“You must tell me!” she insisted. “Or else I will need ask Valentina Smythe. You know how she enjoys a good tale of romance!”
David whirled to stare at her in shock. His golden-brown eyes were fraught with distress.
“You would not!” he gasped. “That busybody will follow me like a bloodhound on a hunt if she suspects I am courting!”
“Indeed. Would it not be easier to tell your sister which lady has caught your eye?” Elizabeth agreed, an impish grin covering her lovely face. Of course she would never unleash the town’s gossip upon her beloved brother but her curiosity was piqued in David’s silence. David glowered for a moment, the realization he was caught between two evils defeating him.
“If I should disclose the object of my affections,” he began haltingly. “You must swear not to tell Father.”
“I swear it,” Elizabeth agreed and placed a hand on her chest. “Do tell me.”
“Lady Anne Chamberlain.”
Elizabeth was truly stunned by the revelation, her mouth parted to show her dismay.
“Good Heavens, David, she is ten years older than you! A widowed lady no less!”
“You understand then why you cannot tell Father.” His tone was nonchalant and Elizabeth was temporarily at a loss for words. “He will not understand and force me to end it.”
“David, you cannot hide such an affair. It is only a matter of time before—”
“All that is well and good, sister, but for now I would prefer it not come to surface. Certainly not from your mouth. You did swear! You cannot back out on your word now!”
Elizabeth swallowed the lump formulating in her throat and reluctantly nodded. She had sworn her silence, after all. She could not very well dishonor her vow, especially, not to her brother. She wondered if she was being too hasty to judge, if she should simply be happy for him. Yet she could not help but feel such a match was fated to be doomed.
“You must consider the consequences of this,” she urged him. “I will not speak a word of it to anyone but you must be reasonable, David. What will happen when this comes to light?”
“I will deal with such matters when they arise.”
Elizabeth could not help but feel resentful of Lady Chamberlain who surely knew better at her age of six-and-twenty than to seduce a boy as young as David.
“Look!” he interrupted before Elizabeth could offer another word of protest, his finger pointed toward the horizon. “A messenger is coming.”
Indeed, a man dressed in black galloped his horse toward them and Elizabeth felt a stab of inexplicable worry. Nothing good ever came in such a fashion. She turned her head toward the house and noted with relief that Frances had already made her way inside the manor. She did not wish troubling news to reach her sister’s fragile mind.
“Halt!” David called to the man as he neared. “What say you?”
The messenger peered at the young lord, his eyes narrowed.
“I seek the lord of the manor,” he intoned and produced a sealed paper in his gloved hand. “Percival, Lord of Gordon.”
“I am Miss Elizabeth Follett, daughter of Lord Gordon. I will accept the message on his behalf.”
The messenger appeared wary but Elizabeth recognized the unmistakable glint of interest in his eye as he stared at the lovely woman before him.
“I am to deliver this to the lord himself…” he drawled slowly. Elizabeth cast her brother a bothered look. The messenger was merely being difficult and she was having none of it.
“Then I suggest you travel to London where he has gone to attend his business,” Elizabeth told him curtly, her patience having expired with the surly rider. “Come along, Mr. Follett.”
Her chestnut tresses fanned as she spun and she heard the messenger sputter in her wake.
“Miss Elizabeth!” he called hastily. Slowly, she turned but not before shooting her brother a triumphant look.
“Yes?”
“Perhaps I can make an exception in this case,” he muttered and Elizabeth realized he was studying her face closely. His arrogant disposition diminished considerably, an unbridled respect shining in his irises.
“I would not want to see your position compromised,” Elizabeth replied haughtily. She held his gaze evenly, her bright amber eyes glowing. A softness which Elizabeth knew well fell over his expression and he extended his hand to deliver the letter.
