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She sighed. “Stop it, Will. He asked me to marry him, can you believe it? After the picnic, we went for a walk and… I suppose we were far enough away from everyone to be private, so he proposed. I was never more shocked in my life.”
“And no one has ever proposed to you before, I suppose,” Will said crisply. “Did you run away screaming?”
Tutting at him, she said, “I knew you would laugh about it, but it is not funny, not in the least. A man of his age! And his… his…”
“Stoutness?”
“Yes.”
“Infirmity? Decrepitude?”
“Yes! It was humiliating, Will.”
“Whatever did you say to him?”
“The usual, of course,” she said. “That I was very much obliged and honoured, but I did not think we would suit. I know how to answer a man who has plucked up his courage to make an offer.”
“And how did he take it?” Will said.
“Oh, he was very sweet. He said he had never expected it, but— oh, Will! He said he would never have dared to hope except that I had given him enough encouragement for him to put it to the test. Encouragement! As if I had ever done anything except be polite to him, with suitable respect for his advanced years.”
“And decrepitude,” Will added.
“Well… he is not in the best of health, it is true. His chest… he wheezes so at the slightest exertion. But I cannot understand it! I never gave him the slightest encouragement. I would not know how.”
“The trouble is, Rosie, that you are so gentle and kind to everyone that you are not even aware of the impression that might be given to a suitor.”
“But I never, ever thought of Mr Crutchley as a suitor!” she cried. “How could I possibly guess? I treated him exactly as I would treat… oh, poor Uncle Gerald, before his death. With deference and so forth. How could anyone take that as encouragement to a potential suitor?”
Will frowned. “I suppose he looked at the number of times you sat out a dance with him, or went driving with him, and such like. He must have imagined you had some interest in him. Whydidyou go driving with him so often?”
She leaned forward eagerly. “I felt safe with him, you see. Sometimes I feel… hemmed in by them. Mr Somerwell, Mr Iverson, Mr Tranter, Lord Albury… and others. And then, after Vauxhall, I did not know who to trust. They are all so gentlemanly and courteous, and I felt so safe with them, and then—”
“Then Somerwell tried to kiss you.”
“Yes! And it was quite my own fault for allowing him to lead me off the main path, when I knew it was dangerous. But I trusted him, you see, and I so dislike saying no and being thought disobliging. It is the worst thing anyone could say of me, to my mind. I do sohateto be thought disobliging. And then afterwards, the only one I felt safe with was Mr Crutchley, because surely no gentleman of his years could possibly have marriage in mind. And now I am utterly humiliated and ashamed of myself, and I cannot think how I am to face anyone ever again. Especiallyhim.I am going to stay in my room until the season is over and I can creep out to the carriage and be driven home with the blinds drawn up all the way so no one sees me.”
Will could not help laughing at this tale of woe, but neither his assurances, nor Stepmother’s nor Angie’s consoled Rosie in the least. It was not until the next morning, when Pa showed her a letter from Crutchley informing them he was going out of town for the rest of the season, that Rosie was persuaded to emerge from her self-imposed seclusion and face the world again with something approaching equanimity.
~~~~~
Lord Albury’s attentions towards Rosie, so delicate at first, had now become more marked, and the final proof of it came in the form of an invitation to a ball given by Lord and Lady Faulkbourne, which Lord Albury and one of his sisters brought personally. Even Pa was included, although he was adamant he would not go.
“Such a compliment to you, Rosie,” Stepmother said triumphantly, as she propped the invitation in a prominent position after the visitors had left. “He will open the dancing with you, I make no doubt at all, and you will meet his parents at last, and what could be a clearer sign of his intentions?”
“It’s only a ball,” Pa said, amused. “They invite everyone they know, I dare say.”
“And he will not open the ball with Rosie,” Will said. “He is obliged to ask the highest ranked unmarried lady, which will not be Rosie, you may be sure of that.”
Stepmother deflated at once, seeing the truth in it, until Angie said mischievously, “Unless they are already betrothed.”
That threw the ladies into such a flutter of speculation that Will was obliged to retreat with Pa to the safety of the office, and the comfort of the brandy bottle.
~~~~~
Eloise was beginning to fret rather. The end of the season was not far away, and something would have to happen soon, she knew. Three more weeks before Connie would pack up her multitude of travel boxes and decamp to Yorkshire for the summer, and Eloise’s season in town would be over. And before that, there was the trip to Hertfordshire for Julia’s wedding, and the inspection of Orchard House. Surely Will would take steps to rid himself of his unwanted betrothal before then?
But she would not think about that. There was still time to enjoy his company, to dress in her new finery every night and allow Will to escort her to whichever event drew the family forth. She was spending almost every evening with him, and she could feel herself being towed inexorably into the welcoming arms of the Fletcher family, so amiable and friendly. It would be too easy to sink thankfully into their embrace, and she must not do it. This was only a temporary situation, she was all too aware, and she must resist becoming attached to the family.
