Page 98 of The Secret Love of a Gentleman
‘I shall give you thre’pence, but you must swear to me that no one will know.’
‘I swear, sir.’
Rob handed over the letter and the pennies. The footman slipped the letter inside his waistcoat, and the money into his pocket. ‘Thank you, sir.’
‘Deliver it to Lady Kilbride’s room. I am leaving now, so if any of the family ask after me please tell them I had another engagement to attend.’
49
Rob enjoyed his morning looking over farm stock at the market. Apparently he had an eye for picking out good breeding cattle when it came to pigs, sheep and cows. He chose animals, Drew checked them over and told him the details of why the animal was a good choice.
The more Drew asked, ‘Which do you think, Rob?’ and the more times Rob selected a good animal, the more interested Rob became.
Drew bought many of the animals Rob had liked. They were on their way to his home farm, now, which meant decisions Rob had influenced would benefit the estate for decades. His choices would run through the bloodline of the stock. The thought of leaving a legacy in farming intrigued him even more. So much so, on their way back to the house, Rob shared his political plan with Drew and discussed the possibilities of farming alongside it. Partly because he trusted Drew not to interfere, and because he hoped that in a couple of hours he would be asking Drew for Caro’s hand in marriage.
Drew’s eyebrows had risen in surprise, then he had smiled, slapped Rob’s shoulder, and said, ‘You will make a very good politician.’ He had offered his support, of course, but not with money, through friendship. ‘I will take every opportunity to speak for you.’
Rob smiled broadly as they climbed the steps to John’s house, excited to tell Caro about his decision. The glow from good emotions was definitely pride in his achievements today. He did not feel inferior, but he had never felt inferior in Drew’s company.
When he walked upstairs to the family drawing room, Rob hoped Caro would agree to his written proposal, then he would tell her that farming was the answer he had been looking for.
But as soon as he walked into the drawing room, he saw there would be no opportunity to speak to her. The room was full of visitors. Because the family had been out yesterday, these people must have come today to discover what had happened during her dance with Kilbride. They would leave knowing nothing more. Caro would not speak of it.
She looked at him and Drew but there was no smile and the only other acknowledgement that Rob had walked in was a blush in her cheeks, as though his presence embarrassed her.
There were no seats free, so he remained standing at the edge of the room.
‘Tea,’ Mary offered.
‘Yes, please.’
He drank his tea, staring at Caro, who did not look at him once.
This change in her behaviour was starting to annoy him. Rather than risk showing his annoyance, he decided to leave. He walked over to the table where Mary sat, put down his cup and asked, ‘Where are you going this evening? May I join you?’ Hewould have a private moment with Caro this evening, whether she willed it or not. He was starting to think she had taken against him since her incident with Kilbride.
Does she think I should have prevented that dance…?
50
Caro’s heart knocked against her ribs as Rob left the room. She had fought her desire to look at him. Her heart leapt when he walked in, but she did not want any of the nosey callers to recognise the emotions Drew had seen.
‘Robbie is a young man with high morals, he will feel obligated to marry you.’
Drew’s words had repeated in her thoughts constantly.
She avoided Rob yesterday, during the picnic, in case anyone else might notice his affection. Rob displayed his feelings in a ballroom full of people the night before, if he showed any further affection people would connect the same dots Drew had. Then there was the letter in her room…
‘He will feel obligated to marry you…’
Rob wanted to become engaged to defend her, not because he loved her and could not wait. He had felt pressured to announce an engagement –because he felt obligated to defend her. Her heart sank. She could not let him give her his youth. She knew what it meant, she gave hers to Albert and their marriage had not lasted. Drew was right, she should step back. If Rob loved her, theywould have a future. If this was infatuation, as it had been with Albert, then it was better it went no further.
In the evening, when she walked downstairs ready to leave for the Newcombs’s ball, Rob stood in the hall speaking with John. She had not known he was joining them. She had not dared to ask anyone in case it expressed too much interest in Rob.
His beauty was severe this evening, his posture and jaw stiff. He wore his greatcoat, and he had not removed his hat and gloves. Though his coat was unbuttoned, hanging open to reveal the black and white evening dress beneath. If this was the first day she met him, as her old self, she would not have seen softness and not dared to trust him.
He looked up and smiled stiffly, uncertainly.
She smiled too, her heart bleeding love.
