Early the next morning, Lady Evermere surveyed the scene in the entrance hall of her home and smiled. Everything was to her satisfaction in this room, at least, but there was plenty to do elsewhere in the house.
Faith was walking down the stairs and greeted her.
“Mother, you are up early!”
Eleanor shrugged. “I could not sleep. There is far too much to do today. Do you think the hall looks acceptable?”
Faith looked around the space. It was impeccably clean, with the tiles on the floor shining. The servants had been scrubbing for days to ensure that everything was perfect. The candlesticks were polished to perfection, too, ready to be filled with candles and lit in the evening to cast a glowing light throughout the space where the guests would be arriving.
“Mother, it is perfect, as I am sure you know,” Faith said with a grin.
Still, Eleanor frowned. “I am sure I have forgotten something.”
Faith laughed. “Well, it is a good thing that you have an army of servants to help you prepare for the event, is it not?”
Eleanor chuckled. “I suppose so.” She paused and looked at Faith thoughtfully. “Has Isabella told you her news?”
Faith shook her head. “She has not told me, but I think I can guess. It is to do with the Duke of Harbridge, I imagine?”
Eleanor nodded. “Your father will announce their engagement at the ball tonight.”
“And Isabella has agreed to it?” Faith asked.
“Your father seems to think that she will accept her fate in due course,” Eleanor said a little stiffly.
Faith frowned. “She has been a little distant with me the last couple of days, and I have noticed that she has not even been spending much time with Daphne. She seems to be rather troubled.”
“I know,” Eleanor said. “I have noticed it too. She only seems to be truly happy when she is conversing with Lord Ashcroft, but I feel there can only be trouble if things have developed between them.”
“But a viscount would be a perfectly acceptable match for her, wouldn’t it?” Faith said.
Eleanor shook her head. “Your father does not think so. Not when there is a duke in the picture.”
“But there is so much more to life than rank!” Faith protested. “Mother, can you not persuade Father to reconsider? I hate to think of Isabella marrying for anything other than love. Surely it is not what you had hoped for her?”
“I honestly do not know, Faith. You know as well as I do that marriages of convenience are not uncommon within our circles. And people seem happy enough, mostly. I confess that I did not care much for your father when we first met, but we have rubbed along all right together for all these years.”
Faith raised an eyebrow. “I did not know that, Mother, and I think that perhaps you should not have told me.”
“Well, it is done now, and it seems that the die is cast for Isabella, too. Your father is adamant that she must marry the duke, so I hope he is right in his assumption that she will learn to accept it in due course.” She paused and frowned again. “And after tomorrow, Lord Ashcroft will vanish from our lives, more likely than not, and we will not have to worry about him anymore.”
“I am not sure that things will turn out quite as simply as that, Mother,” Faith said. “But I hope Isabella can find a way to be happy, no matter what happens.”
Eleanor looked at the clock on the mantlepiece and let out a gasp. “Good heavens, is that the time? Come on, let us go and have a quick breakfast; then there are a thousand things that I must do! I hope that you and Isabella are prepared to help me this morning! I cannot possibly manage it all on my own!”
***
Sebastian stood alone in his chamber, looking out the window. It was perfect weather for Christmas Eve, with the sun shining and making the snow still lying on the ground gleam with brightness. It almost hurt his eyes to look at it.
He recounted in his mind the events of the previous evening. Despite his resolve to try and sleep, he had lain awake for most of the night, thinking about what had taken place between himself and Isabella. He could not forget how wonderful it had felt to make love to her, how trusting she had been in giving herself to him. And yet, he had betrayed her and continued to do so. He had to make things right, somehow. Tonight, he would find a way to tell her the truth.
But he did not even know the truth after the conversation between George and Victor he had overheard. How could George have said that he did not know what happened but also acknowledge that he may have made the wrong choice? And what did Victor mean when he said that the secrets of the past were best left buried?
Sebastian paced up and down, sighing in frustration. The situation was impossible. And he did not even feel he could speak to Adrian about it. His stepbrother seemed rather distracted by his growing attachment to Lady Daphne, and also the ongoing business conversations he had been having with some of the other gentlemen present at the house party.
Everything seemed to be going so well for him, so smoothly, while for Sebastian, everything was a mess, and he did not know which way to turn.
His thoughts returned again to Isabella. How he wished they could simply run away together, disappearing off into the distance and leaving all these complications behind. If only there was a way to resolve things. He wracked his brains, but nothing seemed to come to him. He prayed that by the time Christmas had passed, everything would be somehow settled, but he had no idea how this would come to pass.
