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Before Edward could reply, the door opened again and Maisie came in. She wasn’t alone and was followed by Edward’s betrothed. Jane was what the ton proclaimed to be a great beauty and with her stunning violet eyes and porcelain skin, it might be true. But it had never mattered to Edward and now that he had met Ariadne, she was the one who eclipsed his thoughts.
“My Lord, are you all right?” Jane said as she walked to him. The only thing he liked about her was that she was measured like him. Or at least he used to like it. Now that he knew what it was to taste passion in one’s eyes as she spoke her heart to him without being afraid, he craved for nothing but that. Edward knew that he shouldn’t be comparing the two women. It wasn’t Jane’s fault in any way.
“I’m fine, my Lady.”
“We were all afraid for you,” she said, clutching her hand to her heart.
“Jane prayed for you all the time,” Maisie said with a smile. “She told me herself.” She nudged Jane on her arm. The girls were of the same age and were friends, having gone to finishing school together.
“The Duchess had a letter sent to my mother informing her of your return!” Jane exclaimed. “The Duchess spoke of a grave wound. I wanted to see for myself if you are all right.”
Edward shook his head internally. Trust his mother to over-exaggerate the matter of it. “I’m fine, My Lady. The wound will heal in a few weeks’ time.” But what of Ariadne? When would he be able to see her again? What was she doing right now? The thoughts consumed him. “The wound isn’t as bad as my mother might have described it to be.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Jane said. She and Maisie sat down on the sofa.
“Charles went out himself to look for you,” Maisie said. Edward turned to his cousin who nodded. “Your footmen came to my house the next morning to ask if you had perhaps made your way back to my door on foot. We went to the station with your father and made a rough stroll of the neighborhood where you had disappeared. No one claimed to have seen you. But we did manage to locate your walking stick.”
“Will you tell me what happened to you?” Jane asked.
“We had a silly debate on the matter of Parliament and this fellow chose to walk into the den of the tiger to prove me wrong,” Charles said.
Jane gasped. Edward rolled his eyes. “Not in the literal sense. I wanted to see something for myself. One thing led to another and I landed in a scuffle with some hooligans. They had knives, while I only had my hands to help me.”
“You’re so brave,” Jane said. “You tried to fight them off.”
“I tried,” Edward said. Charles shook his head at him as the girls began to giggle among themselves. “Oh, this is just like the play we saw at the theatre the other week, isn’t it Maisie? The hero has to fight thugs to save the love of his life, just like you,” Jane said.
“I’m hardly a hero,” Edward said amused. The true hero was Ariadne who had saved him. “I was saved by someone.”
“Who?” Jane asked curiously.
An image appeared in front of Edward’s eyes. Ariadne’s lush brown hair unbridled down her back, that one small beauty spot just above her lips. “An angel.”
The door opened yet again and Edward was beginning to get irritated at the number of persons milling around his room. It was his mother. Instead of coming to him, she went to Jane and whispered something in her ears. To Edward’s amazement, the girl gave him a shy glance and then promptly ran out of the room.
“What on Earth did you tell her to cause such a reaction?” Edward asked.
“The Viscountess and I just had a chat,” the Duchess replied. “We thought that it would be better for both the families if the wedding date was to be changed.”
“Changed to when?” Edward asked, already dread settling in his heart.
“End of summer,” his mother said with a wide smile. That was less than a few weeks’ time.
