Sophia smiled at Hannah, relieved by her approval.
‘You do not think me mad to pursue a man who could break my heart?’
‘Any man could break any woman’s heart – there are guarantees for none of us,’ Hannah reminded her.
Sophia pulled her friend into an excitable embrace.
‘I do so hope I’m right about him!’ Sophia squealed and Hannah found herself thinking how she hoped she was also right about Caleb.
***
In the billiard room, the gentlemen had doled out cigars and allowed the butler to pour them generous tumblers of whiskey. The room was raucous with booming enthusiastic voices and intermittent sharp crack of billiard balls. Caleb and Albert made their way through the low-hanging fug of cigar smoke to a quieter corner of the room and chinked their glasses together in solidarity.
Albert bent his head low to ask Caleb ‘How goes it with your new wife?’
‘Good,’ Caleb frowned, ‘I think. Still working that one through…’
‘I can empathise,’ Albert sighed, looking off across the room.
This caught Caleb’s attention.
‘Pray, tell me – which lady has drawn your attention?’ Caleb transferred his weight from one foot to another in order to lean in for private conversation.
Albert looked at him warily, before leaning forward to meet him and whispering ‘Lady Sophia Camden.’
‘I knew it!’ Caleb punched the air in triumph.
‘You did?’ Albert looked concerned. ‘Have I been too obvious?’
‘Not at all, good man. But I know you. Remember I have seen you set your sights upon many a fair maiden – I know the signs.’
‘Indeed, but this is different.’
‘Different?’ Caleb asked.
‘She is pretty; very pretty. But there have been pretty girls in the past and they have not distracted my mind to the extent that Sophia has. She is spirited and opinionated – but quirky and funny. She takes life whimsically and with positivity that emanates from her core. It makes me feel exuberant just to have her within my orbit…’
‘Well,’ Caleb exhaled, smiling, impressed by his friends’ ardent description. ‘You know that she is Hannah’s best friend?’
‘Indeed.’
‘Splendid taste in friends can be added to her list of assets…’ Caleb laughed, indulging in these new feelings he had for Hannah and experimenting with how it felt to speak of her with such freedom.
‘She is intelligent, graceful and when she laughs, it lights me up inside…’ Albert was fully in the flow now, enunciating his fondness with confidence.
To Caleb, his friend could have been describing Hannah, for these were adjectives that could be attributed to both the ladies. How he wished he could be as boldly articulate as his friend was about his affections. Caleb continued to feel guarded; his emotions regarding Hannah made him vulnerable. Whilst he felt as passionately as Albert clearly did for Sophia, he had too much to lose to shout about it with such fearlessness.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Hannah sat up in her bed, accepting that it might just be impossible to sleep. Her mind was still occupied, gallivanting back and forth, recalling the fondness of greeting old friends at the Camden town-house; the intimate dance with Caleb; the familiar, enjoyable dance with Nathaniel; the awkwardness of the house-visit proposition from Nathaniel and Sophia; the stoic meal next to Anne; the secretive discussion with Sophia when she revealed her affections for Albert. There was so much to think about – so many emotional pursuits and conflicting feelings pressuring her mind.
Hannah stood and pulled on her nightgown so that if any staff around the house should be up, she was suitably dressed for the dead of night. She pushed open her bedroom door and carefully tiptoed along the landing to the stairs. The only light came from the moon, which shone through the windows above her, casting mystical shadows across the marble hallway. Hannah knew the perfect place to be on a sleepless night. She scampered across the cold hallway and pushed open the heavy wooden door of the library.
Even as the door opened, Hannah registered that something was abnormal – the room was lit with a low glow from a single candle and as her eyes adjusted, she became aware that Caleb was there. He was sitting on the sofa, with a book in his hands, another on his lap and one more by his side.
Hannah stood entirely still in the doorway as she noticed him there and Caleb looked up. Their eyes locked on one another and neither said a word. The moment went on for longer than was natural. Hannah observed how dark, strong, and mysterious Caleb looked in the combination of candlelight and a sliver of moonlight from a small skylight above. She was accustomed to seeing him in a dark suit but he, too, had clearly been to bed and abandoned the mission, so he was wearing a white linen bed shirt, his hair slightly mussed and a casual relaxed appeal that Hannah had never witnessed in him before.
Hannah forgot at that moment, that she was standing before him in her nightgown; white and flowing, her hair draped over her shoulder in a plait Lucy fashioned for her every night to sleep in so that her hair would not tangle. Caleb thought that she perhaps looked the prettiest he had ever seen her. It was an effort to coax his eyes away from her face – so he did not.
