“I would certainly consider it to be so, yes. That must be my next course of action. I must go and speak with this man again, in the hope that he will listen to me and believe that I am not someone eager to seek out his pain.”
“That sounds like a capital idea,” Lord Wiltsham replied. “I will come along with you if you like.”
Gideon shook his head.
“I appreciate your willingness to be of aid to me, but I think it would be best if I went alone. The man already feels intimidated. I do not wish to increase that feeling.”
“A wise consideration, my friend,” Lord Wiltsham remarked. “Pray inform me of whatever it is you discover. I should be glad to know.”
Gideon nodded, feeling a good deal more settled within himself. What with everything that had happened with Richards and, thereafter, struggling with the feelings in his own heart for Lady Sara, he had quite forgotten about the proprietor and what had been said. Now, at last he had a way forward, a direction to follow with possibilities lying ahead that might offer him a settled future again, if only he could discover who this tall, slender, dark-haired man was.
“Let us pray that I am successful,” he murmured, picking up his whisky. “For if I fail here, I cannot see any other light anywhere.”
“I am certain you shall have success,” came the confident reply as Lord Wiltsham lifted his whisky in a vague toast. “Once you have a regained your fortune, who knows what other happiness might be waiting for you!”
A slight smile crossed his face, but Gideon studiously ignored it, taking a sip of his whiskey instead. He knew very well that Lord Wiltsham was talking of Lady Sara, but he could not allow himself to entertain the thought at present. There was far too much at stake, far too much that had to be considered first, before he could even allow himself the opportunity to look within his own heart.
Lady Sara would have to wait.
Chapter Nine
“What do you mean he has no fortune?”
Sara shrugged.
“That is precisely what I mean, Hannah. It is just as I have said. Lord Stoneleigh pulled me aside and told me that he has no wealth and could not provide for any future bride.” Her heart twisted as she repeated the words to her friend. “There was something so significant between us at that moment, and then he shattered it immediately afterward.”
“I am sorry.” Miss Cartwright took her hand. “That must have been very painful.”
Sara looked down, burning sadness climbing up her chest.
“Yes, it was.” Frustrated at the way her heart pained all the more, she turned her head away, not wanting her friend to see the agony in her eyes, nor to permit herself to allow a single tear to fall. “I… I just do not understand. How can a gentleman such as he lose his fortune, and yet go about town as though he is quite contented?”
“You must admire him a little, however, despite your questions.”
“Admire him?” Sara repeated, her eyes, going back to Miss Cartwright. “Why ever should I find him-?”
“Because he spoke so openly with you,” she explained before Sara had a chance to finish her question. “Because he warned you away from him before you had further opportunity to allow yourself to feel anything more and before he allowedhimselfto feel anything more also, it seems. There is honor in that.”
Sara considered this.
“Yes, I suppose that is true.” She had not given much thought to his reasons for telling her such a thing, given the shock of his statement, but now that she thought about it a little more, she realized that Miss Cartwright was correct. Hewasan honorable gentleman – as proven by the fact of him telling her the truth. To his mind, it meant that they could not form any greater attachment than there was at present, that there could be no opportunity for a further depth of feeling to grow, and whilst that was a wise consideration, Sara still found herself heartbroken. “He must have lost it somehow – his fortune, I mean.” Sighing heavily, she turned her head away again from Miss Cartwright, tears lodging themselves in her throat. “You cannot imagine my shock upon hearing it. I had thought that there was something of substance growing between us. Our dance was so… overwhelming… that I was sure that he had felt it also. When he pulled me aside, I believed it was to talk about what we had just experienced together, but instead, he told me that there could be nothing between us because he could not provide for me.”
“One might wonder why he is in society.”
Miss Cartwright twisted her mouth to one side, her teacup in one hand.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, why would a gentleman be in society if he could not afford to be in London? If he has no wealth to speak of, why be present at balls and soirees and out and about in society? Would he not be better at his estate, managing his affairs from there, instead of spending money he does not have, here in London?”
In spite of the sadness in her heart, Sara let out a quiet laugh.
“You sound as inquisitive as I, Hannah,” she teased, shaking one finger in her friend’s direction. “Come now. You ought not to be asking questions such as these. These are the gentleman’s affairs, are they not? Nothing to do with either you or I.”
Miss Cartwright chuckled.
“Indeed, I am a little surprised at myself, if not also at you.”
