Hopeless Heart

“Oh, I can’t do that,” Georgiana replied, arrested by the openness in the man’s demeanour, and the teasing smile.

“I insist upon it. Every one of my acquaintance does,” he assured her.

“Then please call me Georgiana.”

“Miss Georgiana,” Henry corrected.

Georgiana nodded and watched Simeon smile at Henry. Henry looked a bit startled for a moment, as though this wasn’t a commonplace occurrence, but Georgiana didn’t think to question it.

“Miss Georgiana it is then,” Simeon murmured. He bowed low again, his eyes holding hers. “I hope it won’t be too long before I see you again.”

“I am here for a while so I am sure our paths will cross at some point,” Georgiana murmured politely.

“Well, I shall look forward to it. Meantime, I have to take my horse to the farriers so I will take my leave of you and bid you both a very good day.” With that, he climbed aboard his curricle and doffed his imaginary cap at them before he rumbled away.

“What a pleasant gentleman,” Georgiana murmured as she watched him turn the corner at the end of the street and disappear from sight.

“Yes, he is,” Henry murmured thoughtfully. “He is indeed.”

Georgiana threw him a sharp glance. There was something in his voice that warned her that his meaning was far different to his words.

“Isn’t he?”

Henry considered how to answer for a moment. “You need to consider a few facts about our local Lord, my dear. He is four and thirty yet never wed. He hasn’t earned his reputation for being a rogue without reason. While he has never done anything against any of the locals to cause anybody any alarm, his intentions towards women can only be considered as questionable.” He looked at her meaningfully. “There is gossip, you understand, and it is reported to be more than idle speculation.”

Georgiana nodded but hadn’t got a clue what he was talking about. There was clearly rumour about the local Lord, but nothing had been proven–but what on earth could such a charming gentleman have done? It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but she didn’t. She had just been warned about the Lord that is all. She needed to heed that warning until she had learned a little more about him.

“Thank you,” she murmured quietly.

“You are welcome, my dear,” Henry said, and allowed a companionable silence to settle between them.

Georgiana knew Henry was right to warn her. The last thing she needed was another problematic gentleman on her hands. Will was bad enough.

As she passed through the gate into Ruth’s front garden she glanced down the road behind them. It was more worrying than reassuring to note that Will had simply vanished. Where had he gone? More importantly, when would he reappear?

CHAPTER TEN

An hour later, Georgiana was making tea in the kitchen when knocking on the front door drew her attention. She refused to answer it because she had no intention of having another confrontation with Will right now. She was all alone in the house. Ruth was still taking tea with her friend. The last thing Georgiana needed right now was her world shaken any more.

“Go away,” she mumbled beneath her breath as she finished making tea and began to arrange everything on a tray.

Thankfully, after several minutes of pounding, silence settled over the house once more. Determined to sit in peace while she savoured her tea, she took a seat amidst the plant-infested conservatory and contemplated her current predicament. She refused to spend her entire day hiding in the conservatory. She was going to have to face him but hopefully, not until she had decided what to say to him to make him realise she wasn’t going back with him.

That was why he was here; she had no doubt about that. He had no interest in how she was, or what she had been doing, or if she was happy and had everything she needed.

“He is here because of what he wants,” she sighed. “And it isn’t me as a person. It is me as a being that needs to be returned to its keepers.”

She was aware she was being harsh but at that moment but was so frustrated with everything that she couldn’t help herself. If she thought the hurt she had endured in her father’s study had been bad, it was nothing when compared to the veritable smack in the face he had dealt her beneath the apple tree. His regret was stamped all over him. She had to wonder, if he found her so unappealing, why he had moved toward her in the first place. It was confusing. It was frustrating. It was something she would never get answers to until she discussed it with him, and that was something she would never do.

“I can’t outrun this,” she whispered.

She only had to think about him and her world turned turbulent. To have him before her drew forth all the feelings, doubts, and fears her life in Cranbury had brought her. It was clear now that although she had physically moved, she hadn’t been able to outrun her emotions–she had carried them with her.

“It would help if I don’t have to see him anymore. At least then I can try to put him out of my mind for good,” she whispered morosely. Strangely, niggling doubts began to churn that warned her she might never be able to do that.

Will stalked to the back of the house, a dark scowl on his face. She was in. He had watched that elderly gentleman escort her through the door only ten minutes ago. The almost proprietorial way the gentleman had hovered over her was

deeply concerning, and something Will had not expected to see. The thought of a man sniffing around someone as kind and beautiful as Georgiana, especially someone so old, bothered him. But, it wasn’t as disturbing as the sight of the gentleman on the curricle fawning all over her. He was someone Will didn’t want anywhere near Georgiana, mainly because he had ‘rogue’ stamped all over him.