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The next couple of days, Archie kept an eye on his sister and Lord Lambourn. It was clear that they were both trying to not look at each other. Although sometimes failing miserably. Whatever had happened between them seemed to be over though. The looks were more of longing than of smoldering passion.
Since there had been no declaration, Archie deduced that Lambourn had decided that he would rather remain with Cecilia Gaywood. It pained him as Hester’s brother that she had been rejected and it pained him as Cecilia’s friend that she would have to live with a man who did not love her and clearly was not faithful.
Each night Archie made certain to retire after Lord Lambourn. He followed him discreetly to make sure that the earl actually made it to his own bedchamber. When he reached the family wing, he would walk past Hester’s door even though his own room was not that far down the hallway. Every night he saw a light under the door and more than once he could hear the subdued voices of her and her lady’s maid.
For the next three days, everything was normal, and Archie was starting to find his own manner bordering on stalking when he caught Lord Lambourn and Hester exchanging a look through the drawing room after dinner. Lord Lambourn was playing cards with his brother, Cecilia - who had joined the house party almost fully since her foot did not hurt as much - and the younger Miss Drummond but turned his head just briefly to look at Hester.
As Archie was sitting next to Hester, he not only caught the earl’s smoldering look but also how Hester quickly averted her eyes and blushed. Clearly, something had happened between them, something that he had not noticed since he was not following the two of them during the day. Archie clenched his fists and tried to remain calm as the conversation around him continued.
That night, Lord Lambourn did not go to his room when Archie discreetly followed him. Instead, he went to the library again. Archie paused in the shadows on the opposite side of the hall but when the earl did not emerge after a couple of minutes, he ventured closer and peeked inside. They were sitting on the windowsill, very closely. He could hear their subdued voices. When the earl reached out to take Hester’s hair from its pins, Archie retreated. He had no need to see the earl kiss his sister again.
He walked into the salon that Miss Drummond had chased him into a couple of days ago to think matters through. He could go back into the library and demand that Lambourn marry his sister. It would solve his problem of sneaking around as well as end Cecilia’s betrothal. Again, he hesitated though. Should he give Lord Lambourn a final chance to tell Cecilia himself? Even though his conduct was far from that of a gentleman, perhaps he would tomorrow given the opportunity.
Besides, barging in there now would only mean embarrassing Hester, which he had no intention of. She was the one of his sisters that he was closest to. Even though it gave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach, he retreated to bed himself, hoping for an announcement at breakfast.
But as he came down to breakfast the following morning, he was sorely disappointed. Lord Lambourn had already broken his fast and gone riding with his brother, and when Archie headed to the morning room for luncheon, he was told that the earl was in the study with Mr. Gaywood finalizing the marriage contract between himself and Cecilia. Archie clenched his hands around his cutlery as he tried to focus on the food in front of him.
It was beyond his comprehension why Lord Lambourn would kiss Hester when he was engaged to Cecilia. All through the visit, Lambourn had seemed somewhat indifferent towards her and now Archie knew him to be unfaithful before the two of them had even married. He needed to stop this as much for Cecilia’s sake as for Hester’s.
After finishing the meal, Archie walked casually to his father’s study and waited in a salon opposite. It did not give him a view of the door, but he would be able to hear when Lord Lambourn and Mr. Gaywood exited. When they did, he would demand an audience with Lord Lambourn and make this farce stop once and for all.
What he had not expected was someone else to enter. He could hear the surprise in Hester’s voice as she said that she had believed her father to be in there and that she had come in to borrow a blot of ink. A couple of minutes later she came back out, clutching the ink in one hand. Her face had turned into a stony white mask.
He quickly moved to go to her only to see the door to her study, next to their father’s, close the moment after. He looked at the closed door and tried to figure out what to do. It was not like him not to act, but ever since Hester had been a large child, she had hated it when others saw her upset. She had once elbowed him accidentally in the face as he had wanted to comfort her - and get her off the ground - after she had fallen out of a tree when she was seven. She had wanted to see the sparrow fledglings in the nest, but a branch had snapped.
Rubbing his nose, Archie thought that it would probably be best to leave her alone and try to help her another way. He was now more convinced than ever that he needed a word with Lord Lambourn. But when Lord Lambourn exited the study a moment later, he hurried to Hester’s study and quickly closed the door behind him.
Archie studied the closed door for a moment. He could go in there now, demand once and for all that Lambourn married Hester. But demands did not sit well with him and certainly not making them to an agitated and upset Hester.
If Cecilia saw them alone together however, that might solve the entire problem. She could decide what she wanted to do, and Hester and Lord Lambourn could as well. If they did not want anyone outside of the room to know, no one had to.
