Daphne said they had talked at length about their hopes and aspirations for the future and that their wishes were perfectly aligned. Both of them wanted to live in the country and have a large family. It seemed to be a match made in heaven, and only a matter of time before they were engaged to be married.
Isabella hated herself for how jealous she felt of her friend. She wished, though, that she could have a love match, too. It was so unfair that she would be forced to marry the duke when she was sure now that she was in love with Sebastian, and she suspected that he returned her feelings.
And yet she felt powerless to change the situation. She was not sure she could face a life as the Duchess of Harbridge. It was all becoming too much for her to bear.
She felt a presence close to her. She looked up to see Sebastian standing next to her, and her heart leapt in her chest. Simply the sight of him made her feel happy, even though she knew there was no hope for them.
“Lady Isabella, I wondered if you would like to skate?” he asked.
She could not help smiling at him but knew she should keep her distance. “I had not intended to skate today, Lord Ashcroft. In truth, I am not very good at it, and I am afraid that I shall fall and hurt myself, and that would not do when there is a ball in a few days’ time.”
He frowned, and she could see he was a little confused by her formality and rejection of his offer. The last time they had been together, they had talked for hours, with a level of openness that she had never experienced before in her life, and now she was pushing him away, and she could see that he could not understand why.
“But the lake is so perfect today,” Sebastian went on, looking into her eyes. “You do not need to be afraid of falling. I will make sure that you don’t and teach you some techniques if you like.” He paused and held her gaze. “But if you would really prefer not to, then I promise I will not press you. It just made me a little sad to see you sitting here alone, not enjoying the skating with all the others.”
Something in her heart melted at the concern in his voice. What harm would it do to skate with him? Soon, she thought, there would be no joy in her life. Surely she could allow herself a few minutes of happiness before it was too late.
***
Sebastian did not understand why she was so hesitant to join him on the lake, but at last, something in her face changed, and she nodded.
“Very well, My Lord,” she said, rising from the bench. “I shall go and fetch my skates and see you at the edge of the ice.”
She walked off towards where her mother was sitting, with all the skates gathered around her.
He watched her sit down, take off her boots, and then put the skates on. He thought she was doing everything rather slowly and languidly. He had imagined she would be excited to skate with him, but she seemed to be doing everything she could to put it off. Had something changed, he wondered? She seemed so very distant, compared to how she had been with him previously.
At last, she returned to him, walking in a slightly wobbly way in her skates. Instinctively, he reached out and took her arm. He felt her shrinking back from him slightly and looked at her in surprise.
He saw something soften, then, in her eyes, and she took his arm and leaned against him.
“Do you promise you will not let me fall?” she whispered.
“I promise,” he replied. He felt at that moment as if he would go to the ends of the earth to prevent any harm from befalling her.
They moved onto the ice, and he put his arm around her waist, then took her hand and led them off together. “If you just follow my movements, you will be fine,” he said.
She obeyed, skating in perfect time with him. She smiled, a broad grin that made his heart sing. “It is not as hard as I thought it would be, after all!” she said delightedly.
“You see, Lady Isabella, I promised I would keep you safe.” He felt her gloved hand in his and wished that the fabric between their fingers was not there so that he could caress the bare skin of her hands. He allowed himself to squeeze her hand and looked into her eyes as she squeezed back.
He wanted to promise her he would never let her down, but he knew he could not say that in truth. He had let her down already by coming to the house party on false pretences and trying to get close to her as a way of finding out more about her family. He had already lied to her.
He wondered if somehow she had found out, but he could not imagine who would have told her. Nobody except Adrian knew, and he was sure his friend would not have betrayed his trust, even if he disapproved of what Sebastian was doing.
He could not free himself, though, of the sense that she was holding herself back from him now. Even as they looked into each other’s eyes, and the tension between them was almost palpable, he could sense that something had shifted in her behaviour.
He wondered what would happen if she unearthed the true motive behind his visit to Evermere. How would she respond if she knew that he suspected her father of terrible misdeeds, a terrible betrayal?
He could not even imagine how she would feel. And yet he had done that to her. He knew, now, without a doubt, that his feelings for her were completely out of his control and that he was in danger of falling utterly in love with her. But was it too late to make her his after everything that had happened?
Even as he pressed his arm against her slim body, pulled her more tightly towards him, and felt her sigh as their bodies moved together, he did not know how to unravel the baffling situation they had found themselves in.
***
Henry stood on the other side of the pond, watching as Isabella skated around the ice with Lord Ashcroft. He pulled his scarf a little tighter around his throat. As a rule, he did not enjoy these wintry activities, but he had gone along with it, hoping that Isabella would join him on the ice and he might have a chance to speak to her alone.
He would go along with her father’s wishes, not to force the issue of the announcement of their engagement, but he had wanted to tell her that he intended to make her his and to gauge her response.
