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Once our guests were on their way, Papa turned to Mother with a serious expression. “You are allowed to have your own opinions regarding Mr. Melbourne,” he said, “but I will thank you not to voice them so freely in company. You will embarrass the whole family.”
“Grace herself said he has not made any promises,” Mother said defensively. “I only meant to offer a warning. As often as he has manoeuvred his way into our company, one would think he would have made his intentions known since society is watching with expectation.”
“I respect that he is allowing time to know Grace. Not all matches are whirlwind romances that young ladies are all agog about. Neither are they all coldblooded arrangements made in an office with lawyers to fight over settlements and dowries. Somewhere in the middle is most desirable, in my opinion.”
My first engagement had been the first. It had happened so fast and I had been head over heels in love. Every gentleman Mother had brought forth had felt cold and serious. Yes, Papa was right. A balance in the middle felt most right this time.
“Yet, he raises expectations and invites speculation.”
Mother clung to her disapproval as much as I had clung to my grief. I’d always suspected I had inherited my stubbornness from her.
“What would you have Grace do?” Papa asked, his tone frustrated. “Send him away? Have you another prospective gentleman waiting in the wings?”
Colour rose in Mother’s cheeks. “If he has no serious intentions, then, yes,” she said, raising her chin. “Grace should refuse to be manipulated in such a way.”
My hands tightened and the teacup handle snapped off in my fingers. The sound earned the attention of both my parents. “Grace!” Mother exclaimed. “What happened? What did you do?”
“I will not refuse to keep company with Mr. Melbourne,” I said in an even tone. I set the broken teacup down, trying to hide how much my fingers were shaking. “He has been kind to me and does not deserve to be served such a cold turn. There is nothing wrong with him taking the time to know me and for me to know my own mind. It is better than being told how I should feel.”
Papa nodded. “Excellent. I feel we have no more left to say on the matter.”
“So I am to be ignored?” Mother demanded. “Are my feelings not to be considered?”
“Whenever you are good enough to explain your feelings in such a way that they could be understood rationally, I’m sure Grace and I will be happy to give them all due consideration,” Papa said. “We have gone over and over this matter too many times already. I will not have it brought up again.”
There had only been a few times that I can remember Papa raising his voice at my mother. They had always been careful to conduct any quarrels out of the hearing of my siblings and myself. That they had exchanged sharp words in front of me either meant they were not ashamed of their discord or considered me old enough to know how matters stood between them.
I felt a twinge of guilt that I was the cause of this quarrelling. All I wanted was to understand Mother’s antagonism toward Mr. Melbourne, but perhaps she didn’t understand it herself? Surely she wouldn’t be so petty to think that she had the right to decide who I could choose to marry.
If that were so, what would she do if I were to accept Mr. Melbourne’s hand in marriage?
If he made such an offer?
****
MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, the next day did not include a visit from Mr. Melbourne. Mother managed not to say anything about it, but she looked triumphant. It was almost worse that she didn’t say what she was thinking because she could be thinking anything and I wouldn’t know just how harmful or malicious it might be.
As for myself, I couldn’t help but wonder why he kept away. Had he heard the malicious suppositions of society? Had he tired of my company? Or was there some emergency that had taken all of his attention?
There was no one I could ask.
Two days after the picnic, Mrs. Forrester and her granddaughter came as soon as was considered polite for a visit. They brought news that did manage to distract me from wondering where Mr. Melbourne was. “Have you heard?” was the first thing the older lady asked when she sat down.
“Heard what?” Mother asked with a frown. She disliked being the last to learn something, especially when it was from a visitor to Bath who heard it before she did. When we had visited the Rooms, there had been nothing new the day before. “What’s happened?”
“There was a death,” Miss Forrester said, her tone less excited than her grandmother’s. “Mr. Conrad Ingram? We had not been introduced to him, but I believe that is the name we were told.”
“It was no mere death,” Mrs. Forrester said with a scowl at the young lady. “There is speculation that it was murder, and it seems likely given the circumstances he was found in.”
“Murder?” Mother repeated with a mixture of horror and fascination. “Why murder? Mr. Ingram was a respectable man! Why would anyone have wanted to kill him or do him any harm? It’s unheard of!”
Respectable was not a word I would have associated with Mr. Ingram under any circumstances. I bit my tongue as I wanted to hear more. “It was the way he was found,” Miss Forrester said, jumping back into the conversation before her grandmother could answer. “He was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs. It could just as easily be that he lost his balance and fell, not pushed as some have been whispering.”
For a moment, I was five years younger and hearing similar words from my father. But...no. Jonathan had been ill. That’s why he had fallen. No one had even hinted that it had been anything other than an accident...
“Miss Anderson? Are you well?”
Miss Forrester’s voice brought me back to the present. The other ladies were staring at me. “Just...surprised,” I managed to say. “Why do they claim Mr. Ingram may have been pushed? It seems so unlikely.”
“Because there is no other reason for a perfectly healthy man to fall down a flight of stairs,” Mrs. Forrester said impatiently.
Mother’s hand came over mine. That small bit of comfort was the first she had shown me in a long time and caught me off guard. I blinked tears away, determined not to lose my composure right then. “Perhaps you did not know that Grace’s betrothed died from such a fall,” she said to our visitors. “He was ill at the time.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Miss Forrester exclaimed with sincere alarm. “No wonder you look so pale and strange! Do forgive us for being so thoughtless!”
