Nancy smiled. “I certainly hope so,” she said. “I’d love to have children. Colin and I have only discussed it a few times, but I believe he feels the same way I do. It’s a very exciting time.”
“Yes, it must be,” Lydia agreed warmly, feeling happy for her friend.
“Well, Lydia knows all about it, as a matter of fact,” the Viscountess interjected. “Haven’t you told Lady Hunter your news yet, Lydia?”
“Mother, there’s really no need for this.”
If her mother raised the subject, Lydia knew, there would simply be no avoiding the conversation—they’d be forced to talk about it.
Her mother ignored her. “Lydia is being courted by the Earl of Worley,” she announced. “I expect him to propose to her any day now!”
“Oh, Lydia!” Nancy exclaimed “Why didn’t you say anything about this? How lovely! We’ll both be married. We can host parties and come to call on one another at each other’s manors, and maybe our children will even be born near the same time—wouldn’t that be something?”
Lydia’s heart sank. She didn’t want to discuss what had just happened between Michael and herself, but there seemed to be no avoiding it now. It would be cruel to let Nancy go on like this.
“Actually,” she said, “I won’t be marrying Lord Worley.”
It felt strange to refer to him so formally, given that he had asked her weeks ago to call himMichael, but there was a sense of relief in it too. Already, she could feel the distance between the pair of them beginning to grow. Soon, she would have forgotten all about him.
“I don’t understand,” the Viscountess said rather sharply. “What have you done?”
Of course, she thinks it’s something I did.
“I didn’t do anything, Mother,” Lydia replied, doing her best to be patient. “It’s him. He’s fallen in love with someone else.”
Her mother gasped. “But he can’t have! He’s courtingyou!”
“He’s ended our courtship.”
There really was nothing like her mother’s flair for the dramatic to make moments like this seem less serious, Lydia thought. The Viscountess was behaving as though someone had died, and in the face of that reaction, it was a bit difficult for Lydia to consider this a serious problem at all.
“I’m sorry, Lydia,” Nancy said sympathetically. “He ended things just now?”
“While we were dancing,” Lydia scoffed.
“Well, that’s very cold-hearted!” Nancy exclaimed. “You would think he would do it somewhere private.”
“I agree,” Lydia said. “I’d say I’m well rid of a gentleman who would do something like that. He won’t be missed.”
The Viscountess still wasn’t listening. She flung her arms around Lydia. “Oh, darling,” she reassured. “Please, try not to worry. We’ll find someone for you. I know how hopeful you were that this would be the one, but I don’t want you to despair. There are so many more gentlemen, and you’re such a lovely young lady—we’ll have you married by the end of the Season, I promise.”
“I’m not worried,” Lydia said, her voice muffled by her mother’s shoulder against her face. “It’s for the best, Mother. I didn’t love him anyway.”
“Having your heart broken is such a painful thing,” her mother lamented.
Lydia gave up. Her mother wasn’t going to hear her. Idly, she wondered what it would be like if her heart was evertrulybroken. Would her mother’s hysterics be a comfort to her in a situation like that, or would they just make everything feel worse?
“At least we’re at a ball,” Nancy pointed out. “You can find plenty of people to dance with and forget your troubles.”
“Yes,” the Viscountess agreed firmly. “And I’m sure you’ll have a new suitor by the end of the night, Lydia.”
Her tone made it clear what she really meant—you’dbetterfind someone by the end of the night.
Lydia, though, was sure she wouldn’t. It wasn’t that she didn’t wish to marry, exactly, but the way her mother pushed her to find someone as quickly as possible wasn’t helping. It was the pressure from her parents that had led to her ending up in a loveless courtship with Michael in the first place, and although she’d been offended and shocked by his ending it, she was glad it was over and that she wouldn’t be marrying him.
Who knew what sort of gentleman her parents might choose for her next?
No, a break from courtship was definitely in order.
