“I will attend,” he said, eventually, “but only if your mother agrees and only if you ensure that your sister is aware of my presence before the dinner commences.” He saw Titania’s eyes widen and she began to nod profusely, but Jeremy remained unconvinced. “If there is to be any difficulty, then I must know of it at once,” he continued, sternly. “I will not attend if there is to be any sort of disturbance over my presence. As I have said, I do not wish Eliza to be troubled in any way, not after what I have done. I have caused her enough difficulty already, have I not?”
Titania smiled, shrugged and looked away. “I do not think, Lord Avondale, that you are entirely to blame for what occurred,” she said, softly. “After all, you stated that you had no choice in the matter. I trust your word completely and I must continue to hope that Eliza will, one day soon, allow you to explain to her the truth in its entirety.” Her head turned and her eyes secured on his. “I believe that she still loves you very dearly, Lord Avondale.”
So saying, she turned on her heel and slipped away, leaving Jeremy feeling as though a horse had kicked him hard in the chest. Love. Eliza still loves him? Could it be true?
Gasping for air, Jeremy quickly moved to a darker corner of the room, pressing one hand against the wall for support as he attempted to regain control of his breathing. He had not allowed himself to hope for anything such as this, for the love Eliza had for him must surely have gone from her by now. He had been quietly convinced of that fact, believing that Eliza would have thrown all thought of him aside after he had abandoned her.
And now, Titania had not only told him that Eliza still thought of him, still considered him, but that she might also still love him. It was almost too wonderful to take in, almost too incredible to believe.
Suddenly, the choice about attending the dinner tomorrow evening began to clear itself into one obvious decision. He had to attend, regardless of what he had said to Titania. Even if Eliza was to be upset with his presence, he had to show her that he was still willing to be present in her life, was still waiting for her to give him the opportunity to speak the truth. With Lord Montrose present also, it would, most likely, be rather awkward with perhaps a good deal of tension clouding around the table but, in time, that would lessen and they might be able to have an enjoyable evening.
Then again, he considered, managing to breathe a good deal easier as he stood tall again, Eliza might not
have told Lord Montrose about what had occurred between herself and Jeremy, which meant that the gentleman might not even be aware of the strain. Perhaps this would be a good deal easier than he had expected.
Chapter Five
“Did you enjoy last evening?”
Eliza nodded, looking out of the carriage window so that she would not have to gaze into Lord Montrose’s dark eyes.
“You have not said anything particular about it,” Lord Montrose pressed, reaching forward and taking her hand in his for a moment, a tuft of brown hair falling across his forehead. “You did not find it particularly interesting, mayhap?”
Casting a quick look at the maid who was sitting to the right of the carriage, her eyes fixed on the window instead of looking towards her mistress, Eliza slowly extracted her hand from Lord Montrose and, by way of apology, gave him a bright smile. “I confess, Lord Montrose, that I was distracted by my own thoughts last evening,” she said, honestly. “Although I did enjoy the music, of course.”
At this, Lord Montrose looked a little relieved, as though he had been deeply concerned about her. He sat back in his seat and regarded her carefully, his eyes warm and a light smile on his face. “Just so long as you are content, my dear Miss Wells.”
Eliza nodded, smiled and let her gaze drift back towards the window. She did not want to tell Lord Montrose that her thoughts had been solely settled upon him for the first half of the evening, worrying about what Lord Franks had said of him and fearing that, even though she had been fiercely determined not to allow such things to tear at her mind, she might begin to doubt his intentions.
And then, whilst she had been battling her tumultuous thoughts, her eyes had rested upon Lord Jeremy Avondale.
Even now, she could still feel the shock ricocheting through her, the astonishment of seeing him pinning her to the floor for a moment. Her heart had begun to thud wildly, torn between delight and anger. He was as handsome as she remembered him, his face no longer contorted with regret or pain. In fact, he had been smiling, his eyes alight and his expression open. How often had she found herself caught up in that smile? How often had she found her heart beating wildly with the intensity of his eyes?
And why, even now, did she feel herself falling back into the love she’d tried so hard to forget?
What had been all the worse was that Lord Avondale had been talking to Titania. He had been reveling in her conversation it seemed, laughing at one point at something Titania had said. She had been unable to prevent herself from watching them for some time, her sharp eyes taking in every single movement he made. She had seen him frown, his eyes focus entirely on Titania, how he had shaken his head, then rubbed at his forehead. And then, at the very end, when Titania had grinned, he had given her a slightly hesitant smile, as though he had agreed to something he was not quite certain of.
But when Titania had walked away, Eliza had been caught up in Avondale’s reaction. He had stared after Titania, stunned, before staggering away to a darkened corner of the room as though all of his strength had been pulled from him in one painful moment.
How she had longed to go to Titania and demand that she tell her everything that had occurred between herself and Lord Avondale! How desperately she found herself wanting to know what had been said, the small, dark fears beginning to take a hold of her already.
It was quite foolish to believe that Lord Avondale would ever care for Titania, but yet her mind continued to push her towards that possibility. Titania did not hold grudges and seemed quite willing to talk with the Duke, whereas she herself had forced him to remain silent, to keep his explanations unspoken, whilst telling him the lie that she cared nothing for him any longer when it was quite the opposite.
Her foolish heart, Eliza realized, was betraying her all over again.
“Oh, do look there!” Lord Montrose exclaimed. “Can that be Lord Hollard and his dear sister?”
At this exclamation, Eliza’s ears pricked up and she turned to where Lord Montrose was pointing.
“Yes, indeed,” she replied, softly. “That appears to be Miss Stapleton. Shall we stop?”
The carriage, which had been meandering its way around Hyde Park during the fashionable hour, was already going slowly enough that Eliza thought she might be able to hop to the ground without any difficulty whatsoever. However, she reached up to rap on the carriage roof so that it might come to a complete stop, only for Lord Montrose to stay her hand.
“We need not,” he said, easily, settling back into his seat. “I am quite contented with your company at present.”
Eliza tried to smile but her thoughts were already turning towards what Lord Franks had said of Lord Montrose some days ago. “I should quite like to greet Miss Stapleton, however,” she said, as warmly as she could. “You would not mind a brief stop, would you? You might talk with Lord Hollard for a short time.”
Lord Montrose’s smile did not quite reach his eyes. “I could do, but we are bound to see them again very soon,” he replied, with a small shrug. “The ball tomorrow evening, for example.”