Chapter 6
It was a quiet carriage ride home, and Anna’s mother waited for her by the door, unfortunately. Anna begged for some time to rest her feet and complained of her headache, but her mother would hear none of it.
“Cook can make you some tea, and you can rest your feet in the parlor. Now come. Let us talk.”
Talk. All her mother ever wished to do. She would talk to the walls if they would answer her back.
To Anna’s relief, her mother talked to her about her charity work for a good bit of time, and Anna was even smiling and laughing.
But it did not last long.
“I know that the Earl of Pershore went to the gathering. Did you happen to speak to him?” her mother slipped into their conversation even though it had nothing to do with their previous lines of conversation.
“Speaking with him isn’t pleasant,” Anna said stiffly.
Her mother sighed. “Are you even giving the poor boy a chance, or are you still wrapped up in that dreadful duke?”
Anna bristled. “I do not care for Lord Pershore because of his own actions.”
Her mother sat stiffly, primly, her lips a tight line. “I had so hoped for a match. Katherine and I have written each other many letters over the years, and we both hoped that perhaps one day, our children would grow up and fall in love and have children of their own.”
“Now that sounds like something out of a story.” Anna tried to force a smile on her face, but inwardly, she was horrified. There wasn’t much she would not do for her mother, but if her mother asked this of her, well…
“I had such hopes.” Her mother looked away, staring out the window. “To unite our families through marriage…”
It was too much for Anna to hear this. “Most mothers would wish for their daughters to marry a duke, even a supposed skirt chaser.”
Her mother pursed her lips. “I have known true love,” she murmured. “How can I not want that for my own daughter?”
“But I—”
“You only think you do, my dear girl. I know you, and I love you, and I wish you could see what I see. You are blinded by his looks and his charm.”
And she had heard enough. Anna stood. “I am rather exhausted from tonight’s activities. If you will excuse me…”
To soften the rude tone of her words, she waited for her mother to nod and grant her permission to leave before departing the parlor and going up to her bedroom. Her maid helped ready her for bed, but Anna couldn’t sleep. So many emotions were bottled up inside of her that she had to express them the only way she knew how—through writing.
Anna took her quill and penned a letter, addressed to Jasper Warwick. She never intended for him to see it, but she poured out her every thought, her every fear, listing reason after reason why he shouldn’t marry her or anyone else: his rudeness; his insufferable attitude; if he was rude to someone else’s servants, he must be quite cruel to his own; his children would surely take on his terrible habits; and so on.
When she finished, she surprisingly didn’t feel better. In fact, in her mind, she could hear her mother saying, “Jasper is going through a troubling time.” And his own mother had said much the same: “I’m afraid he has had a trying time of late.” Yes, his conduct had been a little rude each time she had spoken to him, but perhaps there might be a reason for it.
What on earth could have happened to him that his own mother, who was as prim and proper as hers, would make excuses for his revolting behavior?
17th October, 1812
Anna contemplated skipping the morning meal, but she knew that her mother would come and check on her. It wasn’t that she was feeling or poorly or that she wished to avoid her mother. Anna merely wanted to continue to work on her story. She had even gotten up during the middle of the night to work on it a little, only for her thoughts to continually turn back to the puzzle that was Jasper Warwick, Earl of Pershore.
Her mother was already seated at the table when Anna entered. “I was getting worried,” she said with a smile.
Anna covered her mouth as she yawned. “No need for that,” she assured her.
“We won’t talk about Lord Pershore more,” her mother started, and Anna winced for fear of what might come next, “but I did hear that the Duke of Barnet was there as well.”
“Y-Yes,” Anna said slowly, sitting stiffly.
“Forgive me, but I do find it a little interesting that you refuse to go to the three-week-long house party because of fear of running into the duke, yet you went to this gathering and saw him. Danced with him even.”
Anna refused to squirm in her seat. It was unnerving and uncanny how her mother seemed to know everything about everyone.
“You do not deny it?”
Her flushed cheeks were obviously answer enough for her mother laughed, although the sound was a bit forced.
“Well?” Her mother lifted her teacup.
“He was so…” Anna sighed. It had been so wonderful to dance with Benjamin. It had been a whirlwind, and she felt as if they had been transported to another realm, one in which only the two of them existed. “So charming, Mother.”
“Charms them all,” her mother countered. She sipped and lowered her cup.
Anna opened her mouth to argue but paused. Perhaps her mother did have a point. After all, Benjamin never called to visit her. He never came over for tea.
Perhaps he means more to me than I do to him.
The thought colored her mood and left a bitter taste in her mouth as she ate. Back in her room, she still could not concentrate on her story for the orphans, only this time the source of her thoughts was the dashing duke. Again, she wrote another letter in which she poured out her feelings to the duke as well as her fears and doubts that he felt the same.
Although she hadn’t said so, Anna knew her mother was disappointed to learn that her daughter had been weak and succumbed to the duke’s charm. As a peace offering, Anna brought her mother the note and allowed her to read it.
Her mother’s features softened with each line, and when she glanced up at Anna, she had tears in her eyes. “I know you love your stories,” she said. “How about I tell you one?’
Anna smiled. “I would like that very much.”
“Well, it all started twenty years ago, three years before you were born…”