Chapter Nine
A llegra and Lyric went to breakfast later than usual the next morning, trying to avoid the two men who had upended their lives and broken their hearts. In a cruel twist of fate, Lord Blankenship had offered for Lyric. He, too, wanted marriage, but could not bring himself to love her twin. At least they had each other, because Allegra knew they would need one another more than they ever had.
She had returned to her bedchamber last night, stunned by what had transpired between her and Sterling. To have given so much of herself to him—even to declare her love for him—had made her feel small and worthless when he adamantly insisted they did not need love to wed one another.
How she had wanted him to have changed his roguish ways! Allegra had believed Aunt Dinah when she had told Allegra she thought Sterling had more substance to him than he readily allowed Polite Society to see. She had been dazzled by his kisses, hoping they were building a friendship which would blossom into love. It had for her.
It never would for him.
She supposed a majority of gentlemen in the ton were cut from the same cloth, not wanting or believing in love. Marriage was, after all, a business transaction within most families, with dutiful—or even rebellious—daughters accepting their parents' wishes and entering a marriage without love.
Allegra wanted more. She wanted what her Strong cousins had found. What even Aunt Dinah, at her age, had found. Of course, her aunt had suffered through almost two decades being married to a man who used her to get an heir and when no heir was produced, completely ignored his wife. If she did wed Sterling, she did not think he would ignore her. At least at first.
No, she was wrong to think that. He was a rake. He might have changed a bit, realizing he needed to own up to the responsibilities required by his title and produce an heir. That meant marriage. Even though physically things were incredible between them, she doubted it would last. The newness of her would wear off, and he would discard her as he had countless lovers. Of course, they would always be bound by matrimony, but she could never live a separate life, knowing the man she loved was going off to be with his current lover. Allegra was proud she had stood her ground and turned down his offer.
Even if she was in pure misery now.
They entered the drawing room, and she was relieved to find no Sterling present. Lord Blankenship was also absent. Only a handful of others were there. They split up, Lyric joining the elder Miss Bancroft, who was sitting alone, as Lord Lamkin was excusing himself from her company. Allegra went to sit with Lord and Lady Crowell and Lord Motley. She wondered if the earl would offer for Lady Lida.
They welcomed her presence, and she determined she was not interrupting any serious conversation. Lord Crowell was looking forward to today's hunt, which Allegra learned that her brother Caleb would be leading. Aunt Dinah had tried to include him in the house party, but Caleb was having none of it, telling everyone he had too much work to do as Shadowcrest's steward, even affirming he had no interest in marriage now or in the future.
Aunt Dinah came and told those left in the dining room about the ladies painting at the lake at noon today, while the gentlemen would be hunting in the forest. She knew this would be the perfect time to approach her aunt, and she excused herself.
"May we speak, Aunt Dinah?"
"Certainly, Allegra. A few ladies are using my sitting room now. Is this a more private conversation to be had?" she asked hopefully, and Allegra knew her aunt thought she would be revealing that a marriage offer had been made and accepted.
"It is. We could check the library and see if it is available," she suggested neutrally, not wanting to tip her hand until they were in private.
They went there, finding it empty. Allegra closed the door and took a seat next to her aunt.
"Did Lord Carroll offer for you?" her aunt asked eagerly. "Though you are perfectly capable of accepting his offer, I do think it would be good if he spoke to James. Even Caleb."
"He did offer for me," she confirmed, wincing when Aunt Dinah smiled radiantly at her. "But we will not wed." She swallowed, watching her aunt's face fall.
"In fact, Lord Blankenship also offered for Lyric last night. Like me, Lyric accepted him at first. We both changed our minds, however."
Sympathy filled her aunt's face, and it took everything Allegra had not to give in to the tears. Her throat was thick with emotion, and she took a moment to compose herself.
"Lyric and I find ourselves in the same circumstances. We have fallen in love with men who do not love us in return."
Aunt Dinah's jaw dropped. "But... they both made offers of marriage to you."
"Yes. And my twin and I unwisely professed our love to the pair, giddy with the idea we would be wedding our soulmates as other Strongs have."
Understanding filled the older woman's eyes. "They could not speak the words to you. Is that correct?"
"Yes," she said, her voice breaking. "Both Lord Carroll and Lord Blankenship wanted to make us their wives, but they wanted nothing to do with love."
Aunt Dinah brushed her fingers against Allegra's cheek. "And you two will settle for nothing less."
She nodded, unable to speak further. Her aunt enveloped her in an embrace, and Allegra wept softly. How she still had tears within her was beyond her. She told herself she must quit shedding them for a man who did not love her and never would, but it was so very hard. She had always been such a positive person, yet her future appeared so very bleak at the moment.
"I know this is hard for you, Allegra, but I must ask you if you would consider marriage with the earl. Obviously, he feels strongly enough about you to have extended an offer. Do you believe he could grow to love you?"
"I doubt it, Aunt. I know you believe there is more to him than what he presents to the world, but at heart, he has been a rake for so long, I doubt he would ever change. Yes, there is passion between us. I never knew a kiss could be powerful—but I believe Lord Carroll would tire of me quickly. He is not a patient man. He would not give love a chance to grow. That would leave me in an intolerable marriage, watching him leave to go to a series of lovers."
