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“I wholeheartedly concur,” Will agreed.
Relieved that her message had been received and understood, Ruth turned her attention to the next problem. “I don’t doubt that you are here with honourable intentions, sir, but maybe it would be more honourable if you were to respect Georgiana’s wishes.”
“We have settled all of that,” Will informed her. “However, I am due to be married soon and I should like her at the wedding.”
“Has Georgiana said that she doesn’t want to attend the wedding?” Ruth asked.
She had. He nodded.
Ruth shook her head. “I should ask you to consider this. Her situation with her parents became dire enough for her to make the drastic move of travelling all this way alone. I am sure even you can understand her reluctance to go back. With that in mind, you need to accept that your wedding will have one less guest.” She stood up and looked down at him. “I am sure your bride will understand.”
It was clear now that Will was going to get no support from Ruth at all. Reluctantly he had to accept the woman’s determination to protect her niece. In a way, he applauded her for it because it was evident that Georgiana did have appropriate care. Whatever was happening with the list, Ruth did have her niece’s best interests at heart and would make sure that Georgiana’s reputation was not ruined by whatever she experienced while here.
Unfortunately, that still didn’t help him find the strength to walk way.
“Well, I doubt we will have cause to meet again, so please accept my felicitations for your forthcoming nuptials. I am sure Georgiana won’t mind my speaking on her behalf by saying she wishes you well also.” Ruth gathered her shawl and prepared to leave.
“Are you ordering me out of the village?” Will demanded.
“If you care about Georgiana, and wish to stay on good terms with her, you should return home and focus on your bride-to-be,” she replied.
“I have been a fool,” he murmured. His own foolish agreement to marry Penelope hovered in the back of his mind. “I have to correct it.”
Ruth almost groaned.
One step forward, three steps back, she sighed as she studied him.
Will truly was the most handsome man she had seen in a long time. If she was one and twenty she would be apt to lose her heart to him as well. She understood Georgiana’s adoration. It was a shame he didn’t see what a rare and precious jewel he had right under his nose in Georgiana. Maybe he deserved to lose her if he was too blind to see who she truly was.
“You have been blind, my boy,” Ruth said quietly. “Georgiana is a fine young woman. While I don’t agree with someone like her being confined in a small, out of the way village like this, I am sure that the men in the region aren’t blind. Someone will notice her at some point and will rush her up the aisle. Then she will be off your hands once and for all, and out of her parents’ way for good. That cannot be a bad thing, can it? I mean, I am sure you are tired of chasing after her,” she mused thoughtfully.
Will suspected that he would follow Georgiana wherever she went whether she was married or not but that sounded strange even to him. He shied away from the thought of her being married to anybody. She was Georgiana-his Georgiana. He stopped and thought about that, a little stunned at just how right it was to think such a thing.
Ruth waited for the penny to drop and him to realise how much he cared for her niece. Her impatience grew when he merely stared blankly at the table-top.
Men can be so dense sometimes. She thought waspishly, and fought the urge to smack him upside the head and shout it at him. Instead, she contented herself with a negative shake of her head as she stalked to the door.
“I cannot leave until I have some reassurance that she isn’t going to put herself in any danger,” Will told her.
Ruth sighed. “Have you never been skinny dipping?”
“Well, yes, when I was a child, but not as a grown up,” Will blustered.
“Why not? Is it too cold for you?” Ruth challenged.
“It is just not really appropriate, is it? I mean, it is a childish thing to do,” Will replied.
“Yes, but you did it as a child. You weren’t a young girl who was prohibited from doing anything so scandalous, were you? I mean, climbing a tree is something most people expect boys to do, but if a girl tries it she is scolded, reprimanded, and hauled off to live in her bed chamber for a day or two. You go skinny dipping as a young man and you are just enjoying life. A young woman does it and she is being scandalous. Maybe Georgiana is just testing her wings a little now that she is free of the burden of other people’s expectations.”
“I am not burdening her with my expectations.” Will’s concern grew. Was that how she saw him?
“Aren’t you? Then why are you here?”
“I am just worried about her.”
“Well don’t be. Georgiana has me now. If I am not concerned about he
r, you should not worry either. Georgiana is probably in better care here because I understand her frustrations.” She didn’t add that she too had once fallen in love with someone who didn’t want her and appreciated more than most the anxieties her niece faced. “I recommend you consider your fiance’s feelings more than Georgiana’s. After all, she is not likely to appreciate you chasing half way across the country after a woman who is as young and beautiful as Georgina, is she?”
