CHAPTERONE
“Lydia, I’m in love with someone else.”
Lydia stared at Michael, unable to believe what she was hearing. He had been courting her for months now. She had begun to believe that their marriage was written in the stars. She had been certain that his proposal would come any day now. Her father, the Viscount of Haddington, had certainly been expecting it, and though Lydia knew the Earl of Worley would not have been his first choice, he seemed to have made his peace with it. He was ready for his only daughter to marry, and he wasn’t going to be particular about her choice.
But now, apparently, she wasn’t going to have a choice. Not when it came to Michael.
She must be hearing him incorrectly. It was the only explanation she could think of.
“What do you mean?” she demanded. “How can you be in love with someone else when you’re courtingme?”
“We met at the Rivington Ball.”
“That was just last week.”
“I know when it was.”
“You don’t need to be so cold about this. I don’t understand,” she mumbled. “I thought you were in love with me. I thought you and I—”
“Whatever you thought about the two of us, I’m afraid you were wrong,” he said. “I did think I would try after Rivington. I didn’t want to simply give up on you. I wanted to give us a chance. But now that I see you again, I simply don’t see any way this can work. We’re going to have to end it. When I look at you, all I can think about is the fact that you aren’t her.”
“But who is she?” Lydia demanded.
“Does that really matter?”
And, of course, it didn’t. What mattered was that Lydia had been rejected. She had thought of Michael as her future. But now they were standing in the middle of the dance floor—he had ended things with herin the middle of a dance—and she felt as if everyone in the room was staring at her.
She wanted nothing more than to get away.
“Please, excuse me,” she said, pulling out of his arms. And even though the music was still playing, and the dance hadn’t ended, he didn’t try to stop her. He let her go.
That was the moment she truly understood how little he cared. He really was in love with someone else if he could just let her walk away like that.
Well, that was fine with Lydia. Let him court someone else. Let him marry someone else. Letheralways have to wonder whether her husband’s affections for her might blow away in a strong breeze!
I’m lucky.I was able to get away from him before he could hurt me too badly. At least I know I won’t be stuck with him in ten years, wasting away in a loveless marriage!
At least, not that specific loveless marriage.
She made her way through the crowd, looking for her mother and wondering how she was going to break the news of this latest disappointment. The Viscountess was very interested in seeing her daughter married—perhaps only Lydia’s father wanted it more—and Lydia knew that both of her parents would be disappointed about what Michael had done and that they would blame her.
She was relieved to see her friend Nancy standing with her mother. At least that meant the conversation might not be about Lydia right away. She could delay the inevitable. Maybe she wouldn’t have to tell her mother the news until they’d left the ball—maybe it would be easier to do it at home.
Nancy lit up when she saw Lydia. She held out her arms, and the ladies embraced one another.
“I feel as if it’s been forever!” Nancy exclaimed.
“Yes, you weren’t at the Rivington ball,” Lydia said. “I thought I would see you there.”
“Well, Colin didn’t want to attend,” Nancy explained. “And I didn’t feel right going without him, not with us so recently married.”
“That’s quite understandable,” Lydia’s mother said. “Tell us, Nancy—or should I say,Lady Hunter—how has married life been?”
“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Nancy replied. “It’s hard to believe that I only met Colin last Season. I feel as if I’ve known him forever. I was so lucky to meet someone in my very first Season who I could see myself with for the rest of my life.”
Lydia was grateful for the distraction, for something other than her own affairs to focus on. “Do you think you’ll start a family soon?” she asked.
It was a rather personal question, but it was the sort of thing she and Nancy had often discussed last Season when they had been single together and when Lydia hadn’t been on her own.
