Chapter 8

Chapter 8

No matter how hard he tried, Weston could not get Lydia’s face out of his mind.

There was something here that he was missing. Something that he just could not put his finger on no matter how hard he tried. After his encounter with her, he had taken to the second-floor study to have some time alone with his thoughts. Of course, the housekeeper had shown him to the guest rooms that he and William were invited to occupy, and they were more than adequate.

But he just needed somewhere to sit that was a touch quieter. From the room he was staying in, he could hear Lydia’s pacing feet, and it was distracting. To say the very least. She was a grieving woman, and she had every right to be angry with the changes that were coming.

However, despite her petition or even how much he might understand her plight, he was to uphold certain duties and obligations as well. He was honor bound as a gentleman to take certain steps and precautions. He did not relish the idea of separating sisters. But, by law, he was now the guardian of the earl’s daughter, and he had to fulfill that role to the very best of his abilities.

Certainly, she would come to understand that and see things from his perspective in time, would she not?

From everything that he had seen of her fiery temper today, it did not seem so.

Her temper was unlike anything he had seen before. It was… intoxicating. In the very best of ways. The meek, soft-spoken women of the ton rarely appealed to him. Certainly not like the woman in the other room did. Lydia, the dowager countess, was certainly no wallflower and that part of her personality was something that he longed to explore. He wanted to see where her limits were and where she was willing to be pushed.

She had been wondering the same thing for a moment, too. He had seen it in her eyes. Weston knew very well the look in the eye of a woman who wanted him. He found himself wondering about the possibilities. Would she be playful? Forceful?

Perhaps she wanted to be guided into submission. Nothing wrong with that. Weston got a deep thrill about earning a woman’s submission. Even just wondering about what it might be like with her was delicious.

No, he needed to stop. He flexed his hands and then scrubbed them down his face. She was a widow. His cousin’s widow and only barely a week into her mourning period. She had not yet had time to properly be bereaved as she had likely been so busy from the moment that the earl had passed. Weston had no rights to be thinking about her in such a manner. But there was something there. He knew it.

William’s arrival was a very welcome intrusion. The man staggered into the room and nearly collapsed on the settee across from where Weston sat. William buried his face in his hands, and Weston waited for him to speak before breaking the silence.

“I think that we have made a mistake in coming here.” William said suddenly.

The comment was strange enough to pull Weston out of his brooding for a moment. “What do you mean?”

William was silent for a long enough time that it was concerning. Then, instead of answering, he slapped his hands down on the tops of his thighs and stood abruptly. “I think I need some fresh air, and you do as well. Come for a walk with me.”

Weston wanted to press his friend further, but his thoughts were his own business. William led him out into the hall, and his gaze automatically drifted to Lydia’s door. She was not pacing in there any longer. In fact, the whole place seemed a touch too quiet for now it had been earlier. He must have missed something.

Honestly, he had been waiting for dinner to be ambushed once again by Lydia’s temper. He had been attempting to mentally prepare himself for that. Now, he was unsettled. At least Cassian was gone. With some luck, it would be a nice long while before he was forced to deal with that grubby man again.

“The dowager’s sister, Kitty, introduced me to her nieces earlier.” William said with a soft smile. “They are lovely young girls. The littler one, Juliet, she is quite a remarkable painter. Apparently, Margaret is a very accomplished singer. I have been promised a concert after dinner. You will come too, of course.”

William always tended to ramble on when he was nervous.

“Are you uncomfortable here, friend? You do not have to stay if that is the case. When the carriage arrives back you could-”

“No, it is not that. Not at all. Besides, I promised to accompany you for this venture and so I will. Do not forget that I have some skin in the game here. If I do not uphold my end of the bargain, how can I expect you to do the same thing?”

“Have you ever known me to go back on my word like that?” Weston asked.

“No, never. But there is always a first time, and I do not intend for that to happen now.” William said.

If he was not nervous, then preoccupied perhaps. He did seem to be looking for something. At first, Weston had thought that he was merely admiring the scenery around them but now he seemed to be looking for something in particular.

“You are acting very strangely. Are you going to tell me what is going on, or?”

