Slowly, light began to dawn at the edges of Gideon’s dark mind.
“You mean to say that you believe that you can identify this man based on the fact that you are close to him?”
Her eyes closed as she took in a juddering breath.
“If you are speaking of a gentleman who is tall, slender, and with dark hair, who mentioned a young lady by the name of Sara, then yes,
“And who is it?”
Licking her lips, she looked directly into his eyes.
“I believe that the person responsible is… Lord Coatbridge.”
Her fingers were squeezing his arm so hard that he was certain they would leave bruises, but Gideon did not care. The confidence in her voice urged him to believe her, begged him to trust that she knew all that she was speaking of.
“But why would he do such a thing?”
His voice was low, and a loud roaring filled his ears.
“I cannot answer that.” She shook her head, finally pulling her hands away. “He has been behaving very strangely of late, however. There seems to be no reason why he would wish to court me, but then decide to marry another, only a day later. Perhaps, in some way, his strange behavior is linked to the fact that he has been responsible for this situation you now find yourself in.”
“My dear, is everything quite alright?”
Lady Longford came to join them, evidently aware that her daughter had been speaking to Gideon at some length and for some time without ever having continued on their walk. Catching the way that Lady Sara jumped. Gideon felt required to come to her aid.
“Forgive me, my Lady. Your daughter is only now informing me about the terrible situation she has faced with Lord Coatbridge,” he explained - which, whilst not entirely the truth, was enough to satisfy Lady Longford.
“Yes, he proved himself to be a mostdisastrousfellow. I am quite at a loss as to how a gentleman – or at least, someone who calls themselves a gentleman - could behave so.” Lady Longford touched her daughter's arm gently. “But you must not allow it to distress you too much, my dear. Not when you have such pleasant company as this.”
This seemed to bring Lady Sara back to herself somewhat, for she smiled and did her best to nod.
“Yes, Mama, of course.”
The small smile faded quickly as she returned to walking alongside him, her hand slipping through his arm.
“If you wish, we can discuss this matter at another time,” he murmured quietly, aware that they were still in sight of her mother. “This has been a great surprise, I am sure, and I would remind you that it may yet not be true as regards Lord Coatbridge.”
Lady Sara gave a minute shake of her head.
“I am certain that you do not believe that, and are more convinced than you say.”
Gideon drew in a long breath and tried to find the words to tell her that he was not entirely convinced, but no words came.
“I shall have to look into the matter a little more,” he finally managed to say. “That is all I can do at present.”
“That is good.” Lady Sara looked away, but he could tell from her expression that she was greatly troubled. “I am horrified if he has done such a thing, particularly as I permitted myself to be taken in by his charms, for so long.”
“You are not in any way foolish if that is what your concern is,” he told her immediately. “No one thinks poorly of you, least of all myself. It is quite understandable for a young lady to be taken with a gentleman who has shown her increased attention.”
“I ought to have recognized his true nature,” she declared. “Surely I ought to have seen something within his character which would have made me question his words!”
“There is no guilt for you to bear. If Lord Coatbridge is the gentleman responsible, then that shall lead to only relief for us both. In fact, I shall be entirely grateful to you for revealing the truth of the matter to me, and you should be most glad that you have escaped what would have been a terrible marriage, no doubt.”
This did not seem to bring Lady Sara any joy. Instead, she fixed her gaze upon him, looking at him steadily for some moments, a few stray golden curls blowing back in the breeze and tangling with her bonnet ribbons.
“If you discover that it was he, then I beg of you to tell me the truth, as soon as you can discover it.” Her hand squeezed his arm. “Even more than that – might I be present when you speak with him? Please, I beg of you.”
Gideon hesitated.
