“You, charmer, you!” Lady Beaufort said scoldingly, tapping him with the feathers of her fan. “We both know that were Lady Belmont here, you would be singing a much different tune.”
Elijah’s cheeks grew even hotter. Dumbfounded, he was unsure of what to say until Lady Beaufort began to chuckle and shook her head. “Do not worry, My Lord, I am well aware of Lady Belmont’s certainappeal.”
From how she looked at him, Elijah knew exactly what she meant, and it did not take much to guess that Lady Beaufort had once been a client of the duchess’.
Leaning in a little closer, ignoring a suspicious look from his mother, Lady Beaufort whispered to him, “Do not worry, your secret is safe with me.”
When she continued to look at him expectantly, Elijah responded, “And yours with me, My Lady.”
With a nod of acknowledgement and a smile, the woman pulled away and finally released his arm before explaining, “I have heard tell that Lady Belmont has decided to go to London for a while. I do believe she has gone to stay with Lord and Lady Fenchurch.”
“That cannot be!” Elijah blurted out, only to feel his cheeks were now not the only thing that was hot. He felt as though his entire face was burning, the heat traveling down into his chest.
The warning expression on his cousin’s face suggested he had better be careful about what he said and one glance out of the corner of his eye told Elijah that several other guests had turned to look at him due to his outburst.
Clearing his throat, Elijah quickly said, “What I meant to say was, I was not aware that Lord and Lady Fenchurch had already left for London.”
In truth, he cared not for either of them though he knew he would do Lady Belmont no favours by announcing that they were close enough that he would be shocked by her sudden leaving.
Lady Beaufort looked surprised at his words but smiled warmly as she said, “Yes, they left this morning. I do believe Lord Fenchurch had important business, and his wife wished to go with him fora change of scenery.”
The woman offered a knowing look at his mother as if her final words were some kind of woman’s code. It was clear from the nod and the expression on his mother’s face that she understood perfectly.
That does not explain why Lady Belmont would go with them,Elijah thought, his stomach clenching. He didn’t like it one bit. From previous conversations, he knew well how little Lady Belmont liked leaving her home, especially for London. He couldn’t imagine that she would leave her estate for anything so simple as a change of scenery.
Though to get away from me, she might go to great lengths,Elijah thought grimly, and when his stomach clenched all over again, he was absolutely certain that those around him would be able to hear it or maybe even sense his tension at it.
“Do you have any idea when Lady Belmont shall return?” Harold asked Lady Beaufort, and the concern upon his face was most definitely not for the lady herself. The way he glanced quickly at Elijah told the viscount that his concern was for him. If Lady Belmont were away for any considerable length of time, would his health begin to decline again?
Likely that was what Harold was most concerned about and though Elijah knew he ought to have been as well, he was far more concerned with why Lady Belmont would seek to go somewhere she loathed. Was it simply to get away from him? Had he really gone too far when he had blurted out his proposal to her beneath the willow tree the day before?
“I could not say for certain,” Lady Beaufort responded, shaking her head. She grabbed a wine glass from the tray of a passing servant before she added, “Though I can say for certain that this is the first time I have known her to go to London without any good reason. The last was due to her father’s passing while on business there.”
Lady Beaufort’s words did nothing to ease Elijah’s anxiety. In fact, they made him ten times worse, and he was only slightly relieved when the gong for the second half of the musical was rung.
As everyone started to file back into the other room, Harold stopped beside Elijah once more. He leaned into his cousin’s ear and whispered, “Don’t worry. I am certain she will have left instructions with her servants to give you more elixir if required.”
Bile rose in the back of Elijah’s throat, and his stomach became so painful that if he had not had Lady Belmont’s elixir before leaving his home that evening, he might have believed it was his ailment back to haunt him. As things stood, he knew his stomach was hurting for an entirely different reason.
He did not need Lady Belmont’s elixir. He needed her.
Shaking his head, Elijah looked at his cousin and smiled. “I have no concerns over that. I am feeling much better recently. In fact …”
Before he finished, he turned to his mother and asked, “Now that I am feeling well, do you think Father might consider having me return to London?”
“My Lord? I was not aware that you were sick,” Lady Beaufort put in, making Elijah cringe. “I do hope it was nothing too serious?”
The curiosity and suspicion on the woman’s face were enough to make Elijah wish he had not said anything. But what did it really matter now? Thanks to Lady Belmont, he was well again, at least for the foreseeable future anyway. Though he had no idea what that future held, it was far better an outcome than he had anticipated when he begrudgingly agreed with his father that he needed some time away from London.
“No, My Lady, I am well now. Very well, in fact,” he said to the lady, offering a friendly smile even though his skin crawled with the thought that it truly was none of her business. He had always hated it when someone mentioned his health, especially since it had taken a turn for the worse. “And I am starting to believe it is long past time I returned home to offer my help to Father. I am sure there is still much he has to teach me.”
At his words, his mother looked elated. She hurried forth and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing until Elijah felt as though his eyes might pop right out of his head. “Oh, Elijah, your father and I would be so happy to have you home.”
Elijah scoffed. He was certain that his father would not entirely agree with such a statement, though upon hearing it, he felt determined to make it true. More than that, he hoped,Maybe if I return to London, Lady Belmont might return to where she belongs too.
The thought of Lady Belmont running from London just to get away from him was quite painful, though it was nothing compared to the guilt he already felt at having frightened her out of Oxfordshire.
“I think it is best for everyone if I return to my responsibilities,” Elijah stated, only able to pray that he was right.
