Page 77 of A Secret Consequence for the Viscount
Chapter Fifteen
Rose came in as Eleanor was eating lunch the next day and she was bristling with news that she wanted to share.
‘Oliver is to be married tomorrow afternoon to Cecilia Lockhart at Vitium et Virtus. The ceremony will be performed under a special licence and we are all invited.’
‘All?’
‘Jacob and I. Frederick and Georgiana. Nicholas Bartlett and you. Jacob has promised to behave himself, but I am not certain what may happen when he sees Nicholas.’
Eleanor’s heart sank. ‘No. I won’t go. Not yet.’ The words fell out in a whisper.
‘And you think that is wise?’
‘Pardon?’
‘To refuse to attend when the people you hurt by such an absence had nothing at all to do with any of it? Cecilia specifically asked for you to be there.’
‘I barely know her.’
‘She likes you. She admires your fortitude. She has told me this over and over again. The wedding is a small one and if you do not come people might also wonder why and any gossip can be damaging.’
‘I cannot see him, Rose. I just cannot.’
‘There are always two sides to every story, Eleanor. What if Nicholas Bartlett is scared of commitment because he is running from something we cannot even begin to comprehend? There are so many questions about Lord Bromley. His disappearance. His scars. His hurt and his danger.’
Eleanor shook her head. ‘But he will not let me help him, Rose. I get closer and then he moves away.’
‘Which is exactly what happened between Jacob and I. Should I have just given up on your brother when I was let go from the household? Should I have left my heart there at his feet to never see him again and gone to hide in shame and sadness all on a mistake? If I had, where would I be now?’
Eleanor smiled, for she could see exactly where Rose was going with this.
‘You think I should fight for him?’
‘I do. Because a man who is worth such emotion is also the one who could keep your broken heart safe.’
‘And if it does not work out?’
‘Then you will have done what you could and will have no regrets whatsoever. It’s a tiny wedding. The only guests there are our friends. It will be the easiest place to see Nicholas Bartlett again with all the celebrations going on about you.’
‘If I agree, I need to be able to leave when I want to. I am not staying if...’
She did not go on and was glad when Rose nodded at her condition.
* * *
She saw him the first moment she came into the main room of the club. He was standing with Frederick Challenger and Oliver Gregory in one corner, dressed in dark blue and beige, the tan of his face made deeper by the whiteness of his neckcloth.
The last time she had seen him he had been naked in bed, flushed by the exertion of sex. Almost as if he could hear her thoughts he looked up, eyes unreadable and a new stiffness in the set of his shoulders and head.
Her brother beside her swore underneath his breath and she understood at that moment this occasion was every bit as difficult for him as it was for her. The undercurrents of friendship, betrayal and enforced joviality hung over Jacob’s face as she stole a glance at him, the sort of emotions that were probably as clearly visible on her own.
Cecilia was laughing on the other side of the room with Georgiana Challenger and as they went over to join them she saw Jacob carry on stiffly towards the men.
She felt like the bad apple who had brought the rot into a barrel, distance amongst good friends, uncertainty to a group who had managed thus far to triumph over every adversity sent their way.
Nicholas had not even once caught her glance and her brother’s stance was sure to be noticed by Frederick and Oliver.
Shaking her head at self-blame, she refused to harbour such nonsense. It was not she after all who had taken what was offered and thrown it all away.
