Page 30 of The Reclusive Earl's Scandal
“What were you thinking, Rebecca, falling in such a way? You could have been hurt! I ought to have the bridge assessed. Somebody will pay for such poor craftsmanship. I could have lost you.”
He gripped her hand tightly, and she peered up at him, her teeth chattering. For once, she noticed how clear his eyes looked.
“I could not stand to lose you,” he told her firmly before releasing her and turning towards the window, muttering under his breath about investigating such terrible matters.
***
Despite the early spring, the fire had been lit in the parlor, word sent ahead of Rebecca’s fall and her return. She was quickly taken into the parlor and placed in an armchair. She felt rather dazed, her thoughts peculiarly lingering on the speed of which Edward had dived in to save her, and the softened tone of him declaringjust like years ago.
He remembered saving her in the fountain, then.
She flushed when she thought of his arm around her waist, of how readily he’d steadied her, and how he’d just as quickly pulled away when they were interrupted. With great effort, Rebecca attempted not to think of Catherine’s anger rather than concern or compassion. Deep down, she sympathized, for she knew Catherine had turned an eye on Edward since the first ball of the Season, but it had merely been a rescue attempt, nothing more. There had been no scandal, no indecency, nothing to draw his attention away from Catherine.
If only she knew his thoughts about her.
Rebecca was jolted from her thoughts by her mother all but running into the parlor.
“Rebecca!” Her broken cry made Rebecca startle, turning to face her mother as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “Heavens.” Her mother sank to a crouch before her, bracing herself on the footstool near Rebecca’s feet. “When we heard of what had happened—oh, your father was out the door in an instant.”
She could only nod, still unable to claw the ability to talk through her shock. Her thoughts were still in the river, still tangled in the feel of Edward holding her. Looking at her mother, her thoughts shifted to her father declaring himself miserable. Of marrying for comfort, then falling in love, only to fall out of it again.
But then she realized what her mother was saying.
“... a daring act to garner his attention, well done to you.”
That finally pushed words into Rebecca’s mouth. “What?”
Her mother beamed. “I had thought you would have to wait for another ball to get his attention. Perhaps the Farrens’ one tomorrow, seeing as His Lordship was not at the last one. But this… oh, Rebecca, you are ever so clever. I must have taught you well! It was very drastic, of course, but daring nonetheless.”
The words struck her with disgust, and she cringed back into the armchair. “Mama, you think I… staged my fall?” Her lip curled, an ugly sight she was sure, but she couldn’t help it. “That is a terrible thing to think about! It was truly an accident.”
“But it does not have to be. Tell me, did he feel strong when he hoisted you from the river? Did you feel safe? Did he steady you tenderly?”
Rebecca’s eyes pinned just past her mother, blushing furiously, and she could only hope the red of her face could be blamed on the cold. She hated that all of those things were ayes. Any other mother would be scandalized to think a man had laid hands on their daughter so intimately, even if it was to save her, but her own mother’s eyes glinted with plans.
“As I have told you, we are merely friends,” Rebecca mumbled. A deep cold was settling into her bones. She leaned closer to the fire.
“It does not have to stay that way,” her mother countered. “I saw how he protected you against the Maudley boy. I have always had great respect for the Maudleys, but I do condemn his behaviour. Yet…”
“I know,” Rebecca whispered. “If he announces anything untoward, I must marry him.”
“Not unless you secure a proposal. Darling, you have had enough visitors. You even have had Lord Thornshire agree to call upon you. Do you know that he did not visit anybody else?”
Rebecca couldn’t hide her surprise at that, and her mother smirked, knowing she had caught her interest.
She added, “not even Lady Catherine got a visit.”
“I am certain that had nothing to do with me.”
“No, but itcouldbe, if you play your cards correctly. Even Lady Thornshire approves of this match.”
“Mama, I have known him since we were children! There ought to be no match.”
“Fine,” her mother said, quick enough that Rebecca knew it would be a taunt. “Fine. Then choose another suitor before the week’s end.”
“But none have proposed.”
“The Maudley boy, then.” Even as she said it, her mother’s lip curled in a sneer. “Be a commoner and denounce us as your family, if that is the case. If you wish to be foolish.”
