Page 7 of Miss Mulberry and the Moody Marquess
He was not happy to join her for the game. Because he was not on the same team. There could have been no greater distance between them at that gathering unless he had simply elected to stay home.
There were no further opportunities to speak with her or to explain to her that he wasn’t simply searching for any wife. He needed to inform her, quite desperately, that he’d already identified the person whom he wished to wed and it was her.
Despite that, he had to admit that it had been a joy to watch her. She’d played the game with a kind of enthusiasm and abandon that had simply radiated happiness. Carefree and lovely, he’d been unable to take his eyes off her. Now, with the game at an end, the party was winding down. Perhaps, if he offered to walk her home, they might have a chance to speak,to ask her if she might be willing to entertain the idea of him courting her.
Striding toward her, he found himself halted by a bevy of younger people who were celebrating their victory in the game. And as he struggled to extricate himself from the melee, he saw Miss Charlotte Mulberry walking into the house with Mrs. Whitlow. By the time he reached the doors to re-enter the house, Miss Mulberry had vanished within its depths.
“My lord,” Mrs. Barrington said with a smile, “I’m so pleased you could join us today.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Barrington, for the invitation. Is Miss Mulberry in need of an escort home?”
The hostess waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, heavens no! I’ve sent her off in the carriage. I had some items to donate for the poor and Charlotte, bless her, has offered to oversee it for me.”
Foiled by charity.
“I see,” he said. “How generous.”
“Indeed it is! Both of myself and Charlotte. Poor girl. Hasn’t a tuppence to her name, you know? But she gives freely of her time and her kind nature.”
Ethan had no notion how to respond to that. Whether or not Charlotte Mulberry was impoverished or not made no difference to him, so comment on that, to his mind, was not required. As to her generous nature, it was well known, and therefore required no comment. So he simply said, “Humph.”
Mrs. Barrington smiled warmly. “Now, will you be joining us for Mrs. Whitlow’s house party? I know you said earlier you meant to, but I’m also aware that we might have taxed your willingness to engage in our nonsensical games and activities,” she teased.
Yes, his willingness to engage in such activities had been taxed beyond what he could endure. But he was left with noother option. “I am willing to attend the party.”Willing. Not enthusiastic.
Mrs. Barrington cocked her head to one side and surveyed him with suspicion. “You’ve been remarkably attentive to Miss Mulberry, my lord. How kind you are to show such gentlemanly concern for her given the unpleasantness she has endured of late… I am sure she is quite grateful for your consideration, as am I.”
“Gratitude is unnecessary, Mrs. Barrington. Not from you nor from Miss Mulberry,” he replied stiffly.
“Of course. I know you dislike anyone making a fuss… but it has not gone unnoticed. Or unappreciated.”
Precisely what he did not want. Gratitude and appreciation were the very last things he wished to inspire in Miss Charlotte Mulberry. He had to find a moment alone with her. At least one.
Chapter Five
“Why haven’t you just asked her?”
Ethan looked up at his sister across the breakfast table. His food sat untouched before him as he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to even contemplate food. He gave a noncommittal grunt.
“Words, Ethan. For heaven’s sake. Use words!”
He threw his hands up in frustration. “There wasn’t an opportunity!”
“Make an opportunity,” Regina insisted. “If you want to court her, to wed her, then you cannot sit back and wait for her to simply fall into your lap. Miss Mulberry is an attractive woman. There are other unmarried men in Ambleside. And she, Ethan, is old enough to feel a bit desperate. If you do not ask her, someone else will.”
He shoved his plate away, perhaps more forcefully than he should have. It clattered loudly as it banged against his cup, sloshing tea onto the linens. “I know that, Regina. Should I declare myself to her in a room full of people—people that include the Cranfords?”
“It isn’t ideal, no. But it is better that than a lifetime of regret,” his sister stated firmly. “You’ve been miserable andunhappy for the last seven years. Indeed, from the very first day that you came to Ambleside and first encountered Miss Mulberry.”
That wasn’t entirely true. He’d been quite happy when they first encountered one another. The moment he’d laid eyes on her, his heart had gladdened. It simply hadn’t stayed that way for very long. Perhaps ten minutes. He’d had ten minutes of true happiness in Ambleside.
“Only ten minutes?”
Realizing that he’d uttered that aloud, he gave a shrug. “Perhaps a quarter of an hour,” he corrected ruefully. Only one corner of his mouth lifted in a self deprecating manner. He could admit that it was ridiculous. He’d affected his slightly, or perhaps more than slightly, moody demeanor as a way to dissuade others from matchmaking when there was only one match he would ever be interested in. “However long it took for Mrs. Whitlow to inform us of Charlotte Mulberry’s betrothal to Arliss Cranford. Long enough for me to realize she would never be mine.”
“You can have her now,” Regina insisted. “You can make her your marchioness, but only if you ask.”
Ethan knew she was right. He also knew that there was a reason for his hesitation. Not a particularly good reason, but it existed all the same. If he asked and she refused him, all hope would be lost. It was a fool’s gamble, to deny one’s self the real possibility of actual happiness in order to hold onto the hope of it. Yet, he was doing just that. “You’re right, of course. And if opportunities to speak with her do not present themselves, I should create those opportunities.”
