Discovering the truth about Barbara had taken most of the afternoon. Even if he’d convinced Jasper to lend him the fastest horse in the stables, his friend pointed out by the time he arrived, they would be off at some gathering or another, the Whitfelds lacking a reputation for staying home most evenings. He might as well have a good meal and take the carriage through the night, or so his friend declared.
As much as he heard the logic in Jasper’s words, his continued weakness drove compliance more than his agreement, a fact that had him grumpy over dinner.
“Are you sure you’re healed enough for the journey?” Daphne asked, her brow furrowed with a concern he knew he should appreciate. “I doubt your doctor would agree.”
Aubrey gave a bark of laughter. “My doctor would hardly agree to me sitting at the table with you. If he had his way, I’d still be in a laudanum-induced stupor.”
“It might be better if you were.”
Jasper held up a hand to still his wife’s words a bit too late, but Aubrey didn’t want to argue.
“From what Ferrier told us, if I hesitate, she’ll give in to her parents’ wishes and marry one of a handful of offers she’s received. I have to speak to her before all is lost.”
He’d chosen the answer that trumped any protest she might think to make. She’d been the one to encourage him from the start. Surely she wouldn’t hold him back with everything hanging in the balance.
“At least stay the night and set out well rested. You’ll do no good showing up at Lord Whitfeld’s doorstep mussed and raving at an hour when the household is still abed. Their butler would toss you out before you had the chance to make your case,” Jasper said, perhaps seeing an opening to change their agreement. “I doubt they’ll rush her decision what with her mysterious jaunt to the country. It would only cause gossip.”
Aubrey’s memory flashed back to when he’d first awoken and knew his friend suspected a similar event would occur when he reached London. “I promise you both, I will stay calm. Now that I know what was behind her tears, I cannot delay and chance her giving up on me. This all began because I saw fit to lay judgment on a slew of girls I hardly knew if at all. Why would she not presume the same when I learned of her mischief?”
Daphne pressed a hand to Jasper’s arm before he could speak again. “Promise us this much. When the carriage reaches London, direct it to your lodgings. Lie down if you cannot sleep, at least until fashionable society recognizes the existence of the day. Remember you’ve been keeping country hours. Besides, after so long traveling, you’ll need your rest. It won’t help your case any to collapse on her doorstep. She might be moved, but her father would suspect you of being in your cups.”
He nodded, seeing the wisdom in her words and knowing his other promise to stay calm had a greater chance when his energy wasn’t at a low ebb.
The conversation turned to different subjects, much to Aubrey’s relief, but his thoughts kept dwelling on what he’d learned.
He had no particular memory of how he’d condemned Barbara in specific, but that her name came from his lips stood crystal clear in his remembrances.
Perhaps Jasper’s mother drove him, or maybe his heart recognized a connection before his mind could. Perhaps she’d been the focus of his thoughts not because he found her wanting but because he wanted her then as he did now.
He needed to make her see that even as he’d called her frivolous, he’d been the one too foolish to know what he’d cast aside. Her own actions paled next to that fact, and though extreme, he could see why she’d felt driven to seek recompense from him.
Daphne’s hand on his shoulder brought Aubrey back to awareness only to discover the meal done and his friends already leaving the table.
“If she means this much to you, you’re right to hurry. Fight for her. Don’t let anything stand in your way even if she has accepted one of the others. If she feels a fraction of what you do, denying it will only make you both miserable for a lifetime, along with the poor fellow she’s settled on.”
He didn’t know what to say in response, and she’d gone from the room before he could say a word anyway. In the distance, he could hear her calling her staff and assigning them tasks designed with one purpose in mind—to get him to London.
“Two better friends I could not have,” Aubrey said, half under his breath.
“Two friends ready to be quit of your presence and the chaos you bring, you mean,” Jasper said with a laugh. “Come on, old man. We need to gather your things and send you on your way to a respectable life. No more racing about the countryside like a rogue. You’ll be an upstanding gentleman of politics sooner than any would have suspected.”
Aubrey rose to join Jasper as they headed for his rooms. “You’re describing yourself much more than me. You’ve adapted to the married life so well one would think you were born to it.”
His friend gave a quick headshake. “Far from it as you know, but with the right partner my eyes were opened just as yours have been. Don’t stress yourself. If she had nothing but friendly or revengeful feelings toward you, she’d have no reason to flee and every reason to linger so she could see your face when the truth came out. You have only to confront her, and her resistance will melt away.”
“If I can get her to listen.” The morose words were more for show as a certainty settled into his bones. Nothing would keep him from presenting his case even if he had to shout it up to her window as in many theatrical performances.
No matter what she might have thought of him, her laughter and smiles—how she’d teased him—showed her heart followed different instincts than her head. Just as he’d come to know Barbara beyond the shelter of her name, she’d seen deeper into him than he’d let anyone in a long while. She had to believe him, and he wouldn’t rest until she did.