Page 4 of The Misfortunate Miss Farthington
Tessa dipped her head, her heart rollicking and twisting in her chest as she reread the last line in Mary’s exuberant, scrawling hand. “Mr. Grant will be speaking and I know he would be so thrilled to see you. Oh, please say you’ll come, Miss Farthington. You must!”
She folded the note with a little smile and took a deep breath to try and calm the excited flutter of her heart.
She would go. But she would not let herself get carried away.
Mr. Grant had been kind to her, that was all. And there was no reason to believe he’d ever think of her as anything more than a friend.
2
Mr. Richard Grant was a man known for his debonair charm and his easygoing manners.
Neither of which was on display at this precise moment.
“Are you certain she’s coming?” he asked his friends for what he knew to be the third time in as many minutes.
“Positive,” Lydia said. His best friend’s fiancée didn’t sound the least bit impatient, which was likely why she was the kindest person on earth. Her patience also made her a perfect match for his best friend, the newly titled Viscount Galena, better known to Richard as Luke.
“Their friend Mary sent her an invitation and Miss Farthington replied she’d be here,” Luke reminded in a bored tone, not nearly as patient as his lovely redheaded bride-to-be.
Lydia stood a little taller as she peered at the crowded drawing room. Every seat was already taken by gentlemen and ladies alike as they waited for the next speaker. Lady Dabney was hosting once again, and while he’d like to think he and his fellow science aficionados were what drew such a crowd, he wasn’t a fool. He knew full well that the topic of science just happened to be fashionable at the moment for this set.
He doubted many cared much for the specifics and were here more to see and be seen than to fill their minds with new breakthroughs and understandings. But that was quite all right with him. If just one lord or lady in this crowd left today’s gathering with a new view of the natural world or a spark of interest in its studies, then his time will have been well spent.
And if this symposium also gave him a chance to see the woman who’d stolen his heart with a glance and a smile nearly a year before in this very same drawing room at a very similar event…
Well, he’d be a lucky man, indeed.
“There’s Mary,” Lydia said, craning her neck to see better.
But Richard was taller than Lydia and he found himself tensing with hope as he watched Lord Paul and his wife Mary enter. They always came to these gatherings as Mary had a keen scientific mind, particularly when it came to chemistry.
They moved toward their hostess first, and there was no sight of Miss Farthington with them. Richard’s heart began to sink toward the ground, until…
“There!” Luke shouted the word so loudly the guests standing nearby turned to stare.
But Richard couldn’t begin to care if they caused a scene, because his gaze was caught by the sight of her.
Miss Farthington. A woman who seemed to hold all the stars in the galaxy in her eyes, and whose gaze glinted with such intellect, he found himself pondering what was going on in her mind on those long, cold winter nights when sleep eluded him.
He watched her pause now, petite and delicate looking, which was so at odds with her self-assured way of speaking and acting. She might look fragile, but she was confident and strong beneath all the frippery and finery.
A young woman stood beside her, equally small of stature and with the same dark features and hair, but while Miss Farthington had a calm poise about her demeanor, the other girl seemed to vibrate with energy, her movements quick and birdlike as she fluttered her fan and darted her gaze this way and that to take in every person in this room.
But after a quick glance at her companion, Richard’s gaze was drawn back to the woman who’d enchanted him from the very beginning. “She’s here.”
“What a surprise,” Luke drawled.
Lydia giggled as she nudged her fiancé with her elbow. “Don’t tease the poor man. Don’t you recall what it was like to be in love and uncertain if you’d be together?”
Luke growled playfully as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “I don’t like to recall any time before you were mine.”
She smiled up at him. “You do say the sweetest things.”
Richard ignored them as the happy couple whispered amongst themselves. Miss Farthington looked in his direction but did not see him, and he moved toward her, his heart seeming to lead the way with its strong, steady beat.
My love. My love. My love, his heart seemed to say.
He was ridiculous, and he well knew it.
