“Not blunt, Sir, just honest. And I have come to appreciate honesty more than I could ever have imagined, so you must not concern yourself about it.”
“Do you think you might be happy here? I mean, do you think that you would be content to live here at Addison Hall?”
“More than content, really. It is a beautiful place, Sir, but I must agree with Mr Rochester about the possibility of one finding oneself completely lost.” She laughed and was pleased when he seemed amused also.
“You would, of course, be free to amuse yourself in any way you saw fit in your day-to-day life. There is nowhere in the hall that would be barred to you, and you might have your mother and sister over to visit you as often as you like. And friends, also, of course. I would not seek to deny you your friends.”
“I am not as keen to trust friends as I once was, Sir. But I thank you kindly for the offer, it is most generous.”
“Of course, forgive me,” he said and winced. “I spoke without thinking.”
“Not at all, you must be as free to speak today as you were on the afternoon in the garden at Tarlton Manor. I think it a most unique thing to be able to live in honesty, and I am greatly comforted by the idea that I might speak openly with you.”
“Then you must have been most sickeningly disappointed in Miss Lovett,” he said and drew her over towards one of the windows so that she might be impressed by the view.
“It was a very great betrayal, Lord Addison. Clara and I had been firm friends since we were girls, and I had looked upon her almost as a sister.”
“Then you have been doubly hurt, Miss Fitzgerald. I could not begin to imagine how I would feel if Algernon had treated me similarly. That would be the same thing, would it not? I have always looked upon Algernon as a brother.”
“I could not imagine Mr Rochester behaving in such a fashion,” she said with a smile.
“But I suppose we never know what goes on in the heart and mind of another, not truly.” He looked out towards the lake. “After all, you likely never imagined Miss Lovett behaving in such a fashion.”
“No, indeed I did not.” She stared out towards the lake and wished herself there at that moment. The water looked clean and clear, and she should have very much liked to stand beside it. “I think that is what frightens me most about life. The fact that I had never before considered that those closest to you could be so cruel. And that you would have no indication of it, no sign of any kind.”
“I understand,” he said, and when he turned to look her full in the face, she felt suddenly a little disquieted. His hazel eyes with their flecks of gold looked so very striking by the light of the window. She assumed it to be merely a facet of their proximity, for she had never stood quite so close to him before. “In the end, I do believe that there is some comfort in less intense relationships.”
“Yes,” she said and looked away from him and out towards the lake. She felt she needed to break their gaze for a moment if only to return to her ordinary senses.
“Would you care to have a walk in the grounds? It is only a few minutes to the lake if you would wish to stand beside it for a while?”
“Yes, I should like that very much indeed.” Emmeline smiled and felt herself returned to normal.
Chapter 10
Hunter had only chosen to accept the invitation to the summer ball at the home of Mr Giles Calloway at the last minute. Mr Calloway was new to the county and had rented Croston Hall for a year at least and, because of the length of his stay, he was keen to get to know the local society and to take part in as much as possible.
Hunter had met the man on a couple of occasions and found him very pleasant, amiable company. However, he was aware that an invitation had been extended to the Duke and Duchess of Galcross, and it was not until he had secured Emmeline Fitzgerald’s attendance that he had accepted the invitation himself.
It was to be the first time that he had laid eyes on his old love since before he had left for Scotland with his dying father. He had heard not a word from her, not even a letter of plain apology for her behaviour towards him. In truth, had Emmeline not agreed to their courtship, he would not have attended the summer ball. He was not yet sure that he could be, or at least appear to be, unaffected by Felicity.
Hunter had the greatest concerns regarding his own reaction when he finally laid eyes upon her beautiful face once more. Whilst he felt sure that she would not approach him, and that her husband, the Duke, would be keen to keep away from him for most of the evening, he knew that a sighting of her could not be avoided. At least if he had Emmeline by his side, he would have some other distraction. She would be for him what he had been for her when she had been forced to publicly suffer the sight of the man she loved with another.
“I must say, I think Mr Calloway very pleasant indeed.” Mercifully, Emmeline broke his train of thought as they, along with her mother and sister, made their way in his carriage to Croston Hall.
“Yes, I have met him on a couple of occasions and find him very friendly,” Hunter agreed.
“Yes, he has an ease of manner which I think is quite contagious.” She nodded.
When he had stopped outside Tarlton Manor in the carriage to collect the ladies, Hunter had already been extremely distracted by thoughts of what he would have to endure in the evening to come. He had been trying to strike thoughts of Felicity from his mind for hours beforehand but had not been able to.
However, when Emmeline Fitzgerald had walked down the steps from the Manor House, Hunter was pleased to find himself greatly distracted. She was wearing a simple ivory gown which fit her very well. It had short sleeves, and she wore long white gloves. It seemed to make her chocolate brown hair seem all the deeper in hue, and it shone in the fading light of the summer evening. Her hair had been put up very nicely with a plain, jeweled clip. Soft ringlets hung about her face and neck and nestled around her shoulders.
She had smiled at him demurely and, as he had helped her into the carriage, he tried to avoid looking into her eyes. He had done so at Addison Hall when the two of them had looked out of the window and regarded the lake. It was the first time that he had noticed their colour, and he had been quite taken with them. Her eyes were a very pale blue and her pupils large and dark. The effect was that her eyes, when looked into properly, gave her a curiously ethereal look, almost as if she were not of this world.