Weston stopped walking a few paces before William did. It seemed that there was a very large lake on the property after all. The water practically seemed to glitter in the afternoon sun. Trees banked every side of the large oblong lake.

A bit to his left a small family of ducks started crossing into the pond for a swim to the sound of nature around them. But, more importantly, both Lydia and her sister were sitting on a large picnic blanket with an array of sandwiches and cookies around them. William had conned him into having afternoon tea with them.

His stomach grumbled at the sight of food.

“Ah, I suppose that I should have seen this coming.” He sighed. William grinned sheepishly at him.

“Do not be cross.” William said as he walked backward toward the girls. “Kitty and I just think that you and the dowager might have gotten off on the wrong foot, is all. There is no reason that we cannot all be friendly toward one another.”

It only took one look in Lydia’s direction to see that this was obviously not her plan, and she must have been tricked into coming here as well.

“Besides, since there will be a group of us here with you, friend, then perhaps there will be less… shouting.” William smiled again as he wrapped an arm around Weston’s shoulders. Though, it made walking rather difficult as he was the shorter of the two of them. “There is so much to be talked about, and this will provide a nice, neutral location.”

William released him as they grew closer to the blanket and then nearly skipped over to where Kitty sat. Weston bowed his head in greeting, which Kitty returned, and Lydia turned away from entirely.

Sadly, that meant that the pair of them had no choice but to sit together. Weston lowered himself onto the blanket while leaving as much space as possible between them. It was the least that he could do considering Lydia was looking at him as if he had leprosy.

“It is a lovely day, is it not?” Kitty said quickly, pouring a cup of tea for William and offering it to him. Then she offered Weston one, and he accepted it more out of manners than actual desire for tea. Oddly enough, William was the one to attempt to fill the silence and growing discomfort between himself and Lydia.

“I could not have asked for better weather. Perhaps I could trouble one or both of you for a tour later this evening or even tomorrow? I know that the girls are readying quite the evening. So, perhaps tomorrow would be best.” William amended quickly at the end.

Perhaps the pair of them would be a lovely match. It would be the best possible outcome. That, and then he would not have to endure any of the balls this season either.

In any other setting, Weston would have been thrilled to sit back and study the way that his normally introverted friend was glancing up at Kitty every handful of moments. There was no denying that she was an undeniably beautiful woman. But, sitting next to Lydia it was hard for anyone to seem like they shone properly.

There was quite a possibility that Weston was in well over his head when he could not seem to banish such thoughts from his mind.

It must be simply because she had so many similarities to his mystery woman that he was so bamboozled. The sunlight seemed to catch her hair and make the brown seem to have hints of gold woven through it. It would have been an impossible chance for the woman sitting beside him to be the same person.

The handkerchief that she had left behind did have the initials ‘L.R’ in pink… perhaps her name could have been Lydia but as he had no idea what her maiden name could have possibly been, he was unwilling to make incorrect assumptions. It was very more likely that she was not the same woman and were he to say anything toward the effect, she would look at him like a crazy person. More so than she was already doing.

Even so, as he sat there listening to William and Kitty make mundane small talk, he could not help but to keep his attention turned to her. Even if he was only watching her out of the corner of his eye. It was as if he were drawn to her. Perhaps he should make more of an effort to correct their first encounter.

“I would appreciate the opportunity to take a look at the books that you mentioned earlier, whenever you have the time to show me. I did not wish to start poking around places that you would not like me to be.” Weston said softly, intended only for Lydia.

“I should not like you anywhere in my home, Your Grace. Does that mean that you will leave?” Lydia countered, adding a sugar cube to her tea.

“I could not, even if I wanted to.”

Lydia sighed. “Very well. Though, you simply could ask me. I know everything of importance about the estate and everything within it.”

“You must have excelled at your studies when you were younger.”

“Do not patronize me!”

William and Kitty were staring. It was enough to make him reconsider what he was going to ask next. Instead, he backed off. “Yes, very well. I should appreciate your help then. I look forward to working with you.”

Weston tried to smile at her, hoping that William and Kitty would take the hint to continue their conversation.

Then, much to his surprise, Lydia smiled back.