* * *
By supper, the Baron had departed for home, declining Freddie’s invitation to stay to supper. Though she should have felt relief, all she felt was weary. She had slept a short time and rose from her bed just as tired as when she lay down. Not in the spirit to fight with her brother, she nonetheless listened as he tried to explain.
“I did not promise Robert your hand, Thea,” he said, desperate for her to believe him. “I didnot. He is putting words in my mouth.”
“He is wearing you down, Freddie,” she said. “Soon, you will do what he wants.”
“No, no.” Freddie shook his head. “I promised you that you could have a say in your husband. Nothing will be decided until after the party until you have a chance to meet other potential candidates.”
“Thank you for that much.”
“I am sorry if he distressed you.”
Thea merely nodded, accepting it. “The invitations are out. Tomorrow I will meet with Mary Carter and discuss the menu with her.”
“Very good. I will write to the Earl of Harrowshire and ask him to be your escort for the evening.”
Thea quirked her lips upward. “Thank you for not revealing my little blandishment to Ampleforth.”
“While I do not understand your antipathy for him,” Freddie said, returning her smile, “I will respect it, for the time being. But he may be right, Thea. He loves you and will care for you. That is as important to me in choosing a husband for you as is his social connections and wealth.”
“I know. Believe me, I do appreciate your efforts.”
As Freddie continued to eat the spiced ham, roast pheasant, potatoes, and carrots with onions, his attention occupied, Thea slid her eyes toward Liam. He stood facing them, his rapt gaze straight ahead as a footman should, his back at an almost straight military precision. He sent her a ghost of a wink, the rest of his face immobile, without any expression at all.
“Do you still go sit by the lake in the evenings?” Freddie asked, making Thea’s heart leap in shocked horror.Surely he does not know about Liam and I going there together.
Keeping her voice slightly bored, her own attention on her pheasant, Thea replied, “Yes. I told you before, it calms me. I enjoy being out there on pleasant evenings.”
“Oh, I am not planning to stop you. I simply plan to ask you to be careful. If we do have a rat in the walls watching us, and trying to kill me, he might attack you.”
Not while I have Liam with me.“I promise, I will be careful.”
“All I can ask. While I am certain this chap is after me,” he said, “I do not wish you to be hurt in the meantime.”
“Has Mr. Noonan found out where the Duke of Bradford is?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Freddie replied, pushing his empty plate from him. “But hopefully he will soon.”
Soon after night had fallen, Thea lifted her skirts away from her feet as she strolled toward the thicket of trees, finding Liam already awaiting her. He did not speak, but took her hand and led her to the shore. His strong, masculine presence comforted her, even without spoken words, but made her long for his arms around her. She wanted so much to lean against him, to feel his strength holding her up, and breathe in his warm scent.
“I am sorry you had to witness all this drama lately,” she finally said, gazing out over the still lake.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
Under the gleaming rays of the new moon, a fish jumped with a quick splash, the ripples spreading outward once it vanished into the depths. “We are like those ripples, Thea,” Liam said. “An event occurs and spreads out, creating other events both great and small, that affect our lives.”
“So you are a philosopher,” Thea replied, watching the water’s movement finally grow still again. “What does it mean when the ripples end?”
“They never truly do,” Liam answered, pointing to the gravel shoreline. “They strike the land, and there cause another event, even if it means moving a piece of sand. And that, in turn, causes something else to happen. It never stops.”
“So what event caused us?”
Gazing up at him, she found him staring at the moon. “I suppose when each of our parents met, created us, mine came to work for yours, we played together as children – I do not have a true answer, Thea, as there are so many.”
“I suppose you are correct in that. I am just trying to understand why I had to become Robert of Ampleforth’s personal obsession. Why could he not have turned his attention to someone else?”
“Because you are you.”