Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"I must say, the weather is perfect for a picnic," Ophelia commented, staring at the perfect setting spread out before them at Hyde Park.

"I agree," Rosalina replied, "Which is why I suggested coming out here, of course."

Ophelia was almost certain that Rosalina had other reasons to suggest a picnic that morning after they had all had breakfast, but she stayed quiet. When Ophelia had brought down Amy, the little girl had continued to crawl towards Edward, who had tried to interact with her. Both Rosalina and Ophelia were surprised at this shift in attitude, and Rosalina immediately found a way to press on it by asking Edward to accompany them to Hyde Park for the picnic.

She had even gone ahead and made sure Edward took Amy to show the ducks and the far-off boats, which she had been curious about, and he had reluctantly agreed. Hence, the two of them were off while Rosalina and Ophelia remained seated under a large tree where they had spread out their picnic blanket, enjoying the beautiful day. Everything about today was perfect, and Ophelia could certainly not believe her eyes when she saw Edward being kind towards Amy. He was still not affectionate, but his kindness mattered just as much.

"I am sure Amy is enjoying herself with her uncle." Ophelia smiled, trying to find them from afar, knowing it was still impossible.

"I hope so," Rosalina sighed. "Ophelia, can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"Now that you and I have finally become friends, I do not wish you to think that the rest of the family or I am indifferent to Edward's behaviour towards Amy. We are all well aware of it and wish to change it one way or the other. We have all known since the beginning."

"You have?"

"Yes." Rosalina nodded, "It has been right in front of us from the start, and I cannot even explain the sadness it gives me. I wish I could do something about it, but there is not much I can do. This is why I insisted that you and Amy come to London with us so Edward would not be parted from her."

"Why can you not do something about it? Can none of you talk to Lord Cavendish and ask him to perhaps change his behaviour?"

"I wish. But Edward is completely opposed to the conversation and has no desire to partake in it. Everyone has tried their hand at talking to him, yet he refused. In fact, when Amy was born, and Margaret passed away, all of us offered to take guardianship of Amy and raise her, but Edward refused and took her to the country with him, saying it was his responsibility alone and he would take care of it. Otherwise, Amy could have been living with me or someone else in the family."

"Oh," Ophelia was a little disappointed, "Only if Lord Cavendish had no qualms with someone else taking care of Amy, she might have had a better childhood."

"He forbade us to take her, Ophelia; hence, we were helpless." Rosalina shrugged. "I know it was just his stubbornness, but we could not have gone against him. He clearly only wanted to stay distant and give her an unhappy childhood since he pretends he is incapable of loving her after Margaret's death."

"I pray every day for him to get better, but even if he does decide to come close to her, he pulls away just as quickly," Ophelia replied, sighing.

"I can tell. But I am extremely glad to see how you shower her with love and affection, and I feel she is not lacking in anything. I understand how she will never be able to experience the pure love of parenthood, but she at least has you and the rest of the family to keep showing her the affection she deserves."

Ophelia smiled, glad she could play a part in making Amy's childhood better, "I am glad you feel this way."

Rosalina began to say something, but Amy's loud laughter reached their ears, and both young women looked ahead to see Edward and Amy returning, Edward comfortably holding the little girl in his arms as she jumped about.

She looked ecstatic.

Ophelia could not help staring at her lovingly as she witnessed how happy she looked with Edward and how perfect they looked together. Anyone who saw them right now would be certain that Edward was her father since Edward had the potential of being just that for Amy. Despite that, Ophelia knew he felt otherwise and preferred maintaining his distance.

"Amy!" Rosalina exclaimed as Edward carefully sat back down on the blanket, placing Amy down, who immediately began to crawl about again.

"How was the lake, darling?" Ophelia asked Amy, who continued to jump about happily as if she was truly having the time of her life.

"It looks like you enjoyed the lake with Uncle Edward," Rosalina added.

Ophelia picked up the little girl in her arms, and Amy comfortably settled into her lap, beginning to look tired. Edward stayed quiet, his eyes constantly drawn towards Amy, and Ophelia could not help wondering what he might be thinking about. He seemed lost in his own world as if several thoughts were weighing on his head.

"Did you enjoy the lake, Uncle Edward?" Rosalina turned towards him.

"The lake was as beautifully dull as ever," he said, shrugging, "I still do not see why I had to take her when either of you could have done just the same."

"We already explained to you the mechanics of this arrangement." Ophelia laughed, remembering their discussion when Edward denied taking Amy to see the ducks.

"Absolutely," Rosalina added, "Ophelia and I could not have gone individually because why should a young woman have to take a child on such a long walk alone? And we could not have gone together and left you here alone because a young man having a solo picnic just appears rather sad and, quite frankly, a little pathetic."

"Pathetic?" Edward scoffed.

"Precisely." Ophelia laughed, watching how Rosalina and Edward fought like siblings, clearly sharing a deep bond despite just being cousins.

How deep must be the relationship he shared with his very own sister, Margaret?

Ophelia understood the beauty and depth of sibling love and did not hold Edward's emotions against him. She knew that it could not be easy for him to emerge out of the shock of his sister's passing, but the only thing she held against him was his unfair treatment of Amy because the little girl certainly did not deserve it. She deserved the world, and Edward was adamant about not giving her anything.

"Edward, can you look behind you and see if it is Lady Marlow?"

He turned around and looked, nodding slowly.

"In the purple hat?"

"Yes."

"It does look like her."

