“You were chatting to Trenton Calderhill,” her aunt declared in a conversational tone.
Ursula jumped and wondered if her aunt had just read her mind.
“Estimable chap, Trenton is. He comes from a wonderful family too. You can’t do better than him.”
“He is engaged. You said so yourself.” She willed her aunt to deny it but sighed when Adelaide nodded with a thoughtful expression on her face. “I doubt they are from someone like Trenton,” Ursula protested again, wondering why Adelaide wasn’t convinced.
“I am sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to over-set you,” Adelaide soothed when she saw her niece’s alarm. “You have an admirer, that’s all. Given that you were chatting with Trenton last night, I just assumed they might be from him.”
“It’s impossible,” Ursula snapped. “Trenton has lived in the same village as me for a long time and has barely given me a second look. Why, I could be nothing more than one of the sheep in the fields for all the interest he has shown me over the years. He is now engaged so is less likely than ever to send me something like this. No, these cannot be from him, so please don’t go starting any rumours with your friends. It isn’t fair to embarrass the man.”
She pushed away from the table but paused long enough to throw her aunt an apologetic look. “I am sure that there has just been a misunderstanding, that’s all. I don’t know anyone in London, so can’t have any admirers.”
“Well, somebody has sought to send flowers. Discount no one, Ursula, that’s all I am saying.”
They both paused at the sound of the front door bell and, moments later, watched Isaac enter with another arrangement.
“Good Lord, he is determined, isn’t he?” Adelaide murmured.
“Thank you, Isaac.” Ursula watched the butler disappear before she turned to her aunt. She then opened the second envelope and read the note: May we meet again soon.
She stared at the card in her hand. Now that she came to think about it, Adelaide had a point. Trenton had known her since childhood. If anyone was acquainted with her enough to send her flowers after such a short meeting, it would be him. She had been rather abrupt with him last night. Maybe it was a welcome gift or an acknowledgement of their acquaintance now they were away from the prying eyes of the villagers back in Yorkshire. She smiled at that thought and clutched both cards to her chest.
To her delight, the flowers kept arriving throughout the morning. By late morning several arrangements had arrived in all sizes, colours and varieties, until her bedroom was awash with fragrant blooms.
“You know, my dear, you must send Trenton a note to thank him for them,” Adelaide said her as she watched Isaac slide the latest arrangement onto the table at Ursula’s elbow.
“But I don’t know for definite that they are from him,” she protested, unsure how one went about thanking someone for sending half a field of flowers. A quick note seemed quiet impersonal given the frivolous gesture.
“What do the cards say again?”
“Well; apart from the first two, the second praises me on my beauty and in particular my wonderful eyes. He has sent me a third card assuring me that I have captured his heart. On the fourth card he tells me that we are to meet again soon. The fifth and sixth cards declare that I am but a beautiful flower that has sweetened his life. Both the seventh and eighth cards assure me that our future together is definite. The ninth and tenth compare me to the seasons; spring for freshness and summer for blossoming splendour.”
By the time she finished reeling off the cards, Adelaide was giggling like a young girl. “Oh dear. They are a little over the top, aren’t they?”
Although Ursula adored flowers, and was delighted to have received so many of them, the idea that someone liked her enough to send her so many, was a little disturbing. While the delight was very real, as the morning had approached the afternoon, and the arrangements had continued to arrive with the cards, it had become apparent that the sender was not Trenton Calderhill. Such flowery prose didn’t seem fitting for someone like Trenton. He seemed to be more blunt and direct in his manner.
That left her with one worrying problem. Who could her secret admirer be? The more she looked at the script, the more she became convinced the gushing praise had been written by a female hand. But how could they be? Why would a woman want to send her flowers? It was too ridiculous to contemplate.
No, they had to be from a man. She just didn’t know who that man was yet and had no idea how to go about finding out right now, but she would. Somehow.
“I don’t know what to do about them,” Ursula confided.
“Well, given he hasn’t sent you his name yet, the only thing you can do is wait for him to appear. He has gone to considerable expense so will want to ensure that you know who he is. Sit back and wait, my dear. Your mysterious admirer will appear. You’ll see,” Adelaide assured her.
Ursula looked up in time to watch her aunt tap the side of her nose and nodded while she considered that. She wasn’t sure what she would say to Trenton if it turned out to be him, or anyone else for that matter. She had never been the object of anyone’s attention before. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage anyone’s affections, but neither did she want to blank somebody who had been so generous.
“Don’t worry about it now. Wait to see who has sent them first,” she muttered to herself.
“What was that, dear?” Adelaide called from the hallway.
“Nothing,” Ursula replied as she moved to join her.
“Ready?”
Ursula nodded and followed her aunt outside. After the morning she had just had she was looking forward to being able to savour the air. Although she hated London with its cloying smog, constant noise, and crowded streets, she adored Hyde Park, and relished her late morning stroll with her aunt.
Once on the pavement, they turned toward the park at the end of the road. Ursula saw the endless line of carriages crossing the end of the road and sighed in dismay. It was a familiar sight to her now, but no less daunting now than it had been on the first day she had experienced walking amongst the melee. As they approached, she made a conscious effort to straighten her spine and glide like Adelaide instructed her to and willed the next few minutes to be over as quickly as possible.