Oh no. Regina had forgotten about that. “I…” She found herself spluttering. “That is, I don’t—I don’t know.”
“That’s all right.” Cora took Regina’s hand. “Often we don’t recognize how deep our love is until the person we love is taken away.
“You’re young. This relationship with Harrison is new, yes?”
Regina nodded. That technically wasn’t a lie.
“Then give it time. He’s a charismatic man. If I could feel such things for men I should have fallen in love with him myself.” Cora smiled. “You’ll be head over heels for him soon enough.”
“What if I don’t want to be?” Regina asked.
“Then he is simply an older man providing you with an education?” Cora asked.
“In a way,” Regina hedged.
“Well, there is nothing wrong with that. But even if it’s not with him, I suspect someone will come along and sweep you off your feet. I do think it will be him, though.” Cora shrugged. “Whatever you may say, there was something between you two last night. It reminded me of myself and my love.”
“But what if I don’t want that kind of love?” Regina asked. “All it seems to do is make people miserable. My father was miserable and now he’s made us more miserable. Miss Eliza will be heartbroken once Lord Mannis dies. And you’ve been unhappy for ten years.”
“Love, you will find, is worth it.” Cora squeezed Regina’s hand. “I cannot expect you to understand. It is something that you just can’t understand until you feel it. But when you do, it will all make sense. That feeling will be worth all the pain that comes. I promise you that.”
Part of Regina wanted to believe her. That scared her.
“What nonsense are you filling her head with?”
Regina jumped. She turned to see Harrison standing in the doorway. He was dressed casually once again. For some reason his appearance had her heart thumping wildly all over again.
“I’ll have to start calling you Titania,” Harrison said, addressing Cora.
“That makes no sense,” Cora replied. “Titania and Oberon were fighting over a human boy. Not Puck.”
“Technicalities,” Harrison replied. “May I have my girl now?”
As he said that, he came to stand behind Regina. He put a hand on her shoulder. It caused his fingertips to rest on her collarbone.
It felt as though the fire in the fireplace had grown ten times in size. Regina’s breath caught in her throat.
“Very well,” Cora said. She stood up and took her book with her. “I shall be reading in the drawing room. Try not to stain any books if you start indulging.”
She swept out before Regina could even begin to understand her sentence. Then she did understand the sentence and felt heat crawl up her neck and face. She must have been bright red from blushing.
“I hope she wasn’t filling your head with too much nonsense,” Harrison said. He came and sat down but kept his arm at such an angle that it came around her shoulders. It meant his hand was still on her shoulder.
“She was telling me about my mother,” Regina said. “It was good to have an outside perspective. I learned a bit about my sisters as well.”
“Then I take it all back,” Harrison announced. “I’m glad that she spoke with you.”
“She thinks that you’re giving me an education,” Regina said.
“I am,” Harrison replied. “Or is that not what this whole arrangement is.”
“No, I mean—well, she meant…” Regina lowered her voice. Even though lowering her voice was ridiculous because nobody else could hear them. “A sexual education.”
“Ah.” Harrison’s cheeks got the tiniest bit pink at that. He cleared his throat. “Well, yes. But please know that I would never take advantage of you in that way. I want you to feel safe with me. Cora can serve as your escort, if you like, since you clearly do not trust the woman you are staying with to know where you are going.”
“I do trust you, immensely,” Regina said. “I know that perhaps it is not wise of me but I feel safe with you and I trust that you will help me in what I need to do.
“And it is not that I do not trust the woman I stay with. It’s only that, well, you did not tell your friends the true reason why I am here. If she knows that I am going to visit you, then she will find out about the cards and our plan and she could let it slip to one of my sisters.”
“Cora will not let it slip to anyone,” Harrison promised her. “You will need to say that she is your escort should anyone ask, or else they will think of us as my friends did.”
Regina nodded. “I will be sure to tell them. And Cora will be all right with it?”
Harrison nodded. “I am certain that she will be. She is a good and loyal friend in that way.”
Regina smiled and relaxed a little. “Good.”
“I was thinking,” Harrison said, “Before we continue, that it would be good for us to show you some of the city. Cora and I can take you to some of the parks. I want you to get out a little more.”
“What purpose would that serve?” Regina asked.
“It would serve to give you confidence, and you sorely need it if you are going to best Lord Pettifer,” Harrison replied.
He stood up and offered a hand to help her. “Now. Let us fetch Cora and we’ll give you a proper tour of the city.”
.
Chapter 20
Regina really wasn’t sure what all of this would accomplish. Going to a park? How on earth was that supposed to help her with winning against Lord Pettifer at cards?
Still, she supposed that Harrison had a point about her sense of self-worth. If she hated going out of doors and being around people then how could she possibly have the confidence to face down Lord Pettifer in what was essentially the Loo version of a duel at dawn?
They fetched Cora, who was more than happy to get some fresh air. “I have not been out in London in some time,” she confessed. “My family does not even have a London home which is why I must stay with Harrison.”
“Does your family not object to your staying with him without an escort?” Regina asked.
“My family, I think, hopes that I shall marry him and so they will finally secure a match for me,” Cora replied. “I am getting older and soon will be considered an old maid. I am already a burden to them. In cases such as that, you will find, my family lets propriety fly out the window.”
Regina could not understand a family that cared so little for each other. Even though Elizabeth and Natalie might not care to spend their company with her, Regina knew that in a heartbeat they would arrive if she called for their aid.
“I think that is enough depressing talk for one day,” Harrison said. “Let us be off, shall we?”
He led them to a large local park known as the Regent’s Park. “Our dear regent has had it named after himself,” Harrison said.
“I could never have guessed that on my own,” Regina replied.
Harrison laughed and Cora’s eyes gleamed. “She is a rather quick one. Careful, Harrison, or you shall find yourself outmatched soon.”
Regina blushed. “I say these things without thinking first,” she admitted.