“I – I wonder if…” Whether it was the heat which ran from the room as she opened the door or his own sudden uncertainty, Henry did not know but a chill ran over his skin, making the hair on his neck stand on end as he looked into Miss Bosworth’s wide green eyes. He dropped his hand. “I only wondered if you might consider taking a walk at another time.” It sounded strange even to himself, but he continued regardless, hearing the buzzing in his ears as he attempted to explain himself, albeit in low tones. “I should like to walk with you. Alone. I mean, not alone, for you would obviously require a chaperone but–”
Miss Bosworth put a hand on his arm, silencing him.
“Are you asking if I should like to walk with you in the park, Lord Yarmouth? Without the company of your cousin?” Henry swallowed and nodded, his words sticking in his throat. “Then yes, of course, I should be glad to.”
Relief had his shoulders dropping low.
“Capital.” Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw his cousin nearby and cleared his throat gruffly, wondering if Brackwell had overheard everything. “Mayhap… mayhap you might have another theory as to what might have happened to my ring onthisoccasion.”
“That is what you wish for me to do when we walk together?” Miss Bosworth frowned quickly, her delighted expression quickly altering into a somewhat dull one. “You wish to discuss your ring?”
An awkwardness gripped Henry and he shrugged, trying to laugh, though the sound came out as a tight, scrawled sound.
“It would give us something to talk about, certainly! And I should like to know your thoughts.”
“Oh.” Miss Bosworth nodded but looked away. “I see.”
“We shall discuss nothing of the sort whenIwalk with you.” A streak of annoyance ran up Henry’s spine and he turned sharply, throwing a frustrated look in his cousin’s direction, but Brackwell only grinned. “Good afternoon, Miss Bosworth,” Mr. Brackwell continued, that grin still plastered onto his face. “I will write to you very soon to arrange our walk.”
“I look forward to it.” Miss Bosworth looked for a long moment to Mr. Brackwell and, eventually, then to Henry. “Good afternoon, Lord Yarmouth. I was glad to return the ring to you again.”
Henry nodded, his high spirits shattering. Opening his mouth to bid her farewell, he was left with the sound of the door closing as she stepped away.
Somehow, he had managed to make a mess of what had been a very simple request – and he had no one to blame for it but himself.
“She is a very fine lady,” Mr. Brackwell murmured, as Henry turned around. “A wallflower, though?”
“By no fault of her own, and only due to the scourge which is society’s expectation.”
Scowling still – though part of it was still from what his cousin had done in asking to walk with Miss Bosworth – Henry sat back down in his chair.
“However did you meet her, then? Do you seek out wallflowers deliberately?”
Henry rolled his eyes.
“No, I do not but, then again, I do not ignore them either.”
“I understand.”
Seeing the curiosity still in his cousin’s expression, Henry let out a sigh.
“In truth, I was attempting to escape from not one but two young ladies. One of them you will know – Lady Judith?”
A light came into Mr. Brackwell’s expression.
“Yes, our cousin. I met them all shortly before I left for the continent, and have already spoken to Lady Judith since being in London.”
“Is that so?” A little surprised, Henry continued, not noticing his cousin attempting to say something more. “Well, I had no wish to dance with Miss BlakefieldorLady Judith and thus, I did my best to escape from them both but had no other choice but to ask a stranger to me – Miss Bosworth, as I know now – to dance the waltz with me. I did not know who she was or that she was deemed a wallflower, but I was very glad indeed that she stepped out willingly.”
Laughter broke from Mr. Brackwell and despite his own dulled spirits, Henry laughed along with him, finding his heart warming at the memory of stepping out with Miss Bosworth on the first night that they had been introduced. It had been a very odd meeting, and certainly not one he had expected, but all the same, it had brought him a great deal of happiness since then.
Happiness I should like to continue.
“She seems like a very interesting young lady.” Mr. Brackwell’s smile grew as he looked away from Henry, rubbing one hand over his chin. “I should be very pleased to further my acquaintance with her, I think.”
Choosing to say nothing, Henry locked his frustration away, telling himself silently that he had no right to determine who it was that Miss Bosworth should stand up with, or go walking with… even if he desperately wished thathewas the only one she would ever step out with again.
Chapter Thirteen
