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He glanced at himself one last time in the mirror. The man looking back at him was a stranger. It was no one Arthur knew. Perhaps it was for the better.
* * *
Jane’s excitement was contagious. The moment they entered the ballroom, Jane’s eyes widened in disbelief, her hands started to flutter all about her in excitement, and Amelia had to restrain her physically by taking her by the hand.
“Remember your manners, my dear,” Amelia whispered into her sister’s ear. “Calm and composed.”
“Oh yes,” Jane chuckled sweetly, immediately lowering her hands to her body and straightening her back.
Arthur’s smirk didn’t escape Amelia’s attention, but she didn’t want to focus on it now. They were about to greet the hosts, who were already talking to her father. They approached Lord and Lady Atterley and exchanged polite greetings. Their hosts did not seem particularly pleased to see the Duke of Mosebridge, but they were courteous enough not to make it painfully obvious. For some reason, that made Amelia annoyed. As if to spite them, she stood by his side and locked his hand with hers. He was taken aback by her sudden attention, but he didn’t say anything. Neither did she. It was for the better. Explanations sometimes only made things more complicated, instead of simpler.
After about an hour, Amelia knew that her father would be nowhere around. It happened exactly like that. She was standing on the outer circle of the ballroom by Arthur’s side. Jane was dancing with a young gentleman who seemed to be as smitten with her as she was with him. In fact, it seemed that everyone was having a good time except for her and Arthur. They somehow did not belong there, and that fact was becoming painstakingly obvious with each passing minute. Still, they endured.
She could see the occasional glance in their direction, the whispers, and the wicked eyes. She could almost hear them without even being nearby. She could sense what they were saying, and it wasn’t good. She wondered if he noticed. He must have, and he chose not to pay any attention to it.
At that exact moment, it dawned on her. He must have known that it would be like this. A most unpleasant experience for him where he would be reminded of all those thingsthe tonconsidered him to be. Of course, no one would say anything to him directly. They wouldn’t dare, would they?
“Arthur?”
Suddenly, an unknown female voice interrupted Amelia’s endless string of thought, and without even knowing why, Amelia subconsciously clung even closer to Arthur. She wasn’t certain if that was to seek protection from him or to offer it to him in return.
“Lady Susan,” Arthur spoke the lady’s name through clenched teeth, like an animal about to bite if only it was provoked enough.
Amelia’s fingers gripped at his upper arm. It was both to soothe him as well as to keep him under control although she burned with the fire of curiosity regarding this lady and what must have happened between them.
“I cannot say it is a pleasure,” Lady Susan spoke haughtily, giving Amelia a glance of displeasure that bordered on antipathy.
Amelia could not keep her mouth shut even if she wanted to. She absolutely abhorred people who thought they could treat others with such a lack of respect.
“If it brings you no pleasure to speak to my husband, I wonder what made you walk all the way from across the room just so you could say his name?” Amelia stated boldly, angrily even. She could feel her nostrils flaring at the audacity of this woman.
Lady Susan widened her big, blue eyes in Amelia’s direction. She was whatthe tonconsidered a beauty in the real sense of the word. Her blonde hair was wrapped up neatly into a chignon, her skin was alabaster white, and it stood in stark contrast to her red lips and sky-blue eyes. No matter how much Amelia hated to admit it, Lady Susan was a stunning beauty by anyone’s standard. Still, that did not mean that she had a character to go with it, for as beautiful as she was on the outside, she seemed to be deeply broken on the inside.
Lady Susan gave Amelia a once over then turned her attention back to Arthur as if Amelia wasn’t even worth being spoken to. “I see you found someone who was willing to marry you, despite your shady character. Once again, I cannot say I am glad, but at least, she sacrificed herself, so no one else had to.”
Amelia could see that Arthur was holding back. His jaw was clenched, and his teeth were pressed tightly against each other. His entire body was tense. She had never seen him like this. Amelia felt that this was all her fault. If she hadn’t asked him to come, he wouldn’t have been subjected to the onslaught of this horrible young lady’s tongue.
“Come, Arthur,” Amelia pulled him towards herself. “I think Jane has finished with her dance, and she must be thirsty. As for you,LadySusan, you hardly seem to justify your title of Lady because you seem to be anything but.”
Arthur couldn’t hold it any longer. He actually chuckled out loud as the two of them walked away from the woman who was anything but a lady. Amelia herself was smiling although the conversation interested her deeply. Why didn’t Arthur say anything? Why was he just standing there, allowing this woman to be so rude? Amelia couldn’t understand it, but she could not very well ask him that while they were here.
She decided to leave it for another moment, hopefully during one of their dinners as that seemed to be the time when they were most open with each other. Still with their arms interlocked, they approached Jane, who was flushed and breathless and unable to say a word. Not that it was needed. Her eyes said it all.
“Why don’t we all go have a drink?” Amelia suggested, and Jane immediately nodded, throwing another coy glance back at the young man she just had a dance with. Amelia noticed that he was looking back as well.
She sighed to herself, shaking her head. It had started.
CHAPTER15
It was very late in the evening, as Amelia was getting ready to nestle in bed, when an unexpected knock on the door interrupted her plans. She went to open it cautiously.
Then, a strange sense ofdéjà vuwashed over her. Everyone should already be sleeping. She dared not ask Arthur about Lady Susan in the carriage on the way back. They were talking about things that made them smile, sharing memories, and planning what they would do with the winery. Asking him about the most unpleasant conversation of the entire evening would mean ruining the moment, and that was the last thing Amelia wished to do.
Now, as she stood on her side of the door, her hand lingering in the air just by the doorknob, and she wondered if this was yet another dream. All the murky shadows around her assured her of it. If this was reality, no one would be knocking on her door in the middle of the night. Arthur would stay away as she urged him to.
On a silent sigh, she pushed the door open. The moment Arthur revealed himself before her, she managed to resist an instinctive urge to pull away, so she could create more distance between them. Everything was as in her dream, and that was the most frightening part.
“Did I wake you?” he asked softly, his eyes staring at her. She could not stop looking at his tall, lean body, wrapped up in a robe. This part was unlike in her dream. She could not see any dark curls on his chest. The robe was pulled closed all the way to his neck. There was nothing about him that signaled that he was up to any mischief in the night, and yet, he was here. That alone might suffice.
