“And do you say you still care for this young lady, even though she has treated you so ill?”
“Yes, it is precisely so.” Lord Campbell closed his eyes briefly. “And so, you see, I am quite without hope.”
“Unless it is that your heart holds to her foranotherreason.” Miss Millington lifted her shoulders. “As I have said, I know very little of such things, but rather than attempt to push away your affection, does your heart not lead you back towards her?”
“But she has done him a great wrong!” Adam protested, turning slightly so that her hand fell from his arm. “I do not think that you understand the depths of his pain.”
“I am certain that I do not.” With a soft smile, Miss Millington looked towards Lord Campbell again. “But I am sure that love, if that is what it is, can truly find a way through such difficulties. It may be that this young lady regrets whatever it was that separated you. If there is a hope of your connection returning, Lord Campbell, then would you not be best to seek it out?”
Adam made a low exclamation in the back of his throat, but Miss Millington did not so much as glance at him. She and Lord Campbell simply looked at each other with Lord Campbell frowning and running one hand over his chin, as if he were considering her suggestion. A little frustrated, Adam looked away, his jaw tight. Miss Millington was, to his mind, giving the worst sort of advice to his friend. Lord Campbell did not require someone to encourage him back towards Miss Barrett. Instead, he required someone to push him away from her, for that was what he himself had demanded. Besides, Adam thought to himself, the idea that love was strong enough to push through such difficulties and to forgive great pain was more than ridiculous – which, yet again, was another reason to eschew the very idea. He thought very little of the notion of being in love, thinking to himself that he would never evendreamof approaching Lady Margaret again.
“Alas, I must depart.” With a small sigh, Miss Millington gestured across the room. “My mother, who has been watching me for some minutes, is moving in such a way as to make me fear that she will come to join us and I should not like to interrupt your conversation any further.”
Adam nodded, a little surprised at how quickly his irritation faded, disappointment rising to quench it.
“Should I accompany you?”
With a quiet laugh, Miss Millington shook her head.
“I would not subject you to that, Lord Seaton.”
With a quick curtsey and a warm smile to both Lord Campbell and him, Miss Millington took her leave. Letting out a long breath, Adam watched her depart, then turned back to his friend.
“She does not fully understand your pain, although I know she meant well.”
Lord Campbell shrugged.
“She did offer an alternative perspective.”
A little astonished, it took Adam a moment to respond.
“That may be true, but do you think moving back towards Miss Barrett is a good idea? You asked the very opposite from both myself and Lord Dennington, did you not? You asked us to make sure that you were pulled away, so that you wouldnotbe drawn any further back towards her.”
“Thatwaswhat I said,” Lord Campbell agreed, quietly, “but part of me wonders now if Miss Millington is correct. Perhaps what I feel for Miss Barrett remains so strong, it will cover the pain and the sorrow I have struggled with. Perhaps it will be enough to encourage our connection once more.”
“You are speaking foolishness.” Without hesitation, Adam spoke firmly, wanting to pull his friend away from what he considered to be nothing short of desperation. “She has proven herself false once, and I am certain she will do so again. Do not injure yourself in that way. It is as though you are taking a knife and by your own hand, plunging it again into your heart.”
“Or mayhap I am the one withdrawing it.”
His expression was so very different from how Adam had seen him some minutes ago, to the point that he could not find a way to respond. The last thing he desired was to bring the darkness back to Lord Campbell’s face but, at the same time, he felt the urge to draw his friend away from the path he now seemed determined to take.
“Do not hold me back this time.” Lord Campbell’s gaze pulled away from Adam as he spoke quietly but with great fervency. “As you have said yourself, I begged you to pull me away from her, but on this occasion do not do so. The very least I can do is speak to her. It will push away some of the tension which spirals between us, I hope.”
Concern flew into Adam’s heart, and he put out one hand as if to physically pull Lord Campbell back, but he was much too late. Frustration pooled within him as his friend moved quickly across the ballroom, directly towards Miss Barrett. Adam could do nothing but watch helplessly, a little perturbed that Miss Millington’s advice had been what had pushed Lord Campbell in a very different direction. If only she had remained silent, then none of this would have happened.
Chapter Eleven
“Lord Dalrymple.” Constance dropped into a curtsey, looking desperately around the ballroom in search of one of her friends, or Lady Yardley, in case any could come to her aid, but none came into her view. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”
This was, of course, not truly what she meant, but without any other choice as to what she ought to say, she could only offer the required platitudes and hope that something altogether untoward about Lord Dalrymple would soon reveal itself. The ball had been so very enjoyable thus far, particularly when she had waltzed with Lord Seaton, but now, was it to be ruined by her father’s attempts to push another gentleman towards her? A knot tied itself in her stomach. What if her father demanded thatthisgentleman, Lord Dalrymple, was to be her betrothed? What would she do then?
A slight dizziness took hold.
No. I must remain strong. I must make my feelings clear regardless of how much Father is displeased with me.
“We have been long acquainted, Lord Dalrymple and I.”
Lord Hayman lifted his chin a notch as if this was some sort of accolade.
