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Chapter Ten
Kenneth stared out the window of the study at the meadows below. There were a few servants scurrying about their business in the distance even as his mind wandered, paying no attention to the little details in front of him.
It was evening and the sun was in the final stages of its journey, heading toward the horizon.
His hands where clasped behind him as he stood akimbo, his mind a million miles away.
He’d dismissed his valet hours earlier as he’d craved to be alone and undisturbed, his mind still reeling from yesterday’s events at parliament and at the gentlemen’s club.
Future son-in-law?
He began relieving the experience at the club all over again, as he had done on many occasions since last night.
When the Earl of Rockgonie had walked in, Lord Somerholm had greeted him heartily with the tag offuture son-in-law.
At first he had thought his ears and mind were playing tricks on him, but as he listened further to their conversation, he realized that this was no mind game. The love of his life was betrothed to his peer. And what was worse, was that she had kept this from him.
Both Lords had gone on talking and he listened, as Lord Rockgonie had gone on to apologize for his absence at the ball. The way and manner he’d done so, suggested that this wasn’t the first time he was apologizing for it.
His words also suggested that there had been a plan to announce their betrothal to London’s high society at the ball, the same ball in which he’d danced with her twice.
So that’s why she wasn’t dancing with anyone. She was waiting for her betrothed.
He and Rockgonie needed no introduction as the Earl was one of the silent opposition members he had in parliament, even though Rockgonie’s support earlier had caught him completely unaware.
Yet, Lord Somerholm paused in the middle of their conversation to introduce Rockgonie to him with the news of him being betrothed to his daughter, Lady Rose. The Earl of Somerholm was delighted.
Any other iota of doubt he still held on to was shattered in that instant. As he uttered his congratulations with as fake an excitement as he could muster, he felt his heart sinking.
She lied to me.
“I was thinking of calling on Lady Rose tomorrow afternoon and came over here to seek your approval.” Lord Rockgonie had gone on to say to Rose’s father, as soon as he was done receiving Kenneth’s felicitations.
“That would be splendid. Not the first meeting we had hoped for, but one that is equally convenient. Just write a letter that I will leave for her to prepare her for your arrival,” Lord Somerholm had said with glee.
Rockgonie had gone on to accept Somerholm’s conditions before Kenneth had decided that he had seen and heard enough for one day.
He’d excused himself from the conversation under the pretext of going to get some air.
“Leaving so soon?” Lord Calbrook had asked from his game of quinze, his mood already in danger of turning foul.
“Just stepping outside for a bit,” Kenneth had responded and continued his exit as quickly as he could before another Lord could succeed in stopping him in his tracks.
By the time he got out of the club and into his curricle, the rage at what Rose had done consumed him. He’d managed to stay in control of his rage till he got back to the manor and into his bedroom.
And still her deceit had haunted him all night and well into this morning.
At some point during the night, he’d even wondered whether this had all been a ploy by her and her father to ruin his reputation. Ensnare him with her wiles and charms and get him to be discovered in a compromising and messy situation. London’s grapevines would have been agog with the gossip and his reputation would most definitely have been ruined beyond repair.
He’d ultimately decided that wasn’t the case, as there was no credible logic that would have supported such an action. An attack of such nature at him would have left her reputation in tatters as well, thus making it impossible that this had been their plan all along.
Eventually, with nothing else to go on, he’d made the decision to write the letter and absolve himself of any knowledge of her deceit in case news of their brief romance ever came to light.
The truth was that he had not known Lady Rose was betrothed. If news got out about their correspondence, he was most likely going to be hounded by society like she was. He couldn’t afford that. He was not going to go down with her if their correspondence was ever discovered.
The pain still tugged at his chest as he scribbled down words. Finally, on his fourth attempt, with discarded papers strewn all about the table, he figured he’d written the letter as perfectly as he could.
He’d dispatched Leonard almost immediately and was in the study when Leonard had returned with the news that he’d handed the letter over to the lady’s maid.
