Page 36 of Beauty and the Rake
He nodded and situated himself to pour two more glasses of wine while Roxanne retrieved the cake out of the basket. She tried to concentrate on the task at hand and not what they had just discussed, because if she were truthful with herself, she would have to admit to Graham that she had been in love with him for years.
Chapter Twelve
Seeing her auntfor the first time in many years, Roxanne felt like a piece of her had come home. She couldn’t explain it other than she never realized how much she missed her mother until now. Leaving home at such a young age into a forced marriage to Casper had alienated her from everyone familiar to her.
In the past two days Roxanne had managed to avoid Graham. Not that it was hard to do. He had mentioned there were some matters on his estate needing taken care of, and she wanted to make sure everything was perfect when her aunt and uncle arrived. She knew his reasoning was over-exaggerated but was thankful he wasn’t pushing her.
She and her aunt were sitting on the terrace enjoying lunch, her first full day with them. The butler had just brought her a letter from her friend, Pamela. It sat to Roxanne’s left unopened.
“You wrote me telling me about your lady friends; how you all shared one common connection. Your husbands had all died. Have any remarried?”
Roxanne turned her head, fighting to get out of some fog that had surrounded her. “We were all friends before we married. This just brought us closer together. Georgiana remarried and is gushingly happy.”
“Have you thought of marrying again?”
“No, not really. I was under Casper’s thumb for so many years that I would like to enjoy some freedom on my own. If it’s meant for me to marry again, I’m sure I’ll find the right man.”
“I have no doubt you will,” her aunt said with a sly grin. Roxanne watched the older woman pop a piece of cheddar in her mouth, still looking a bit too triumphant for getting her view in.
“You and Arthur! I swear I get no peace from him, and now you. Perhaps the two of you should start a business for matching people up because he’s been working overtime trying to get Hawksbury and me together,” she said.
At that, Aunt Violet burst into a fit of laughter the likes of which Roxanne had never seen before. Her aunt was always so dignified. Now she was showing her a playful side Roxanne didn’t know existed.
Wiping the tears from her cheek, she grinned at her niece. “I’ve seen the way Hawksbury looks at you.”
“You haven’t seen him since when? When he and Arthur were at university?”
“Even back then. The man is desperately in love with you. He looks at you like a big, brown-eyed puppy.” She began to laugh again but stopped when she saw Roxanne wasn’t humored. “I think you feel the same way. You’re just scared to entrust your love to someone new after you had such a bad experience the first time.”
“If Papa hadn’t forced me to marry Casper.”
“That’s in the past. Get over it, Roxanne. You’ll never find happiness if you don’t let go.”
Roxanne quietly contemplated her aunt’s words. She knew the older woman to be right, but she just didn’t seem to follow her own advice to herself. “You’re right, of course. I need to work harder on it.”
She was about to add something about Graham but was interrupted by Aunt Violet’s finger pointing to the sky. To the west the sky was black as night. A storm was fast approaching.
“Come inside,” Roxanne said, rising from her chair and grabbing her letter and putting it in the pocket of her dress.
Staff was already bustling around them gathering the food and plates. The butler mentioned to Roxanne they would reset everything in the breakfast room. Since she was still a bit hungry, she agreed and ordered a fresh pot of tea.
Violet reentered the breakfast room after having gone to her room and returned looking refreshed. “Do go put on something warmer, my dear. There’s a chill in the air now with this storm.”
“You’re right. I’ll just run and grab a shawl.” She was met in the hall by the girl who had been looking after her since she arrived in Kent. She had a thick, dark-gray shawl in her hands and helped Roxanne get it over her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the girl before turning to walk back to her aunt.
Aunt Violet glanced up as she walked into the room. “That looks warm.”
“It is. I found it in Scotland a couple of years ago. Before Casper died.”
The housekeeper entered with a footman carrying a fresh pot of tea. The older woman dismissed the boy after he placed the teapot down.
“His Grace just informed me there would be one more for dinner tonight. I thought you would like to know.”
“Don’t tell me, Hawksbury?” Roxanne inquired.
“Yes.”