Allegra shook her head, reaffirming her position. "No, Aunt Dinah. I love him. But I must take care to protect my heart. I will not enter a marriage with a man who cannot love me the way I love him."
Her aunt cradled Allegra's cheeks and kissed her brow. "You are making the right decision. It is the most difficult one you have ever made, but it is one which impacts the rest of your life. I will need to put the same question to Lyric, however."
"She will express to you that she feels the same as I do," she said stubbornly.
"Most likely, she will, but I will ask her all the same if there is a chance she believes Lord Blankenship could grow to love her."
Clearing her throat, she said, "Obviously, Lyric and I want nothing to do with these two men. We would like to ask you to help us keep our distance from them. I know you have several other activities planned for the house party, and some of those might include partnering with a gentleman. If there is any way you can keep us from matching with them, we would appreciate it. We do not wish to make the other guests uncomfortable, but we will not see ourselves deliberately hurt further."
"I understand, Allegra. Let me go and find Lyric and speak with her. Would you go with me and entertain the other young ladies while I do so?"
She agreed, replacing her twin in Aunt Dinah's sitting room. Lady Lida and her mother had joined Miss Bancroft and Miss Markle, and the five of them talked about a variety of things before Aunt Dinah appeared again. She signaled to Allegra that she might leave, telling her as she passed that her twin was in the library. She was grateful her aunt understood they might need some time alone together.
When she got to the library, Lyric explained she wanted to be alone for a few minutes.
"I will go to the lake and paint with the others, but for now, I prefer sitting by myself. Perhaps I will go and play the pianoforte for a while. Georgie and Mirella always seem to lose themselves in music. I thought I might try to do the same."
"That is an excellent idea, but we are to go to the lake in half an hour to paint with the others."
Lyric swore softly.
"Lyric Strong!" said Allegra. "I have never heard you utter such a foul oath before."
Her twin grinned. "Actually, it made me feel better. You should try it."
Allegra did—and they both burst out laughing.
"It feels good to laugh, doesn't it?" Lyric asked.
"No wonder men go about swearing. At least I think they do. Why, the next time either of is feeling blue, I think that will be the remedy to change our mood."
"Can you imagine if we did so in front of the elder Miss Bancroft?" her twin asked.
She giggled. "Why, her heart would stop! Oh, I know we should not jest about such a serious matter, but I was afraid we might never laugh again."
Lyric's eyes narrowed. "I will not let Lord Blankenship rule my life. I am over and done with him. I will laugh. Sing. Dance. Why, I might even flirt," she said saucily. "Just not with any of our guests. I would not want to interfere with the budding attachments which are forming."
"We should go and retrieve our bonnets," Allegra suggested. "The sun is bright today. Then we can take our time walking to the lake."
They returned to their bedchamber, freshening up and choosing straw bonnets to wear. Allegra tied the ribbons under her chin and then did so for Lyric, who never seemed to be able to manage a decent bow. Arm-in-arm, they went down the stairs. As they reached the final landing, the foyer in sight, she froze in her tracks.
Both Lord Carroll and Lord Blankenship stood there, hats in hand, talking with Viscount Tillings.
Her grip tightened on her twin's arm and she hissed, "I would have thought at least one of them would have left Shadowcrest by now."
"Cheer up and chin up," Lyric advised. "And be extremely polite."
They moved down the stairs, both their former suitors glancing up. Allegra looked straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact.
As they reached the bottom, Lord Blankenship said, "Good afternoon, ladies."
"Good afternoon," Lyric replied coolly. "I hope you enjoy your hunt."
"I am quite looking forward to it," Lord Tillings said, oblivious to the undercurrent in the air.
"We are off to paint," Allegra said breezily. "Good day."
They sailed out the front door, a footman opening it for them, and continued down the lane.
"We did it," she said. "We met the enemy and yielded no ground."
"Poor Lord Tillings had no idea what was going on," Lyric said. "He is intelligent when it comes to academics and politics, but his social skills are lacking. I hope Miss Bancroft, as his viscountess, will put a bit of polish on him."
She chuckled. "Lord Tillings' head is in the clouds. His thoughts are reserved for Miss Bancroft and not deciphering what is going on between the other guests."
"They do make a delightful pair, don't they?" Lyric noted. "Miss Bancroft and the viscount."
"Georgie will be so pleased when she and August return from Dalmara and finds not only her new friend is also our friend now—but that she is engaged to be married."
"Let us hope that is the case," her twin said. "Lord Tillings still has yet to ask her. He might even wait and accompany the Misses Bancroft back to Somerset and speak with Miss Bancroft's father."
"He might," Allegra agreed. "I still believe they will announce their betrothal here at Shadowcrest, however."
The thought of that announcement—and not one of her own—quickly sobered Allegra. As she and Lyric walked to the lake and the waiting paints and canvases, she told herself that life would go on once the house party ended and Lord Carroll left.
She just didn't know how she would manage to make it through each day.