She rose from the bed and walked to the window. Yesterday, she’d overheard Webster telling Peter that he had talked to Drake at the docks, and now staring out the window, not at anything in particular, she wondered if there was an excuse she could come up with to go there, too.
Her family would never believe any excuse that she might conjure up, because that was a place she’d never ventured. Furthermore, no matter how much she was missing him and wanted to see him, there was no reason for Drake to want to see her.
The knock on her door caused her to let out a long sigh before she turned about and crossed the room to open it.
Mr Kent handed her an envelope. ‘This just arrived for you,’ he said.
She glanced at the cream-colored envelope, recognizing it as an invitation to something, most likely from one of the many men whom she’d previously been introduced to by her family. Despite how unwelcoming she’d been to many of them, invitations from them never slowed down. ‘Thank you, Mr Kent.’
‘You’re welcome, Lady Meridith.’ He bowed and pulled the door shut as he backed out of the doorway.
She walked over and set the envelope amongst the pile of others atop her writing desk.
A few were open, ones that had arrived earlier this week when she’d had her hopes up that they might be from Drake. But none had been, and she didn’t need to open this one to know it wasn’t, either. She recognized the handwriting as that of Karl Harding. He was not only arrogant and rude, he simply wouldn’t take no for an answer, as Drake had noticed the night of the Montgomery ball. It had been months since she’d sat next toKarl during dinner at a ball hosted by the royal family. Whether he was a shirttail relation of the queen or not, sooner or later one would think he’d understand that she would never accept one of his invitations and find someone else to bother.
She’d known true happiness, back when it had been just her and her father, when they did what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it, without care for the rules of society. That was what she wanted again.
Turning away from the desk, she knew that sooner or later she’d have to face Peter and decided to get it over with. After checking her image in the mirror to make sure her hair was still presentable, she left her bedroom to search out her brother. Oddly enough, she wasn’t worried about the encounter, nor did she contemplate what she would tell him. She didn’t want to go to the theatre and therefore she would not.
Nothing he could say would change her mind. She’d had enough of their matchmaking and wasn’t going to stand for it any longer.
Chapter Eight
Sitting in the front parlour, Meridith reflected on how easily Peter had accepted her declining to attend the theatre. He hadn’t seemed surprised or disappointed, nor had he questioned her, which was baffling. Or maybe he was finally accepting that his efforts were for naught. Did that mean he’d give up on finding her a husband?
She doubted it. Perhaps he was merely looking for a different avenue to proceed with his quest?
He and Alena, along with Diana, had left for the theatre right after dinner, and the children were in bed, so it was just her and the quiet of the evening. She could get a book and read for a while, but an inner restlessness meant she wouldn’t really be reading, simply staring at the words while her mind wandered.
A walk would suit her better, so she rose and sought out Mr Kent to let him know that she would be taking a stroll in the park. He requested her to wait while he arranged for a companion to join her, but she declined, promising not to go far and to return before dark. Her family would be upset, but she was tired of worrying about upsetting them.
Yes, she had promised her father to obey them, but she was tired of being lied to. They were trying to find her a husband, despite insisting they weren’t. They’d made the same excuses about school, said she needed friends, whereas they’d truly senther away because they didn’t know what else to do with her. Just like now.
The evening was warm, the air was filled with scents of the blooming flowers, and upon entering the park, she automatically began walking in the direction of the zoo. Habits were hard to break, but she would turn around long before the zoo came into sight. It was closed now, the entrance gates shut for the night, but knowing that didn’t stop her from thinking about the last time she’d seen Drake. When her nieces and nephews had ridden on Hugo. He’d made them all laugh and let her give Hugo a squash in front of the children, who had cheered, watching him break it apart and eat it.
Evening settled around her as she walked. Dusk slowly stealing away the brightness of the day, casting shadows as she moved along the pathway beneath the tall trees. Lamplighters would soon be along the trails, lighting the street lamps with their long poles. Come dawn, they would use those same poles to extinguish each lamp.
There was no breeze to rustle the leaves, so the only sounds were those of birds fluttering about, looking for an unsuspecting evening bug or a place to rest for the night.
She encountered a few people along the pathway, couples out for an evening stroll, which made her wonder if that would ever be her. If she would ever find someone to share her life with, a life that included marriage and children.
Was she being too particular?
Her thoughts fell into an endless carousel of the men her family had paraded before her. She even tried to come up with some positive traits for some of them, but ultimately, the only one with encouraging qualities was Drake.
He was also the only one who didn’t want to get married. At one time that had thrilled her. Now it saddened her, and she wasn’t sure why.
With her mind fully occupied, she didn’t realise how far she’d walked until she recognized the outline of large buildings forming in the darkening sky were those of the zoo.
Aware that she’d travelled further than intended, and that she needed to turn about and hurry home to keep Mr Kent from worrying, she stopped walking but took a moment to watch a lamplighter using his long pole to light a street lamp. Those near the entrance gates of the zoo had already been lit, and the man was now making his way along the walking path of the park.
What happened next was so fast and unusual, that she wasn’t sure if she heard or saw the commotion first. Either way, sounds of shrieks and thunderous footsteps filled the air and a huge animal barrelled through the zoo gates with a person haphazardly bouncing upon its back.
‘Hugo,’ she whispered, in such disbelief her voice didn’t want to work. A moment later, even as her heart leaped into her throat, she found her voice and screamed, ‘Hugo!’
‘Bloody hell!’ the lamplighter shouted. ‘It’s an elephant!’
Hugo was racing along the main pathway leading out of the zoo, with what appeared to be a boy struggling to stay upon his back. Two more boys were racing behind the animal and, remembering what Drake had once told her, Meridith ran towards the boys. ‘Don’t chase him! It’ll make him run faster!’
