Page 51 of The Mysterious Miss Lydia
She clasped her hands together. “All I ask is for more time.”
Her father cast a quick glance toward her mother before sighing. “Very well. No one wants to force your hand. You can goback to school today, and we will discuss this again the next time you join us for dinner.”
She nodded quickly. “Yes, Father. Thank you.”
She turned to flee before he could change his mind. “I’d best tell my maid to start packing,” she murmured to no one in particular as she left. But as she climbed the steps to her room, all she could think was that she sincerely hoped she could find something incriminating against Wendell.
That might be the only way to avoid marrying the man.
Two days later,rather than reprimand Lydia for pacing as her mother had done, Miss Farthington grinned at her as she strode back and forth. “I do love this new energy you seem to have acquired of late.”
Lydia smiled. That was one way of putting it.
To her it felt as though she might explode if she did not move.
She paused before a fire that burned low to keep away the chill. It had been overcast and rainy all day, and despite the fact that it was still early, the room was dark and cozy.
Miss Farthington even had some candles lit for them to read by.
Typically, one of Lydia’s favorite parts of living at this school was the shared love of reading. No one ever forced her to stop or do something mindless and dull like embroidery. No, if Miss Farthington saw Lydia contentedly reading, she typically joined in. And vice versa.
But not today. Lydia continued her pacing.
“Where is he?” she muttered.
“Lord Galena?” Miss Farthington asked.
“Who else?” Lydia’s smile was rueful. It wasn’t as though she had many callers.
Or...anysince she’d been here.
She’d been a bundle of nervous excitement when she’d first returned to the finishing school, certain that somehow he’d know she’d returned and would pay a call post haste.
But with each passing hour, her nervous excitement morphed into a fearful anxiety. Had he forgotten about her already? Had he decoded the note for himself and so did not need her help any longer?
Had he thought her a silly girl and dismissed his promise to include her the moment she’d walked out of that library?
“Perhaps I should send him a note,” she mused.
Miss Farthington said nothing to that, but she closed the book she’d been reading and set it in her lap. “You seem different.”
Lydia smiled ruefully. “Because I’m choosing to pace rather than read?”
“No, I mean...” She tilted her head to the side. “For a little while now I’ve noticed it. Like you are coming into your own. I wonder what caused it.”
There was a hint of a question in her voice, but she did not press the issue. She merely added idly, “I wonder if it could have anything to do with this caller you’ve been waiting for.”
Lydia bit her lip. There was so much she wanted to tell her friend, but at the same time she did not want to put her in an awkward position as a headmistress.
“First a dance, and now he’s calling on you...” Miss Farthington smiled as she reached for her tea. “Is he responsible for this change in you, I wonder?”
Lydia blushed and ducked her head. She knew what the headmistress meant, of course. And she felt a little pangof disappointment because the reality was not what Miss Farthington hoped.
He was not her suitor. But...
But the answer was still yes. She nodded slowly, drawing closer to Miss Farthington as she spoke. “He is, but not in the way you might think.”
Her brows arched. “No?”