“There is nothing to forgive,” I said, forcing a smile. “You could not have known.”
How strange that Conrad Ingram, a man whom Jonathan had disliked so much, should die in so similar a manner. For a moment, I let myself wonder. What if Jonathan’s death hadn’t been that accident everyone had told me it was? Hadn’t several people asked me about that time lately?
I shook my head. How ridiculous! Just because they had died in similar ways did not mean there was some hidden mystery or conspiracy. It was simply a coincidence.
“You don’t believe me?” Mrs. Forrester demanded.
Again, I had let my mind wander. “I’m sure she does, Grandmama,” Miss Forrester said, coming to my aid. “It does not surprise me in the least bit that Miss Dunbar and her family should leave Bath. Mr. Daniel Dunbar was an offensive man and his sister an unrepentant flirt.”
Thankful for my friend’s help, I tried to take in all the information. “I am sad to see anyone forced to leave in disgrace,” I said slowly. What had Miss Dunbar done?
Was Mr. Melbourne staying away because he had no need to make her jealous? Had I been a pawn in a game to win Miss Dunbar’s affection? Had Mother been right all along?
“Disgrace? I should be surprised if they should ever find a way to recover from such a scandal,” Mrs. Forrester said with a sniff of derision. “Their father is to blame for this. He ought to have taken them both in hand before releasing them on society. A mother would have been the answer.”
I couldn’t ask for clarification without revealing my inattention. At least in a place as small as Bath, I was sure to hear the details sooner rather than later. But that knowledge didn’t help the twisting uneasiness in my stomach.
Mother skilfully guided the conversation to other matters, releasing my hand. Miss Forrester moved to my side. “I am sorry,” she said in a low voice. “I should not have been so blunt in telling the story, even if I was trying to keep Grandma from dramatics.”
“I do not blame you. Truly.”
She heaved a sigh. “I suppose I should be glad this will keep Grandmama from hounding me about Mr. Ward. It is difficult to think straight with my own misgivings without having to listen to her too.”
Oh, yes. She had quarrelled with her beau. How had I forgotten that? “Will you not reconcile with him?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the details.
“Once I’ve had a chance to think everything over, I might,” she said with another sigh. “There was just so much he kept from me. I’m not sure I ever knew him at all.”
A glance at me accompanied her cryptic words. Did she want me to inquire further? “I won’t ask for details as Mr. Ward must have spoken to you in confidence,” I said softly. As much as I was concerned for my friend, I did not wish to be too involved in the situation. “I’m sure everything will work out for the best.”
Her lips pursed in annoyance, Miss Forrester gave a court nod. “I suppose you’re right. I just don’t know what to think anymore. Should I listen to my family? Should I give him the chance to explain?”
Didn’t I know what it was like to be caught between my own feelings and those of my family?
“I do not know what it is he told you that angered you so—and I don’t need to know,” I added quickly, raising my hand when she seemed about to speak further. “It is between you and him. But I will say it seems shabby to judge a man without hearing him out.”
Miss Forrester sat back. “Yes, I suppose it does,” she said reluctantly.
“Only you can decide if your...feelings for him are strong enough for you to be willing to accept whatever he has shared,” I continued. “Or if you are strong enough to walk away.”
“What are you talking of?” Mrs. Forrester demanded. “Why are you whispering?”
“The picnic, ma’am, and how interesting we both found it,” I said, forcing a smile.
The older woman gave a sniff. “In the face of the morning news, I find that unlikely,” she said as she pushed herself out of her chair. “Come along, Sarah.”
“Thank you for your advice,” Miss Forrester whispered as she rose. She cordially took her leave, following her grandmother out.
“Poor girl,” Mother said as soon as our guests left.
“What makes you say that?” I asked, only half paying attention.
“She’s obviously so confused. Mrs. Forrester has told me how attached her granddaughter has become to Mr. Ward. She has not formed any prospect attachment while in Bath. Mrs. Forrester is, understandably, most discouraged about the matter and disappointed that her granddaughter would be so disobliging.”
“I wasn’t aware they came to Bath with the purpose of finding Miss Forrester a husband. I thought Mrs. Forrester had come with the purpose of taking the waters.”
Mother waved her hand. “Two birds, one stone, as they say,” she responded. She narrowed her eyes at me. “It would be embarrassing for us all if we were to learn you have been encouraging and influencing that girl in her rebellion.”
It took all my strength not to roll my eyes. “I have not,” I defended. Not really, anyway. “All I have done is offer my advice when it is asked for. Miss Forrester knows her own mind and is not easily influenced by others. Especially not by someone she has only just met.”
“What has the world come to? In my day, young ladies listened to their parents.”
“Isn’t marriage—any marriage—better than spinsterhood? You’ve implied that was the case these past few months. If Miss Forrester has no other prospects, why should a respectable gentleman be so objectionable?” I asked. Part of me wanted to say that she had been saying as much to me for months, but I didn’t want to spark another argument.
“A bad marriage is a bad fate for any woman,” Mother said sharply. “And mind your tongue, Grace. You have been rather free with your opinion, which is not appropriate for a lady.”
She may have continued in that vein but I stopped listening. Her opinions were already well known and weighed heavily on my mind. I didn’t need anything more to worry about.