Miss Leonard introduced the young beaux but Sebastian had eyes and ears only for Rebecca. Up close, she looked even lovelier than at a distance. Her complexion had taken on a fresh bloom, making her look nearly as young as her former pupil. Though her eyes held a soft brown shadow of sorrow, they were lightened by a verdant glow of deep joy.
Perhaps awed by Sebastian’s title or frightened by his reputation, the young dandies made themselves scarce soon after their introduction. He was not sorry to see them go.
“What brings you to Bath, Lord Benedict,” asked Rebecca. “You are not ill, I hope,” she added, referring to the way many people flocked to the fashionable spa to drink and bathe in the local mineral waters.
“I am no worse than ever,” he repeated his accustomed wry quip. “I need not ask if you ladies are well for you could not look so lovely unless you were in the very best of health and spirits.”
As he spoke, Sebastian intercepted a look between Hermione and Rebecca. It seemed to suggest, as his brother once had, that he sounded far too amiable to be the real Viscount Benedict.
“If I look well,” Rebecca replied, “it must be on account of my new clothes. We are presently staying with my aunt, Lady Atherton, who is determined to spoil me with kindness.” She glanced about. “Has your brother accompanied you to Bath by any chance? I should very much like to see him again.”
The mention of Claude caused Miss Leonard to give a sharp little intake of breath.
Sebastian hoped he did not disappoint her too greatly when he shook his head. “Unlike you, I have not had the happiness of reconciling with my estranged family.”
Pleased as he was that her life had taken such a fortunate turn, he could not stifle a pang of regret. Rebecca’s aunt was clearly a lady of fortune, perhaps anxious to make up for past neglect by showering her niece with everything her money could buy. Even if he could ever summon the nerve to court Rebecca properly, she no longer had any compelling reason to encourage his attentions.
Thrusting that dispiriting thought to the back of his mind, Sebastian strove to concentrate on what he had come to do. “I have heard my brother is in London where he has found lucrative employment with an insurer of shipping. Though I believe it is his way of declaring independence from his interfering elder brother, I am proud of him.”
The ladies nodded in agreement, but afterward Miss Leonard’s head remained slightly bowed.
Rebecca appeared concerned for her young friend and perhaps anxious to escape the company of one who had distressed her. “You failed to answer my question, sir. If you are not ill or travelling with your brother, what has brought you to Bath?”
There it was, open and direct as always.
Sebastian replied in kind. “I must admit, I have come in search of Miss Leonard.”
“Me?” Hermione squeaked.
Sebastian nodded. “Ever since we last parted company, I have been tormented by the shame of the great wrong I did you. And the terrible harm I caused my brother by depriving him of as fine a wife as he could ever hope to find. I neither expect nor deserve your forgiveness, but I beg you not to make my innocent brother pay for my wicked folly. A single word from you is all it would take to restore his happiness. Anything you would ask of me, I will do and be grateful for the obligation if only you will give my brother reason to hope.”
Miss Leonard raised one delicate, gloved hand to still her trembling lips. When she mastered her voice to speak, it was with the blessed whisper of pure kindness and generosity. “How can I withhold forgiveness when I am in need of it myself? If your brother can find it in his heart to pardon me the grief I have caused him, it would be the greatest honor and joy of my life to be united with him.”
Too moved to stand, Sebastian sank to his knees, seized her hand and pressed it to his lips. “There is nothing in my power I can do to adequately show my gratitude.”
She let out a self-conscious giggle that was one of the sweetest sounds Sebastian had ever heard. “You could begin by standing up before you draw any more attention to us. I fear it will be all over Bath by sundown that you have proposed to me. I must write to Claude at once before the gossip spreads to London and he thinks the world has gone mad.”
Her quip made Sebastian chuckle past the lump in his throat as he scrambled to his feet. “In that case, I will detain you ladies no longer. If you permit me, I will dispatch my footman to deliver your letter. A fast enough relay of horses might just outstrip the speed of Society gossip.”
Behind his banter, his heart ached at the prospect of parting from Rebecca, who had blinked back tears as she witnessed his exchange with Hermione.
“I’m afraid that won’t do at all.” Hermione’s radiant smile belied her words. “By all means let your footman deliver my letter to London. I will have it ready to send in an hour. But as for the gossip, I fear there is only one way to nip it in the bud.”
“Indeed?” The glint of sweet mischief in her eyes made Sebastian a trifle wary. “And what is that?”
“You must propose to my friend again, of course.” As Rebecca glared at her and tried to protest, Hermione hurried on. “I see your neighbor, Mrs. Goddard. I shall walk home with her so you two may talk in private.”
She glanced around at all the people staring at them. “At least as private as you’re likely to get in the middle of Sydney Gardens.”
She breezed away, calling out to Mrs. Goddard, while Rebecca lingered behind, looking thoroughly rattled. “I cannot imagine who raised that girl to be so abominably forward! Pray do not feel obliged to propose to me at her bidding.”
But Sebastian sank down again, on one knee this time, for all the gawkers to see. “I would say you brought her up very well. I only wish I had not been too blind to appreciate her many merits until now. She is sweet-natured, forbearing, clever and witty. Not to mention very perceptive to bid me do the one thing I wished to with all my heart. I would say she will make my brother the best wife in the world, but that might not be quite true. If you will consent to marry me, dearest Rebecca, then even such a paragon as your Hermione can only come second. I have no right to ask, let along hope that you will accept. But if you do, my happiness will be assured.”
The whole park seemed to hold its breath with him as he waited for Rebecca’s answer.
Instead she replied with a question of her own. “You have found a way to forgive Lydia, haven’t you?”
“Not without a struggle,” he confessed. “But I have. After hurting those I loved, I found I could begin to understand her, as you advised me. Forgiving your family must have taken far more goodness than I could muster, but it does not surprise me that you managed it. I am delighted to see how happy it has made you.”