Hopeless Heart

Georgiana nodded. “They didn’t realise I saw them but I did.”

“So you want to experience being drunk before you die,” Mr Parker murmured.

“Yes, and I want to spoke a pipe,” she declared with a flourish.

She was going to add that she wanted to kiss a random stranger and walk away but then realised she had done that already with Will yesterday. As far as she was concerned now he was a total stranger to her, and always would be. Quickly blocking out all memories of the steamy kisses they had shared beside the woods she turned her attention to the man seated opposite and realised he was staring thoughtfully at her again. She tried not to squirm, and turned her attention to the scene outside of the window.

Mr Parker daren’t even ask if that had come from any of her brothers as well. This was a lady who had been confined by her life and wanted to experience all the things she had witnessed other people enjoy–or not as the case may be. It was impossible to know if she was just wayward, curious, or the same as everyone else but too controlled by those around her. Either way, he found her enchanting and secretly willed her to do everything she wanted, and more. In fact, he hoped to stay in contact with her once the journey had ended just to see how she faired with it all. Not least because he was engaged by her innocence yet intrigued by the starkly contrasting inner core of strength he saw occasionally. She was delightful.

On a darker note, he shuddered to contemplate what might happen to her if any of the adventures she wanted to experience went awry. He rather felt responsible for making sure that she retained her moral fibre so that when she returned home she did so older, wiser, yet relatively unscathed by it all.

“I hope this Will person doesn’t succeed in talking you into going back,” he murmured softly. “But I do believe you should proceed with caution. You have to protect yourself, my dear, now that you don’t have your parents or your brothers, or this Will around. As long as you don’t put yourself in any foolish situations there can be no harm in what you want to do.” He leaned toward her and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Just don’t tell anybody I told you that.”

Mr Parker sighed and turned his attention to the scenery. Maybe it was a good thing that this Will was now marrying someone else. If he was the son of Lord Abrams, then Georgiana was probably freer, and would ultimately be happier, living somewhere else. If Georgiana settled for Will’s hand in marriage, then she would just be trading one set of austere rules for another and that would quell this delightfully wilful spirit so evident in the twinkle in her eyes and her future plans. Life at Abrams Manor would afford little if no opportunity for her to experience anything on her list of things to do, and he rather suspected that inner fire that drove her would eventually flicker and die.

Although he didn’t say as much, maybe Georgiana’s broken heart was a blessing in disguise.

“Well, I hope you succeed in your endeavours, and enjoy experiencing everything on your list, my dear,” Mr Parker replied jovially.

“Thank you,” Georgiana replied with a confident nod. “I shall.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

In spite of her discomfort, Georgiana still felt it was a shame when the carriage rumbled to a stop at the end of their journey. Although they had only travelled together for a day, she had thoroughly enjoyed being in Mr Parker’s company. He was a nice, intelligent, extremely wise man. He had become a friend and confident. Now, even after a short amount of time together, she felt closer to him than anyone else. She had certainly confided in Mr Parker more than she had ever done with anyone else–even Will.

“Sadly, it looks like our journey is over,” Mr Parker declared as the carriage pulled into the bustling yard of a coaching inn.

Georgiana’s stomach flipped at what might await her at her aunt’s. While Aunt Ruth was a fairly easy-going woman, she had no idea she was about to be burdened with her niece. It seemed quite unfair, but there was nothing else for it. It was too late to go back now.

“If you would permit me, I should like to escort you to your aunt’s?” Mr Parker said gently as he had handed her down from the carriage.

“Have you met my aunt?” Georgiana gasped and watched Mr Parker nod.

Georgiana gulped and suddenly wished she hadn’t confided so much. Still, she hadn’t told Mr Parker anything she wasn’t prepared to tell her aunt–had she?

“Ruth has been my good friend and neighbour for many years,” Mr Parker assured her. “As soon as you mentioned her name I realised I knew her. When you mentioned you came from Cranbury, I realised then that your father must be Ruth’s brother.”

“I am afraid I have been terribly uncouth,” Georgiana murmured reluctantly.

“She has no idea you are coming, does she?” Henry Parker asked knowingly.

Georgiana sighed. “Everything happened so quickly that I didn’t get the time to write to her. I had to leave as soon as possible and take a chance she would be at home to receive me.”

“I am sure your aunt will be delighted to see you,” Mr Parker assured her. “She gets lonely sometimes and would welcome the company. If she can’t accommodate you, well, you are welcome to stay at my house - with an proper chaperone of course.”

“Thank you,” she said hesitantly.

It had been such a long time since she had visited her aunt that she had forgotten just how pretty the small village of Mecklemerry was. Its quaint thatched cottages lining the main street were interspersed with a tea shop, a butcher, a posting office, a general goods store, and the coaching inn they had just left. Apart from that, the village was quiet, peaceful, and so out of the way that nobody in her family would consider even for one second that Georgiana would want to stay there.

“Perfect,” Georgiana murmured with a soft sigh of satisfaction as they walked. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I have to confess that I should never consider moving anywhere else,” Henry said as they strolled down the street.

He lifted his cane at some people and nodded politely to others. Georgiana was amazed by it. In Cranbury, Cecily only waved to people she had met at social engagements. She certainly never visited the village unless it was to gossip with someone. She rarely had time for anybody other than those in her closest circle of friends.

There was no such social snobbery in Mecklemerry. Everyone seemed to be acquainted each other and happy to engage in conversation. Georgiana preferred this more relaxed attitude to others and found herself smiling at people when they nodded a greeting at her as she passed.

“This is it,” Mr Parker announced as he opened a gate to a small thatched cottage and stood back to allow her to pass through first.