Page 26 of An Unlikely Debutante

‘You hold me in high regard?’

‘I was talking in general terms,’ Lina said, feeling the smile dancing on her lips. ‘It makes one question the whole courtship ritual, doesn’t it? Men choose the women they wish to pursue, and because they choose, they are the ones to buy the gifts to woo their intended. If women had more of a choice in the matter, perhaps men would receive their share of pretty trinkets, too.’

‘And what man doesn’t appreciate a pretty trinket?’

‘You might if you ever received one.’

They reached the bench overlooking the duck pond and sat side by side, both tasting the sweet confection and taking a moment to enjoy the flavour.

‘She broke your heart, didn’t she?’ Lina asked quietly, unsure how Alex would react to the abrupt change of subject.

‘It was a difficult time,’ he replied eventually.

‘Sometimes I don’t think people appreciate how their actions impact on those around them.’

‘Or they just don’t care.’

‘My father broke my mother’s heart,’ Lina said, watching Alex as he stared off into the distance. ‘He loved her, or so he claimed, but he still betrayed her.’

‘Did your mother recover?’

Lina considered the question for a little while. ‘She moved on with her life, she forgave him, but I don’t think she ever recovered.’

The messy subject of her parents’ relationship was not one Lina often talked about. All her gypsy family knew the intimate, sordid details, so there was no need to ever discuss it, and Lina realised she hadn’t really ever had any friends outside her family circle before.

‘What happened?’ Alex asked, turning to her.

‘My father was a strong man—charismatic, I suppose. He caught the eye of a wealthy widow when we stayed in Hampshire for a while. She must have wanted something a little more alluring than her usual string of lovers.’

Lina could still remember her father sneaking off in the middle of the night. She’d been six years old and had woken to see him leaving without a backwards glance at his family.

‘The widow got bored of him after a few months and my father came crawling back to the family, begging for my mother to forgive him.’

‘And she took him back?’ Alex asked, incredulous. Lina could see he would never contemplate letting Victoria back into his life.

‘She loved him. And hated him a little, I think. She took him back, but things weren’t the same. He started drinking heavily, would withdraw into himself for days on end.’

‘Guilty conscience?’

‘Crushed dreams,’ Lina corrected. Her father had thought his life was about to change when the widow had looked his way, and for a few months it had, but he had been a temporary distraction, an oddity, nothing more. Soon the widow had become bored of her coarse new lover and looked elsewhere for her excitement. ‘For a little while he thought he was going to become someone important. All his life he had been a travelling carpenter and he wanted something more, I think. When he was pushed back to reality, the dream of what could have been got to be too much. It was the disappointment that killed him.’

‘It must have been an unhappy time for you.’

Lina smiled softly. ‘My mother was heartbroken, betrayed twice by the man she loved—first when he left her for another woman and then when he gave up on life. But she tried to do her best by me and Raul. And we had the rest of the family to rally round, as well.’

‘I’m sorry this happened to you.’

Shaking her head vehemently, Lina turned to Alex. ‘I didn’t tell you to gain your sympathy. I just wanted you to know that I understand.’ She paused, watching Alex sink back on to the bench and his eyes glaze over slightly. ‘I do not know what happened with you and your ex-fiancée, but I do know she hurt you badly. You find it difficult to trust people. Perhaps that is why you are so resistant to the young ladies your sister keeps trying to push your way?’

‘Perhaps.’ Alex shrugged. Lina could tell he wasn’t ready to open up about the events of his past so she didn’t push any further. Hopefully it was enough to know that she understood a little of his pain.