Lady Whitehaven nodded slowly, as if she had just now recalled what Merry had shared about Lord Weston’s harsh words. “Then that is entirely your decision, my dear,” she said to Merry. There was a firmness about her demeanor that made Merry smile. “If you wish to ignore this letter and stay out of his acquaintance, then I quite understand.”
Merry rose to her feet, not giving the letter another glance but rather crumpling it up in her hand. “I am quite determined,” she replied, reaching the fireplace and throwing the letter into the small, lingering flames that sat in the grate. The flames grasped at the paper eagerly, licking the sides of the paper until, within a few moments, it was nothing but ash. Merry smiled satisfactorily to herself. Lord Weston was not about to make his way back into her good graces by simply writing a letter filled with apologies and accolades. He would have to learn that she was a good deal more determined than that.
Chapter Five
Much to Thomas’s frustration, Lord Henderson made his way over towards him. Thomas had been doing his best to remain entirely unobserved as he lingered in the shadows, but it seemed that his friend had already spotted him.
“Whatever are you doing over here?” Lord Henderson asked, sounding both confused and cheerful in equal measure. “I cannot quite understand it! It is a ball, and you are normally making your way through the crowd and seeking to put your name on as many dance cards as you can.”
Thomas’s jaw clenched. “That was before I had the urgency to win a wager,” he reminded Lord Henderson, seeing his friend’s expression fill with understanding. “It has been two days since I sent that letter to Miss Wells.”
“And?”
Thomas shook his head. “She did not respond to me.”
Lord Henderson paused for a moment, although Thomas did not miss the look of delight that passed across his face. Apparently, his friend was enjoying this a good deal more than Thomas, and that thought irritated him greatly.
“I see,” Lord Henderson murmured, attempting to rearrange his face into a sympathetic expression but failing completely. “And you hope to see her here, do you?”
“I hope to be able to speak to her,” Thomas replied, turning back so that he might look through the crowd again. “If she did not accept my written apology, then I can only hope that she will allow me to speak to her of my supposedly deep regret that has been troubling me since I last saw her.” This last sentence was said with so much irony within it that even Thomas could not help but grin. “I shall not be able to laugh when I say such things to her however,” he reminded his friend, shaking his head as he spoke. “I must be absolutely sincere.”
“Even though you do not feel it.”
Thomas scoffed at this. “Of course I do not feel it,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “Miss Wells was rude enough to turn down an offer to take her to the floor for a dance, and in doing so, rejected me entirely. I cannot simply allow such a thing to occur without telling her just how much she has insulted me.”
A twinge of guilt in his soul forced him to draw a quick breath, hiding the truth of what he felt even from himself. To admit that Miss Wells’ spurning him had made him both confused and upset would be foolish, for he needed simply to hide those emotions from his heart until they disappeared from him completely. He had a many other young ladies who sought out his company almost the moment he set foot into any establishment anywhere, which meant that he had no reason to continue thinking of Miss Wells. He only had to think of her now so that he might win the bet and collect his winnings from Lord Wiltshire. His reputation would remain intact, and Miss Wells, he told himself again, would be dragged into the center of attention and would, most likely, do very well from it. At the very least, more gentlemen would be interested in dancing and conversing with her, which might then lead to a happy match. That was all he had to think of, he reminded himself, looking through the crowd again in search of her. There was no need to feel any sort of guilt.
“There!”
His eyes narrowed, and his breath caught as his gaze landed on his quarry. Miss Wells was standing by her mother, clad in a cream gown and with her brown tresses piled up on the back of her head. A few curls graced her temples as she looked about her, although Thomas noticed there was no smile of excitement or anticipation on her lips.
“You have discovered her, I see,” Lord Henderson murmured, moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with Thomas so that he might observe the lady also. “Goodness, she has improved somewhat, I must say.”
Thomas frowned. “Improved?”
“You are not the only one who has been introduced to the Wells sisters,” Lord Henderson replied with a chuckle. “It was Miss Titania Wells that I met however, as well as the eldest, Miss Eliza Wells – although she is wed now and Miss Titania Wells is soon to be also.”
Thomas nodded, feeling no twinge of disappointment in his heart. He had not felt anything for Miss Titania Wells but had made out that he was deeply upset over her engagement to Lord Carroway. It had just meant that he was without one of his adoring young ladies whose company he had always enjoyed.
“I was not ever introduced to Miss Merry Wells,” Lord Henderson continued, with a small shrug. “She remained with the other wallflowers, and so I did not seek out an introduction. However, her countenance has certainly increased, and she appears a good deal improved since I last saw her.”
“Merry?” Thomas repeated, her name on his lips. “That is her name?”
Lord Henderson nodded, grinning at him. “It is,” he replied, chuckling. “Although I would beg of you not to address her as such, for she will not take kindly to such a thing.”
Thomas laughed and shrugged. “I shall use it with discretion,” he replied in the hope that, one day, Miss Wells might ask him to use her Christian name when they were alone. That would speak to him of an intimacy that, for the moment, he could only dream of. That would be the moment that he would know if had been victorious, for if she were to give him such an intimacy, then he would know that if he asked her to accept his court, she would do so without hesitation.
Whereby, he would then snatch it all from her, declare that he was no longer willing to continue their intimacy, and march to Whites’ in order to claim his prize.
“Are you quite all right, Weston?”
Jerking slightly, Thomas glanced over at Lord Henderson. “Quite,” he replied, setting his shoulders and clearing his throat. “I have only a month in which I must have Miss Wells by my side, and so I was thinking of what I must do next in order to secure her affections.” He chuckled at Lord Henderson’s roll of his eyes. “You do not believe I will be successful.”
“No, that is not it,” Lord Henderson replied slowly, his brow lowering slowly. “Some of my heart wishes for you to fail entirely, Weston. That is not to say that I want you to lose a good deal of money, for that is not the truth of it at all.”
Thomas frowned, his smile fading. “Then what do you mean?”
“If you fail, then you might come to realize that there is more to a lady than simply how much she graces your eyes,” Lord Henderson replied with a small shrug. “You are so caught up with appearance and the like that you never learn anything about the ladies who surround you. With Miss Wells, however, that stunning beauty is not as apparent. It may be that you find there is a beauty of character also – which is something I can only pray will come true.”