When she had hinted to him about Belle’s need for assistance in the running of the house, he had politely but firmly refused her offer of help. Worse yet, Belle, who had been so dependent on her before, showed no interest in opening her home to Amelia the spinster. Apparently, the happy couple had not forgotten her efforts to keep them apart and no longer required her assistance.
Her sister was happy. That was what she’d wanted, all along. But she had never imagined a future where her own life had passed by unlived while she managed Belle’s. And now, without her quiet sister in it, the house was emptier than she could have imagined.
When she glanced up from her work to check on her sister, Belle was staring back at her. ‘Are you sad?’ She put aside her work basket and leaned forward to lay a hand on Amy’s cheek.
Amy forced a smile. ‘Do not worry yourself. I am fine.’ Belle was happy. She reminded herself of that fact several times a day. She had always told herself that this would be enough. And now to pretend that it was so made her throat tighten.
‘Do you want to come with Mary and me to pick curtains for my new house? I think I like blue. Guy says I can have any colour I want.’
‘But not white,’ Amy said, smiling. ‘You are very lucky to have found a man as good to you as Guy.’ Then she paused, repeating her sister’s last words in her mind. ‘Who is Mary?’
‘Mary is my new friend. Mr Lovell says she is coming to live with us and help me with the things I do not know about running a house and being a wife. That way, you do not have to.’
‘But...’ She wanted to live with Belle. It was not a burden. And what else was she to do?
Belle’s smile had not dimmed. ‘I like Mary. She is very nice.’
‘You’ve met her?’
Belle nodded happily. ‘She likes me, too.’
She had been replaced. Amy took a moment to control her temper before speaking. There was no point in being angry with Belle. She could not have known what the news would mean, if Amy had not known it herself until just that moment. ‘Of course she likes you,’ she said, not losing the smile. ‘And I am glad you are happy. Truly, I am.’
‘At first, when you said I had to get married and leave home, I was frightened,’ Belle said. ‘But it is very nice. I like being married. You should do it, too.’
Amy swallowed until she could breathe around the lump in her throat. She had not seen Ben at all since the day she had brought his mother to him. It had been almost a week and there had been no visit, no letter, nor any sign of him at the parties she’d attended. If he felt any of the things he’d claimed to, what had become of him?
It took almost a minute to remember that she had decided years ago that she did not want to get married and was happy with things just the way they were. ‘I am far too old to marry,’ she said, forcing her smile to be as bright as Belle’s. ‘And Father still needs me. I shall remain here and take care of him.’ Not that Geoffrey Summoner needed caring for. She had never met a more independent man in her life. ‘Perhaps I will get a cottage near Mr Templeton’s home so I can come to your house in the afternoons, as you do to mine. Then I might help with the mending and other things you do not like.’ But the thought of a lifetime spent re-stitching Belle’s spoiled hems made her want to weep.
Her plans had not been as noble and selfless as she had thought them. She had assumed that she would simply follow Belle in marriage. She had wanted to arrange a future that would suit her own needs as much as her sister’s. But she had forgotten that even a man as gentle and kind as Guy Templeton might not want to share his life with a sister-in-law who could not be bothered to find a husband.
‘I will have Mary and Guy for things like that.’ Belle was glancing out the window of the sitting room towards the street in front of the house. Then she leaned forward in her chair, too excited to be still. ‘He is here! He has come to take me home.’ Now her face lit with a smile that was different from the one she used to wear. There was a warmth and depth to it that had been missing from her childlike joy for parties and dancing.
Belle was in love.
Before she could stifle it, a sob escaped from Amy’s lips. It was just as Ben had always claimed. She was jealous of her sister. And she was angry at the fact that she had given so much and, in the end, there was nothing left for her. She had no love of her own and her sister did not need her.
‘Don’t be sad.’ Belle’s hand was on her cheek again, her husband’s arrival forgotten. ‘Guy promises that he will take good care of me.’
Who will take care of me?
Of course, she did not need anyone to take care of her. She was quite capable of making her own decisions and managing her own life. But at a moment like this, she could not help but wonder if it might be nicer not to be so completely independent.
‘I will miss you,’ she whispered, cupping Belle’s face in her palms.