Page 14 of The Uncouth Duke of Longford
“I am sorry.”
The touch of his hand on hers seemed to alter her expression almost instantly for her eyes flared with surprise and shock. Andrew pressed her hand, a strange desire within him not to release her hand from his.
“I should have been more considerate,” he admitted, after a few minutes. “Forgive me, Miss Grifford.”
Her mouth opened and shut without a word escaping from it though her eyes were still round with surprise. When he finally released her hand, Miss Grifford took a step back from him, both hands clutched together at her heart.
“And I shall dance with you, if you will permit it,” he said, surprising himself all the more with his astonishing words. “The waltz, perhaps? That way, you can be certain that many gentlemen and ladies of thetonwill wish to become acquainted with you.”
The way his mind screamed at him gave him pause but there was nothing that that he could say now. The words had been spoken, the offer had been made and now it was up to Miss Grifford to answer.
“You would be willing to dance with me only out of pity?”Andrew hesitated and that, evidently, was enough of an answer for Miss Grifford, given the way she looked away, an exclamation on her lips.
“Not out of pity,” he said quickly, though it was already much too late. “No, not at all out of pity.”
“Then to assuage your conscience,” she responded, hoarsely. “It is not to make me feel better, it is to make yourself feel better.”
Andrew threw up his hands. “What do you want from me, Miss Grifford? I have come to apologise, have I not? I have come to seek you out, to make right – or to attempt to make right – what I know to be wrong. Is that not enough for you?”
Miss Grifford drew herself up, her arms folding over her chest as she looked him dead in the eye. “I would not have you pity me, Your Grace,” she said, though her voice still held the edge of pain. “I would not have your pity nor would I have you using me to make your own guilt a little lesser. I would be valued for the lady that I am rather than being treated with such disdain.” She closed her eyes tightly. “Though it appears to me that you will treat me just as my own mother and father do, Your Grace, and make me very little in your eyes, given your dark reputation, perhaps that is just what I ought to expect.”
She said nothing more but turned away from him at once, leaving his mouth to fall open in shock as he fought to find an answer – but it was much too late. His own heart clamoured within him, pain dragging through him as he fought back against the shame which threatened to overwhelm him. He had caused her a great injury by speaking without much consideration but her words now threw heavy darts back into his own heart – darts which he could not seem to remove from himself. Her words held so much truth, he could barely breathe for a moment. It seemed hewasgaining a dark reputation amongst thetonand after what he had not only said but done to Miss Grifford, Andrew could finally understand why.
Chapter Seven
“How are you this afternoon, my dear friend?”
Rachel smiled quickly, wanting to reassure Miss Renfrew. “I am quite well, I thank you.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I enjoyed last evening,” she lied, trying to put a light tone into her voice that she did not truly feel. “The ball was not a complete disaster and I did end up dancing four dances.”
Miss Renfrew smiled though her eyes still held a great deal of worry. “That was good, certainly. Lord Wrexham was very kind to us both.”
Rachel caught the slight softness about her friend’s eyes and found her interest piqued. “You do think well of Lord Wrexham, do you not?”
Miss Renfrew’s gaze quickly turned away from her. “I think him a very kind gentleman, yes.”
“But more than that?” Rachel wondered aloud, seeing how her friend flushed. “Is there a spark of interest there?”
With a small sigh, Miss Renfrew looked away. “I could not say for certain,” she said, her voice a little light which made Rachel quite certain that there was more to what she said than she was willing to admit to. “There is a kindness to him which I deeply value. It is not often found in gentlemen, I think.”
“That is probably very true,” Rachel admitted, her thoughts immediately going to the Duke of Longford, “though I do not know the gentlemen of society very well as yet, I confess.” She smiled as Miss Renfrew finally caught her gaze again. “I think Lord Wrexham does have an interest in you also, I must say.”
“Do you?” Hope filled Miss Renfrew’s eyes as Rachel nodded fervently. “Are you quite certain? What would give you that sort of idea?”
Rachel laughed softly, her heart lifting a little as she saw the excitement in her friend’s face. “It was only a very brief consideration,” she said, grinning, “but I did see his gaze linger upon you on more than one occasion. That must speak of interest, surely?”
“Mayhap.” Miss Renfrew shrugged though there was a glimmer of a smile there. “Thank you for telling me. I do think that Lord Wrexham is a very kind gentleman and I would be glad to be a little more in his company, I must admit.” Her eyes settled on Rachel’s. “And how are your spirits this afternoon?”
Rachel hesitated, then shook her head. “I am doing my best not to think of what happened,” she said, truthfully. “I am trying to lift my spirits for I cannot permit myself to linger on what the Duke of Longford said to me. It would only make my heart all the more painful, I think.”
“It was utterly disgraceful.” Miss Renfrew’s expression grew dark. “I was shocked, I must admit. Horrified that such a gentleman would think to speak to you in such a way.”
Rachel managed a wry smile though her heart was suddenly all the more pained at the recollection. “He did come to speak with me, in what I think was an attempt to apologise,” she said, making her friend’s eyes round. “Do you know that he asked me to dance with him at the very end of our conversation?” Seeing Miss Renfrew’s eyes flare, Rachel nodded and then shook her head. “It was quite ridiculous. He asked me only to assuage his conscience, I am sure, for his apology was not even truly an apology!”
“And you refused him?”
