Hopeless Heart

Frustrated at Georgiana’s stubbornness, Will lifted his hand to knock on the back door.

“Might I make a suggestion?” Henry Parker offered quietly from behind him.

Will spun on his heel and turned a glare on the elderly gentleman standing just a few feet away. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even realised he was no longer alone.

“Let me guess,” Will drawled sarcastically. “Leave her alone?”

Henry nodded. “I do believe that the lady has made it quite clear she has no wish to speak with you. You won’t get what you want if you pester her. She has decided to live here with her aunt. Go home, back to Cranbury, and live your life. Whatever duty you have to her family has been carried out to the best of your ability. If she doesn’t wish to comply with their demands, respect her decision.”

“I don’t see how this has anything to do with you,” Will protested, his anger burning at the set-down he had just received. He wanted to ask the man if he was aware who he was talking to but suspected that in an out of the way place like this he probably hadn’t ever heard of the Abrams family.

“I understand that you are no relation either so the same applies to you,” Henry replied sternly. “Whatever your connections are to the family I understand it is to her brothers, not to her. It is highly inappropriate for you to come here and start to hound the woman. Why, one might believe that there is more behind your behaviour than mere concern for a family friend.”

Henry allowed a thoughtful silence to settle for a moment to give the man time to consider that. He suspected from the lack of protest that he had given Will plenty to think about and didn’t push.

“Georgiana is as good as family to me,” Will said coldly.

“But she isn’t family, though, is she?” Henry replied. “You are no more related to her than I am. If her family cannot be bothered to come after her then you shouldn’t see fit to do so either. If you, or they, wish to keep her a part of your lives you should respect her wishes for now.”

Will opened his mouth to issue the man with a stern rebuke, but closed it again with a snap when the elderly man turned around and casually sauntered away. He turned to glare accusingly at the house, a blistering curse hovering on his lips. For the first time in his life, he had been firmly set-down as though he was nothing more than a common criminal and it didn’t sit well with him at all. Not least because his conscience was niggling at him that the man had a point. Georgiana wasn’t a relation. If she chose to live somewhere other than her parent’s house, it was for her parents to take her to task over it, not him. He was merely there because-

He quickly turned his thoughts away from that. There were too many connotations there for him to consider right now. For his own peace of mind, he needed to make sure she was safe, which she was. After the kiss they had shared he had been unable to settle once he had realised she had left Cranbury. He had to see her again, just once more, just to make sure she was alright. Now that he had, he was struggling to find the willpower to turn around and leave again.

Continuing to knock would be futile, so Will slowly returned to the tavern where he had a room.

“Morning,” he murmured as he passed a woman walking along the path toward him.

Rather than call a cheery greeting in response like several other villagers had done, this woman frowned at him before she hurried past. Will watched her for a moment, but she didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she quickened her stride to a half-run and raced away.

“I don’t believe the villagers like strangers,” he muttered, and resumed his journey.

His words returned to haunt him when he walked through the door of the tavern several minutes later. The dull hum of conversation within dimmed until only a few faint whispers broke the silence. The once affable inn keeper stared at him somewhat suspiciously. Will lifted one superior brow at him, silently daring the man to take him to task over something. When the tavern owner merely turned his back disinterestedly, Will realised something was going on in the village, and it concerned him. As he climbed the stairs, well aware of the rather hostile stares of several patrons boring into his back, he began to wonder if it had something to do with his altercation with Georgiana beneath the apple tree.

“Preposterous,” he muttered. How on earth could anybody have seen them? There was nobody around–well, except for the old man and he had been hovering around Georgiana. It didn’t make sense that the villagers had a problem with him because he had only just arrived, yet only an hour ago most of the people downstairs had been friendly.

Unable to make sense of it all, Will moseyed over to the window to study the street.

“The only reason why a village would turn against me is because someone is spreading nasty gossip about the new visitor in town,” Will murmured.

He recalled the altercation with Mrs Atterton in George’s study. For the first time in his life he truly began to understand what Georgiana had faced that last evening in George’s study, and how frustrating it must have been to her to be in such a situation. To be so horribly aware that people were saying vile things about you, and not be able to defend yourself and get the truth known, was so terribly frustrating. He began to understand why Georgiana had left.

When nothing outside of the window appeased him, he was about to turn away when the tall, dapper gentleman who had accosted him outside of Ruth’s house suddenly wandered out of the tea-rooms with a middle-aged lady on his arm. Their heads were close together as they walked along, deep in conversation about something.

“Co-conspirators,” Will mused in disgust, strangely pleased to have his suspicions proven right. Unfortunately, he had no idea what to do about it because to warn the man would risk upsetting Georgiana, who clearly considered the elderly gentleman a friend.

Pushing it aside to think about later, Will dropped onto the bed, tucked his hands behind his head, and stared blankly at the ceiling while he turned his attention to his next biggest problem: his forthcoming marriage.

Georgiana almost wept when Ruth entered the kitchen an hour later.

“You have to speak to him,” Ruth declared without preamble as she closed the kitchen door behind her. “If only to send him on his way.”

“Mr Parker-Henry-told you?” Georgiana gasped in surprise.

Ruth nodded. “I has been to see me in the tea rooms. He has told me everything.”

“I have told Will to leave me alone. Just this morning in fact,” Georgiana countered. “He won’t listen.”

“Then you need to do something else,” Ruth replied firmly.