"Oh my," Rosalina turned towards Ophelia, "she is an excellent acquaintance of mine since we spent the entire last Season together before she got married after finding a match. I will quickly greet her. Will that be alright?"

"Of course," Ophelia nodded, wondering why Rosalina would even ask.

Rosalina stood up and left, leaving Ophelia alone with Edward, and Ophelia immediately understood the reason she had asked. Rosalina must have realized that leaving Ophelia alone with Edward might make things awkward between them, even though they had been alone countless times before. Despite that, it had never been done this publicly, and that too outside the house.

Ophelia continued to stroke Amy who had already fallen asleep, clearly tired from the picnic and the constant stream of activity she had been engaged in since this morning. She felt acutely aware of Edward's gaze, which too was trained on Amy, the softness in his eyes betraying his emotions. Ophelia could sense a shift in his attitude as he spent more time with Amy, and nothing made her happier.

The pair stayed quiet as Edward sighed deeply, looking away from Amy and instead staring at the sky. His mere proximity was enough to make Ophelia slightly more aware of herself, unsure of how to take on this silence. The longer they sat together without saying anything, the longer it continued to make her feel awkward. It was as if they had so much to say to one another yet silence was all they could muster.

Should I say something?

"My sister, Margaret, and I would often find shapes in clouds."

Ophelia whipped her head to look at him, unsure that it was he who had spoken. Although he still continued to stare at the sky, his hand slightly raised to point towards it as he talked. It was indeed he who had spoken, and that too to talk about his sister with Ophelia. She couldn't wrap her head around it.

"Making shapes in the clouds is an excellent past time, I believe." She smiled at him, trying to force away her shock and appear natural in the conversation.

"Have you ever done it?"

"Yes." Ophelia laughed. "I have two younger sisters and one younger brother. Andrew is still very young, but my sisters and I are closer in age, and when we were all just children, we would lay out in the garden on a good day and do this."

"Margaret and I did exactly this, too. She would always find the most practical shapes, such as a tree or a house, and to tease her, I would always pretend I was unable to see what she was trying to show. She got extremely mad at me after that and usually left and I had to run after her to appease her."

The softness in Edward's voice as he talked about Margaret was not lost on Ophelia. His love for her was perfectly visible, and Ophelia was glad to see that he was making no attempts to hide it.

"Was she easily appeased?" Ophelia asked softly.

She wanted to get closer to him and hold his face in her hands as he talked to her, the emotion on his face making him even more attractive than he already was. She could see the pain he felt about his sister's death, and she wanted to do nothing more than comfort him. She wanted to hold his hand and make sure that he knew she was there for him through the pain. But she was in no position to do any such thing.

"Margaret loved me too much to ever be angry at me for long." Edward laughed, a genuine wave of tenderness gracing his beautiful eyes.

"Sisters do love their brothers the most," she said with a smile.

"Do you love your brother just as much?"

"More than I can ever explain through words," Ophelia replied honestly.

Edward nodded as the clouds shifted, revealing the sun once again. A ray of sunlight began to fall on Edward directly, and he moved away from it, coming to sit beside Ophelia under the tree. Just as he was settling, his hand brushed against Ophelia's, resting on the blanket, and they turned to stare at one another, unsure of what had happened.

A similar spark of electricity coursed through them, and Ophelia felt as if she had forgotten how to breathe.

What is it that he does to me?

She could feel nothing but immense tenderness for Edward, remembering the little boy who would play games with his sister and try to tease her. He was friendly and loving and certainly knew how to enjoy himself around others. Ophelia had seen that side of him at the dinner yesterday, and now she had seen this heartwarming, tender side of him, which loved his little sister very much.

He opened his mouth to say something, but just then, the leaves around them crunched, and they looked up to see Rosalina approaching.

"Are the two of you ready to leave? Should we head back?" she asked, completely oblivious to the moment they had just had.

The moment that was now broken.

"We should," Edward nodded, standing up.

It really was time to head back and forget all about what could have happened. Ophelia had no time to dwell on it.

"Miss Jennings?"

"Yes?" Ophelia asked the maid who had called out to her.

"This just arrived for you."

Ophelia quickly took the letter that had come from home, entering the nursery with Amy asleep in her other hand. She carefully placed Amy back in the cradle, making sure the little girl remained asleep before finally opening the letter and reading through it.

My darling Ophelia,

I wish I could explain how much it is that I miss you, but explaining such feelings is a rather impossible task. Everyone at home, including myself, is healthy and happy, yet we all feel empty in your absence. We know you are working hard for us, and we appreciate your efforts, especially since they have been beneficial to us. Sarah finally managed to get enrolled in correspondence courses to become a teacher and is already quite happy with how her education is turning out to be.

Amelia, on the other hand, is still being courted by the baron's son and is extremely happy. I am sure we won't have to worry about Andrew's education before long since we will have saved enough, and things will be just perfect.

Now, I am simply waiting for that to come so you can finally leave your job and build a life for yourself. I cannot wait to see you again. Come home soon.

Love,

Mother

Ophelia closed the letter, a happy smile on her face as she realized she was finally able to help her family. The news from home did make her feel better, but the fact that her mother expected her to leave her job eventually was a little unnerving.

She could not imagine leaving Amy. Not anytime soon or until she had grown up enough not to need Ophelia anymore.

And Edward.

How could she possibly part from Edward even if their only relationship was strictly formal?

The very thought troubled her.

She sighed deeply, unsure of how the future might pan out, but she knew she had other things to worry about. For the time being, she should simply let this go.