With the decision made, Archie hurried down the hallway to find Cecilia. Out of sheer habit he went to the salon and was relieved when he found her reading on the sofa.
“You need to come,” he said and took her arm without any preamble.
Cecilia yanked her arm from his grasp and sat up. The book fell to the floor with a clatter, the pages folding in a way that neither of his parents would appreciate, despite the fact that neither of them would ever open the book.
“What is happening, Lord Archibald?” she demanded. Her gray eyes showed the confusion she was trying to hide with her tone of voice.
Archie almost winched every time he heard her use his cursory title. If there was one person whom he would like to call him Archie, it was her. He took a deep breath as he put on his charming face and crouched next to the sofa.
“I’m sorry, Cecilia,” he almost purred and tugged a loose blonde curl behind her ear. “There’s just something I wanted to show you. I’m sorry I was so eager I forgot my manners.”
He had to fight not to smile as he saw her blush. Whatever she felt for him, he certainly knew that he affected her. Nevertheless, nothing more than flirtation and friendship could happen between them, yet he did not want her to enter into a loveless marriage with Lord Lambourn. With any luck, he was still with Hester and Cecilia would see him for who he was.
“Can’t you show me here?” she asked, but she straightened her spine and was already moving her legs to step on the floor.
“No, it’s in my sister’s study,” Archie answered and rose. He quickly retrieved her crutches that were resting against the wall and handed them to her as she rose to her feet, still resting more on her good foot than the other. “Can you manage the walk there?”
If not, he was prepared to carry her. But she nodded and smiled at him as he handed her the crutches.
“The exercise will probably be good for me,” she told him, more amenable now, and followed him.
As they made their way down the hallway, through the deserted entrance hall, and down the hallway with his father’s and Hester’s study, Archie wished that he had carried her. They were moving painfully slow and if they were to have any chance of catching Lord Lambourn and Hester together, they would have to move faster.
When he was a child, he had enjoyed seeing when the cows had been let out to graze for the first time after winter. The otherwise sturdy and calm cows would almost dance with excitement. He felt the same joyous energy surging through his body, and he constantly had to slow his pace in order to not stalk ahead of Cecilia.
They finally reached the door and Archie quickly knocked but did not wait for a reply. Either Hester was alone in which case he would simply show Cecilia the birds that Hester had stuffed with the help of their estate hunter, or they would find Lord Lambourn with her. Archie could feel his heart beat harder and faster as he opened the door.
Hester and Lord Lambourn were by the window. Both their hair and clothes were in disarray. A sour taste entered his mouth at the realization of what Lord Lambourn and Hester would have been doing if they had walked any faster. Yes, he had wanted Cecilia to see them together, but he had certainly not wanted her to witness... that.
“You were right,” Cecilia told him and stalked out of the room as much as was possible on crutches. Archie tried to make sense of her statement for a moment, before realizing that Lord Lambourn had moved to the door, intending to follow her. He placed a firm hand on the other man’s chest.
“I do not think she wants to talk to you now, Lambourn,” he told him and tried not to smile, before closing the door again and hurrying after Cecilia. She was leaning against the wall only a couple of doors down. She was completely pale, her bottom lip quivering, and she was trembling so much that he was afraid that she would fall over. Without thinking, he swept her into his arms and started carrying her towards the salon.
“You were right. You did have something to show me,” Cecilia whispered against his shoulder. “They were... I would never have believed that... of him.”
Archie did not answer. For a woman who was not in love with a man, this seemed to hit her much harder than he had anticipated. Truth be told, he had not really thought of her reaction, except that of course she would now have to break the engagement. If anything, he had imagined that a woman in that situation would be furious, but not Cecilia.
Of course, not Cecilia, he came to realize as he turned the corner of the hallway. She was not one to throw a tantrum like a toddler or one of the second-class actresses that he had been fond of inviting to his bed. She was much gentler. Sweeter. A cold stone formed in his stomach at the thought of how this would affect her. He had acted without thinking of her feelings at all.
“Where are you taking me?” Cecilia whispered as he carried her through the entrance hall.
“Back to the salon.”
“No, I do not want to go there. I want to be anywhere but here.” She looked up at him with pleading watery eyes. “Please take me away. You can take me anywhere, I don’t care. I just don’t want to be here.”
Even though it would have been hard, Archie might have been able to resist that. Might have been able to simply carry her to the salon and leave her there. But then she placed her small, cold hand on his cheek and whispered:
“Please.”
And then Archie could do nothing but fulfill her wish.