“Why on Earth…?”
“Don’t ask,” Elizabeth interrupted him.
The rest of the evening was like a game of chess for the Talbots. Colin seemed to possess a keen understanding of how his wife felt, and he never once left her side, taking great care to navigate both her body and the topics of conversation away from any unpleasantness.
They ended up playing whist against the Baron and Louisa, and then against Andrew and Elinor, and overall had a wonderful time.
When she was alone in her room, however, Elizabeth’s mind started racing again, and she was unable to fall asleep for a long time. She wished Thunder were with her. Or Colin.
*
On their second day in Basingstoke, the men went into town to watch a prizefight, and the women stayed home. Charlotte set up a lovely bowl of fruit for them in her sun room, which they sketched and then painted for several hours.
“I was also going to invite Sinclair’s cousin, Lady Helena Grey, but both Sophie and Nicholas advised against associating with her any longer. Do you have any idea why that is?” Charlotte asked Isabella as they all sketched.
“Do you need a reason? I personally find her insufferable,” Isabella said in that blunt manner she had, and Lizzie had to catch her upper lip between her teeth to hide her smile.
Charlotte looked hurt and confused. “I rather liked her.”
“Well,” Isabella shrugged.
Elizabeth decided that she liked sketching. Part of the charm, for her at least, was the fact that Lady Genevieve had slept most of the day away and joined them only after noon. That is when they moved to the Blue Room, and everyone found a comfortableplace to sit and work on their embroidery while still maintaining casual conversation with others.
Elinor tilted her head at the small parlour door, and Elizabeth nodded. She then did the same thing after catching Amelia’s eye. Soon, the three friends were alone.
“Amelia first,” Elinor exclaimed excitedly once they had all sat down. “Tell us everything about your new life in Wexcombe!”
“Well…” Amelia inhaled. “It’s been an adjustment.”
Lizzie nodded knowingly.
Amelia said nothing else, so Elinor prompted, “And the Corporal? How is he as a husband?”
Amelia, who looked absolutely wretched, took this as her sign to finally burst into tears. Elinor and Elizabeth exchanged a wide-eyed glance before rushing to comfort their friend.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Amelia said between sobs. “I’ve been such a terrible friend.”
“No, what are you talking about!” Lizzie scolded her.
Amelia wiped her tears with both hands and sat up. Her entire face was red and blotchy.
“I just love Oliver so much! And I am so worried that he still loves you!” She shouted at Lizzie accusingly and then cried some more.
Lizzie nodded at Elinor to take over the comforting, and Elinor started stroking Amelia’s back while she cried.
“I’ve been so jealous, and nasty, and I was avoiding you. I was even going to cry off coming to the Basingstoke because I knew you were going to be here,” Amelia admitted after she had calmed down a bit.
“Amelia,” Lizzie said patiently and in what she hoped was a kind tone. “Whereas I am no stranger to jealousy and can completely understand how you feel, I have no clue where you are getting these ridiculous ideas from!”
When Amelia looked at her in confusion, Lizzie clarified, “The Corporal loving me! He’s never loved me!”
Amelia opened her mouth to protest, but Lizzie shook her head. “We’ve both always viewed our engagement as a smart, strategic move, and I am certain his pride was hurt by how our engagement ended, but there were never any hurt romantic feelings, not to my knowledge.” She frowned, then thought some more, then shook her head again. “No, he never demonstrated any passion or love for me, not like Talbot.”
Elizabeth widened her eyes in shock at her own words.He does love me,she realised. She marvelled at that beautiful new discovery before remembering Amelia’s problem again.
“Listen, Amelia… Colin and I,” she said, and it warmed her heart to call him that again, “whenever we danced, we also talked, we laughed, we shared our views on things. I told him about my past and my dreams, and we argued, and he felt jealous over me. He even went as far in his desperate unrequited love to trick me into marrying him.”
Amelia frowned at that piece of news.
