“What if I chose a topic that was dull?” she asked.
“Then we will have to think of an imaginative way to make it interesting. Go on. Choose any topic you like.” He encouraged her with a wave of his hand.
She chewed her lip in thought, looking across the table to where her mother and sister were talking at length on gowns and the latest fashions. Such topics did not interest her.
“There is a topic I could choose; many do find it dull though.” She screwed up her nose with a little fear, hoping he would not think her boring for mentioning it.
“Go on.”
“Do you read, my Lord?” she asked. He paused with his food and looked up to her, bearing an instant smile.
“Now, that is not a dull topic in the slightest.”
The conversation that ensued left Emily inattentive to her food. Her dinner and the dessert course passed with her barely eating anything, for she was too absorbed in her discussions with Lord Tattershall. There was scarcely a book they did not discuss together, though they had a particular preoccupation for talking of Shakespeare’s plays. They kept returning to his plays repeatedly, until it drew the attention of Emily’s family.
“What is it the two of you are discussing so avidly?” Archibald asked, gesturing with his wine glass between the two of them.
“Shakespeare, my Lord.” Lord Tattershall answered first.
“Oh no…” Emily winced.
“What is it?”
“Wait for it.”
“Oh, do not get her onto books, my Lord!” Charity said with drama. “You’ll be trapped in that chair for hours talking now.”
“I’ll take the risk,” he said, chuckling. The words made Emily sit forward, startled by his answer. Was it possible to meet someone who loved stories as well as she did?
As the dinner came to a close, the ladies were about to retire from the table first when someone approached Emily and Lord Tattershall. Emily looked up as a shadow fell over her plate, feeling her stomach tighten when she met the eyes of Miss Jane Drew.
“Aaron?” she turned, giving Lord Tattershall her full attention.
She called him Aaron!Emily sank a little in her seat, reminded of just how well the two of them knew each other. Her few short hours in Lord Tattershall’s company paled in comparison.
“Yes?” Lord Tattershall looked up, then the smile fell from his face as he saw Miss Drew.
“I was wondering…” She paused and offered a sweet smile. It was so like the smile Emily had seen in her imagining of the two of them, that she shifted in her seat, feeling awkward. “Would you have a few minutes to spare? I would dearly like to talk to you in private.”
Please say no.Even as Emily sent the silent prayer, she seemed to be not the only one waiting on his answer. On the other side of the table, her parents were listening, as were Arthur, Julia, and Grace, all pretending not to, though their heads were turned in Lord Tattershall’s direction. Emily shifted her gaze on Lord Tattershall, waiting for him to say anything as the silence stretched out.
Chapter Six
“Ithink that unwise. Your betrothed is waiting for you.” Aaron’s words came easily. He could see the surprise well enough in Jane’s face, with her lips parting wide and her face reddening.
Why would I go to you now, Jane?
He owed her nothing. He knew that was the truth. After she had chosen his brother over him, she had never sought to explain herself. She had never told him why she had once kissed him on his parents’ estate, making promises for the future that clearly, she intended to break. She had had months to explain herself and had chosen not to.
Jane wandered off, back down the other end of the table as the ladies stood to their feet. Aaron felt a pair of eyes on him and looked up to see Lady Emily was staring at him, with an expression he could not decipher. Was she stunned? Pleased? Maybe even confused?
He smiled up at her, hoping to show his true feelings on the matter. He was happy where he was, beside Lady Emily. He did not want to go and hurt himself by sitting beside Lady Jane. What was he supposed to do? He would merely think of the way she used to look at him lovingly when she looked at Hugh now with that same gaze.
“We shall join you all in a minute,” the Earl of Dowding spoke up, addressing his comments to the ladies. Aaron felt his eyes watch Lady Emily go, uncertain why he stared at her for so long. When she was finally gone and the door closed behind her, he returned his eyes forward, finding Lord Bolton had moved up to sit beside his father and was currently pouring out coffee for the three of them. He pushed one of the cups toward Aaron.
“Can we ask who that lady was, my Lord? Or is it better we ignore the matter entirely?” Lord Bolton asked in a quiet voice.
“Arthur,” Lord Dowding held his cup out to his son warningly.
