Page 54 of A Bachelor’s Lessons in Love

“Very well. You are absolutely seething with indignation.”

That won a slight smile, though Daphne quickly smoothed her features again.

Felicity leaned forward, softening her voice. “But the real question is this, my dear. Do you think he watches you because he believes you are foolish or because he is afraid?”

Daphne’s brows pulled together. “Afraid? The Colonel?”

Felicity pressed on. “You lost your father not long ago—and while Colonel Halstead may not admit it, I believe he is terrified that something might happen to you, too. That he will fail you in some way, and thus fail your father’s trust. He is a soldier, Daphne. Soldiers protect what is theirs, ‘tis what they are trained to do.”

“I am not his,” Daphne muttered, but the bitterness in her voice was less prevalent than before.

“No,” Felicity agreed softly, “but he has made you his responsibility when he could have ignored you. He could have done almost naught to aid you in coming out, and see how he has changed his routine, his habits, his expenditure. We have certainly seen he takes responsibility very seriously.”

Daphne lowered her gaze to her hands, tracing an invisible pattern along the folds of her skirts. “I do not mean to be ungrateful,” she said at last. “But I want to be trusted—to be seen as more than a charge to be managed.”

Felicity’s chest tightened. Was that not exactly how she had felt years ago? When she had still harbored hope that she might have the love she wished for? Her voice was gentler now. “Then prove you can be.”

Daphne looked up, startled.

Felicity tilted her head slightly. “If you wish to be trusted, then show him you are worthy of that trust. Obviously, you will not be sneaking about or practicing deception—but you need to make it absolutely clear, through your actions, that you are not reckless.”

Daphne frowned. “And how am I to do that?”

Felicity leaned back. “That, my dear girl, is for you to decide. After all, it would be no demonstration if I instructed you how to do it.”

Another moment of thoughtful silence passed.

Then, unexpectedly, her niece’s gaze turned sharp, almost assessing. “And what of you?”

Felicity had started gently tugging the thread out of her apron. Perhaps she did not need the scissors. She only needed patience. “What of me?” she asked without looking up.

Daphne’s tone did not waver. “What will you do when I marry?”

Everything within her stilled a moment, then she continued plucking at the thread. “I will find rooms to rent in a quiet seaside village, perhaps buy a cottage. I will pass my days gossiping with the locals, and I will visit you and your new husband whenever you wish.”

She had rehearsed the plans often to herself, and she knew Daphne had heard them before. So why these questions?

Daphne pressed on, though, lips turned down. “You came with me because you would not leave me alone with a stranger. But I am beginning to wonder, Aunt Felicity, are you only here because you think I need you? Or are you here because you do not want what comes next?”

Felicity’s breath caught in her throat. She met her niece’s stare. Surely not… “Do you wish me to leave?”

Quickly, Daphne shook her head. “No—no! I would keep you with me always. But Aunt Felicity, there must be more for you. More that you want.” She gestured to Felicity’s person. “Even now, you forget yourself too often for me. When will you put off your mourning? Father would not like to see you dressed so. He used to say mourning kept one’s heart aching, but color⁠—”

“—color returned cheer and warmth to the soul,” Felicity finished for her, smiling as she remembered her brother’s words. He had spoken them to her after they lost their parents, Daphne’s beloved grandparents, and repeated them frequently since then until his own passing.

“I do not want you to fade into the shadows of life.” Daphne stood and crossed the room to her aunt, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. “You have always been so happy. Always telling me to explore the world around me, to find the things I love and surround myself with them. You ought to do the same, Aunt Felicity.”

Uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of such sage advice, Felicity shifted in her chair and released a dramatic sigh. “Alas, my Daffodil, I am but a spinster. Not a young woman with the world at her feet.”

Her niece crossed her arms and scoffed, in much the way the Colonel had done several times since their meeting. “Aunt Felicity, really! You are a lovely woman of independent means. You could marry, if you wished, or travel. Stop speaking as though you are an old woman with life already spent. Please.” Daphne looked down at her aunt’s apron, and her eyebrows drew together. “Did you sew the hoop to your apron?”

“Um.” Felicity winced. “Yes?”

After giving her a confused glance, and then a smile, Daphne fetched her scissors. Together, they undid Felicity’s mess, and the topic shifted, much to Felicity’s relief. Yet the conversation stayed with her throughout the rest of her day…and then it followed her into her dreams.

Chapter Seventeen

Why on earth had Edward agreed to this?