothing that the whole county does not know.” He smiled and shrugged. “Please, do not make yourself uneasy; I did not suspect you for a moment.”
“You are very understanding.”
“In truth, it was something that I had meant to talk with you about. If it would not make you too uncomfortable, of course.” He looked at her so earnestly that she found she could not look away.
“It is such a beautiful day, perhaps you would care to show Lord Addison about the gardens when you have finished your tea,” Constance said to Emmeline. “The grounds are not as extensive as the ones you have, Lord Addison, but the roses are quite a display at the moment.”
“Then I should be very glad to see them, Mrs Fitzgerald,” the Earl said and reached for his tea as if keen to have it drunk and out of the way so that they might be alone for a while.
In truth, Emmeline was not sure if her mother had acted improperly or not. She ought not, really, to have forced the two of them out of the house alone, particularly when they were not very well acquainted. But it was clear that the Earl wanted to speak about sensitive matters, matters that were private to him, and Emmeline thought that he had looked grateful when her mother had provided him with the opportunity to say what it was he wanted to say without a full audience.
“Well, that is settled then,” Emmeline said, thinking that she ought really to say something.
Chapter 8
“Please forgive me; I do hope that I have not caused you any embarrassment. I should not have liked to have made your mother and sister uncomfortable for a moment, but I really do have something I would discuss with you in private,” he began to speak the moment they had set foot outside.
“Not at all, there is no embarrassment, I assure you.” She smiled, and they walked side-by-side around the house towards the pretty and colourful garden at the back. “I think we have both suffered circumstances of late which are as difficult to ignore as they are to discuss. I find myself quite exhausted answering inquiries after my well-being and yet saying nothing of my situation. It is like speaking without actually speaking if that makes any sense at all.”
“It makes perfect sense, Miss Fitzgerald. And I must admit, I have observed something very similar myself. Situations such as the ones that you and I have most recently found ourselves in seem to create something of a problem for everybody else. Unfortunately, people cannot show concern without raking over the very reason for their concern. I am afraid that it is impossible to win.” He laughed.
“Yes, I suppose it is.” She nodded thoughtfully as she led him to the path that would take them towards the enormous cluster of rose bushes that her mother had promised him.
“You are aware, of course, that I returned home from Scotland to discover that the lady I had assumed I would marry had already married another?” He slowed his step and turned his head to look at her.
His hazel eyes looked round and sad, and Emmeline realized then that he had known all along exactly how she had felt. He knew of the hurt and humiliation because he had experienced it just as she had. Perhaps that was why he had been so keen to assist her that night.
“I am afraid so. It is impossible to escape gossip, especially when everybody seems so awfully keen to pass it on. But I am sorry for it because I know a little something about how that feels.”
“You need not apologize. In truth, you do not strike me as a lady who is keen on gossip, either hearing it or passing it on.”
“I thank you, Sir, because I am not.”
“I think, in part, I had wanted to come here today to tell you that I know how it feels. I understand what happens inside a person when they are confronted with so great a shock. I was so shocked for so many days that I could hardly work out how I really felt about things. I was so shocked that I was not even hurt in the beginning.”
“Yes, I understand. But you are hurt now, Lord Addison? Now that the shock has worn off, you are most terribly hurt, are you not?”
“It is very difficult thing for a man to say, but yes, I had never imagined it was possible to feel so very low.”
“For myself, I most certainly was shocked. But I think, and I do not know if this does me any credit at all, that I was embarrassed more than anything in the beginning. I would have given anything for Christopher Lennox not to have been so publicly cruel.”
“Yes, I suspect that he would have lost a good deal of respect that night.”
“I do not know if that is quite right, Sir. After all, I think all present seemed to enjoy themselves greatly. There is nothing so delicious as not only hearing about gossip but seeing it with one’s own eyes, is there not?”
“It is true that people do get caught up in such things and grow a little overexcited. But there will have been more than just me there who would have thought Christopher Lennox’s conduct reprehensible. In truth, there are many who quietly scorned Lady Felicity Morgan, or the Duchess of Galcross as I ought to call her now. And she did not do the thing publicly at all but tried to avoid attention by having a very quiet wedding.”