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“You don’t want me to accompany you to see the Duke?” Jane offered.
“I do not plan on remaining there for too long,” Amelia assured her. “Then, afterwards, we can go to Hyde Park, just so that our conscience is partially clear.” She smiled at her sister, watching Jane get into bed then proceeding to tuck her in.
“Good night, Janie,” Amelia kissed her sister’s forehead then headed towards the door.
“Amelia?” Jane’s voice rang in the silence of the darkened room.
“Yes?” Amelia turned around just as her hand rested on the doorknob.
“I love you,” Jane whispered as she always did when she was overwhelmed by emotion and unable to voice herself properly. Amelia knew that Jane was on the verge of tears again but was doing her best to keep them suppressed.
“I love you, too,” Amelia replied tenderly. “Now, sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, and it will bring wonderful, new opportunities for us both.”
With those words, she closed the door behind her and walked down the corridor towards her chamber. It was strange to think it would only be her chamber for only a few days longer. Then, she would call another place her home. The thought felt foreign. It felt frightening.
She hid herself underneath the blankets, but that did little to alleviate her fears, her worries. She closed her eyes. Sleep would not come.
CHAPTER4
Arthur had no plans for that day, other than to remain closed off from the rest of the world in his study and focus on getting some work done. That was exactly why the butler’s announcement that there was a visitor waiting for him in the drawing room startled him so.
“What visitor?” he blurted out immediately upon hearing the news. “I am not expecting anyone, Weatherly.”
“I know, Your Grace,” Weatherly replied apologetically as he always did, especially when he was the bearer of unwelcome news, such as now. “But the lady says it is a matter of the utmost urgency which cannot wait.”
“The lady?” Arthur echoed, frowning. He could not possibly imagine any lady coming to visit him unannounced as every single lady ofthe tonshunned his company like the plague. “What lady?”
“Why, Lady Amelia Cooke,” Weatherly finally said the words that revealed the identity of the mysterious, unexpected visitor. Only, this revelation did exactly the opposite of what a revelation normally does. It did nothing to relieve Arthur’s curiosity regarding Lady Amelia’s sudden appearance here. In fact, it only seemed to exacerbate it.
Arthur pretended to be more annoyed than curious, mostly for the butler’s sake. He specifically asked not to be disturbed this morning, but obviously, it was a matter of the utmost urgency. Deep down, he wondered what she wanted to speak to him about. He instantly remembered her fervent defense of her family’s honor, something he was in awe of. Not many women would be so bold as to speak to him like that, not when the very future of her father’s debt was in Arthur’s own hands. That did not seem to prevent her from speaking her mind. From the looks of it, she had come to give him some more of that. He almost smiled at the thought.
“She is in the drawing room, you say?” he sighed, getting up from the chair and heading towards the door.
“Yes, Your Grace,” Weatherly quickly nodded. He bowed down so deeply that Arthur could see the frail, balding spot in the middle of the old man’s head. He had been with the family for many years, and although he was deaf in one ear, a fact the man had tried desperately to hide from the rest of the world, it never even crossed Arthur’s mind to fire him.
“I shall go to her at once then,” Arthur announced, passing by Weatherly and heading to the drawing room where his guest was waiting.
He opened the door to find her standing by the window. The light from the outside was dripping onto her like tiny little sparkles of illumination, brightening up her perfect, porcelain complexion. If he thought before that she was beautiful, now, that opinion had changed into him thinking her absolutely breath-taking. Not even her stern looking gaze managed to dissuade him from believing that.
“Lady Amelia,” he greeted her cordially, making sure to leave the door open behind him. He bowed down before her respectfully, kissing her hand which she allowed, albeit reluctantly. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected and unchaperoned visit?” he asked, accentuating the word unchaperoned as this was the last thing he expected from her.
“I shall not be staying long,” she corrected him in the impression that this was a visit. It obviously was not. “My sister and I were merely on the way to Hyde Park, and since there is something of the utmost urgency that I need to speak to you about, I thought it would be a convenient opportunity to simply stop by, tell you what I have to tell you, and then be on my way.”
“I see,” he smiled amusedly, unable to hide his enjoyment. So, she had come to speak, not to listen or to have a conversation with him. “And what, pray, is this urgent matter you have come to speak to me about?”
She faced him boldly, looking at him straight in the eyes. She did not look away even once as her mind raced, obviously trying to come up with the right way to start this conversation.
“Well…” she finally started, “since we are to be married, I believe there ought to be some ground rules as there are obviously no feelings between us.”
“Obviously,” he blurted out, surprising even himself with these words. Her eyes fluttered ever so perceptibly then she continued.
“Right,” she nodded. “I am glad you agree. However, that does not necessarily mean that there shouldn’t be respect. That is what our marriage will be based on.”
“I completely agree,” he shrugged. He had to admit that he expected her to come up with some ridiculous demands, but so far, she had said nothing either ridiculous or unreasonable. “Respect is of the utmost importance when it comes to a good marriage. I dare say, it is even more important than love.”
“We shan’t have love to worry about,” she reminded him. “Which brings me to our next point.” She spoke like a politician adamant at proving herself worthy of the voters’ trust. He was growing increasingly more amused as he endeavored to remain calm and focused on her words. “We shall sleep in separate chambers. There will be absolutely nothing physical between us, no intimacy of any sort.”
At the mere mention of intimacy, he could notice that her cheeks blushed ever so slightly, but he liked how she used such delicate terminology.Nothing physical between us, no intimacy of any sort.He wondered if that included hugs, hand holding and the like.
