Page 65 of A Lovely White Christmastide
Her father’s booming voice echoed down the hall. A quieter female voice responded and she could only assume it was her aunt’s.
“Please, Beth,” Carswell begged.
Though his hands were balled, his arms hung straight at his sides. He did not move, but his grey eyes pleaded with her to accept.
“Julianna, you are to be congratulated, my child.”
They all turned to face her father who stood with Aunt Waverly in the doorway. He smiled at the attention. “Your uncle has agreed to settle two thousand pounds on you to add to your dowry.”
Beth cringed at the crass way her father mentioned money in front of them. Could he not wait to tell Julianna in private? No wonder Uncle Waverly disliked him. The more she thought on it, the more she recognized her father’s lack of decorum. It was embarrassing.
Julianna stumbled over her words, then finally accepted his congratulations, though it lacked excitement and spoke of her discomfort.
“Yes, well,” he continued. “We will still need to be gone today, so you best get onto packing your things. We can talk of wedding dates later.”
Julianna rushed around Beth, her movements frantic. “But Papa, Beth and I are still expected to sing at Aunt Waverly’s musicale. We cannot simply leave. Besides, you promised us theentire Christmastide. Cannot Mrs. Barker stay with us and we can return after Twelfth Night as planned?”
“I am afraid as of next week Mrs. Barker will no longer be in my employ.”
Julianna stepped back. “Oh, Papa, you did not release her because of me, did you?”
“No, she has simply found a better situation.”
Julianna glanced over her shoulder at Beth, but she only shrugged. She was surprised too.
Their father grinned. “It seems Mr. Baitman has made her an offer she could not reject. The first set of banns will be read this Sunday.”
A slow smile spread across Julianna’s face.
Beth wished she could share in Julianna’s relief at the news, but it only made her more tense. Not that she was unhappy for Mrs. Barker. The woman must be relieved to have her circumstances elevated again. And Beth knew sheshouldbe grateful to not have Mrs. Barker lording over them, but all this change made her wish for something constant, something familiar… like home. But even that would not be constant anymore.
Julianna entered into an animated conversation with Mr. Kaye about the announcement and her father turned to consult Aunt Waverly on what could be done to extend the girls’ stay. Which only left Carswell.
The pleading she’d witnessed earlier still lingered, but she was too tired and the thumping in her head had increased to a roar. Julianna’s reminder about the musicale only increased her distress. She had promised to sing with Carswell, which meant any concessions on her father’s part would be more like a declaration of imprisonment.
In the end, her father declared he could not stay one more night at Haverton as he was needed at Hayworth Hall. He had a new bride to plan for after all.
For a moment Beth’s hopes rose. They would be going home.
Then he said that she and Julianna could stay and he would come back for them at the appointed time.
Beth’s chest constricted as if she’d laced her short stays entirely too tight. “I shall go with you, Papa. There is no need for me to stay. I can practice as well at home as here, and we can return in time for both the musicale and Twelfth Night.”
His bushy eyebrows pulled together. “If you wish?—”
“I do.”
“Very well. We will leave as soon as the sleigh is loaded. When the snow thins we can switch to a coach. Hopefully the roads have cleared farther south or it will be quite unpleasant for a good part of the journey.”
Beth bit back a groan. The snow was the entire reason her father had not reached them sooner. He’d been obliged to hold up in an inn for several days before continuing on. Did she really want to travel back and forth from Hayworth Hall in such conditions?
Her gaze trailed across the room to where Carswell stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his face impassive. She felt the accusation in his stormy grey eyes. But what could he have to say to her other than what he’d already declared?
It seemed traveling in the dead of winterwaspreferable, if only to escape the feelings she alone harbored. A tender regard Carswell did not believe in. Something so close to love that she was afraid if she analyzed it too much longer she would find that it was indeed that heady yet comfortable feeling. The one that demanded she care for and about someone who could not do the same for her. The same feeling she’d harbored for Edward… until she learned he did not return it.
Carswell did not believe in love, but she could not live without it.
Chapter Twenty
