AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 10
Marta broke out of Tatiana’s rather uncomfortable hug and again dropped her eyes from Baldwin’s. This sort of bump in her chest when she locked eyes with him, she required it to end. It had been a flurry of life, of conversation, of activity, and now she felt guided back towards the garden to ensure Laura was all right. Although she did love Tatiana a great deal, she felt bizarre about the selfish nature of Tatiana’s request for Laura to oversee her children for so much time.
As she marched back towards the garden, however, she stumbled back into Laura and the children themselves. All three wore the brightest of smiles. Laura, who hadn’t grinned so broadly since she’d eaten her first batch of breakfast beans, let out a loud and child-like laugh. “Marta! It’s you!” She said the words in English.
“Hello!” The boys rushed towardsMarta and hugged her, trying their best to wrap their thin arms around her gown. She placed her hands on their fuzzy heads and asked, in German, what had occurred.
“Oh, nothing much. We just ran ourselves silly,” Laura returned. “I want to take them to bed and then put myself there, too. If you don’t mind, that is.”
“Laura, I’m terribly sorry that they put you through so much terror,” Marta said.
“No terror at all,” Laura returned. “It was quite fun, actually. Perhaps I only detest Austrian children. Not English children. What a difficult fact to face, especially as it seems any children I have will be half-Austrian themselves!”
As they’d spoken in German, the children had peered up at both of them curiously. “What is that?” Malcolm asked.
“It’s a different language,” Marta returned. “What have you said to them throughout these hours, Laura?”
“I’ve spoken the three words I know best,” Laura returned. “Go. Fast. Hello. They’ve loved it. They ran until they collapsed.”
Laura and the children disappeared down another hallway and then swept up the stairs. Marta remained, perplexed, then glanced back across the ballroom. As she did, she caught sight of Ewan and Baldwin once more. Baldwin’s eyes found hers—it seemed they always knew precisely where to look. She felt eerily drawn back to them.
Oh, but Baldwin had done nothing to insinuate that he wanted anything at all to do with her. Why was it her brain played such wretched tricks? In truth, the man she needed to pay any sort of attention to was Lord Remington. And there, towards the window, speaking with another gentleman, he stood. Marta instructed her heart to beat a bit faster. She yearned for the sort of life that love generated to flow through her again. Yet she wasn’t entirely sure it was possible to draw it up on command.
After all, wasn’t this her designated fate? She’d been forced to England, forced to take upon whatever her Aunt Margaret’s current inclinations for her life were; now, she felt a bit like a puppet, pledged to perform a single action for the remainder of her lacklustre womanhood.
Even now, Aunt Margaret arrived—looking rather smug, her eyes connecting with many of the women and men who swept past her. Each said a kind word, a compliment, and she beamed at each of them separately, touched their elbows, ensured that they knew just how important they were to the entire affair. When Aunt Margaret finally reached Marta, she looked as though she’d overstuffed herself at a feast, such was the air of her body and soul. She’d consumed the incredible happiness of the evening and informed herself of her own congratulations.
“Darling, there you are,” Aunt Margaret said.
Marta, who’d never felt small in her life, currently did. She still towered over her aunt, this was sure, but her aunt had a manner of peering down her nose at anyone, including those who crept above her.
“I’ve just discussed you with Lord Remington himself,” Aunt Margaret continued.
Marta’s stomach shifted. She felt as though she’d eaten something a bit off.
“He’s an excellent man and has really taken to you,” Aunt Margaret said. “I dare say he’ll approach rather soon and inform you of his wishes.”
“And yet, he seems entirely preoccupied where he is,” Marta said with a wry smile.
Aunt Margaret sniffed. “Don’t be foolish, my girl. Lord Remington must keep up appearances throughout the county. Every single creature here yearns for a moment alone with him. And you, darling girl, have captured much more than that.”
Aunt Margaret seemed rather convinced that dallying there beside her niece was a pure waste of time. Thus, she crept off almost immediately, offering a bright, “Goodness, hasn’t it been ages?” to the next creature she discovered. Marta blinked off towards Lord Remington once more, wondering if what Aunt Margaret had said resembled any sort of truth.
As the evening crept past, more and more men seemed to hunt for Marta’s attention. She found herself circling the ballroom with several other suitors, all of whom seemed desperately curious about Austria, about her travels, about whether she could see herself in England for the remainder of her days. To these last questions, she scoffed inwardly.
What a wretched thing to ask--and what a narrow-minded thing, as well! Why should she consider the remainder of her days away from her beautiful, mountainous Austria? Frankly, a few fine clothes, an orchestra, and a night of handsome Englishmen—it all wasn’t enough to convince her of anything else.
But flirtation did come back to her naturally, as though she was a child who’d already learned to walk and now wanted to run. She found her tongue flipping out ridiculous and humorous things, words that caused whichever man amid reckless flirtation to chuckle, his hand across his cravat, and his eyes dancing with wonder. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Marta Schnitzler,” were the words they usually found.
