A Gentleman Never Tells(17)
There was no acting or faking in Rosabelle’s comments about Gabrielle’s strength, and she appreciated the kind words from her. But there had been several times that day when Gabrielle hadn’t felt strong at all.
“Oddly, I’m not,” Gabrielle said, wanting to put an end to this uncomfortable conversation. “I will just say I am not unhappy about what has happened, Rosa, and leave it at that. I’m sure there will be gossip about me in the next few days, and quite possibly for weeks to come. But I believe the scandal of a canceled wedding will die down as soon as another scandal happens to take its place. Which, knowing London Society as we do, shouldn’t be too long. In any case, I’m sure the worst of it will be over by winter’s end and will in no way affect you or your prospects for a good match next Season.”
Gabrielle saw the love for Staunton in her sister’s face. That told her she had made the right decision to sacrifice her reputation to save Rosabelle’s. Her sister was in love, and Gabrielle wasn’t. What she had to do now was find a way to help the young lovers be together and to keep her father from forcing her to marry Lord Brentwood.
Hopefulness etched its way back into her sister’s features again as she asked, “Do you really think that?”
“Of course she does, and so do I and your father, too,” Auntie Bethie said. “Now come give me a proper hug and a kiss before I start thinking you no longer care about me.”
Rosabelle ran over and hugged her aunt and kissed her cheek. She then, unexpectedly, rushed over and threw her arms around Gabrielle and said, “Oh, Gabby, what will you do?”
Gabrielle’s heart softened even more as her sister’s arms circled her, holding her tightly. Rosabelle’s body trembled. Gabrielle knew they would eventually have a heart-to-heart talk about what happened, but she wasn’t ready for that yet, and she felt Rosabelle wasn’t either.
Her father looked at Gabrielle from over Rosabelle’s shoulder and said, “She’ll marry someone else, of course.”
Gabrielle patted her sister’s back, knowing she had argued with her father all she could for one day, but there was always tomorrow and the next day. Whatever had come over her in Hyde Park had changed her. She was a different person, and she wouldn’t be so easily led by her father’s wishes again.
But putting those new and different feelings aside for the time being, Gabrielle said calmly and without emotion, “Don’t worry about me, Rosa, I know exactly what I will do.”
Four
It is better to suffer wrong than to do it.
—Samuel Johnson
Hell and damnation! Brent had called her name until he was hoarse. He couldn’t find the dog.
And to top that off, he’d come home to find a tersely scribbled note from the duke, ordering him to appear at the man’s house before dark. He would have liked to have responded with a terse note of his own, by saying, “When hell freezes over,” but he knew better than to be that disrespectful to a powerful duke.
When Brent woke that morning, there was no way he could have imagined the hellish day he’d have. He wiped the last traces of shaving soap off his face and neck with a cloth and looked at himself in the small mirror on his shaving bureau. No doubt the Duke of Windergreen would smile when he saw the angry-looking scratch beneath Brent’s eye, and his swollen bottom lip. Thankfully, the scratch didn’t look deep enough to leave a bad scar.
He dried beads of water from his chest, then walked over and grabbed his trousers off the bed, where Raymond had neatly laid out his clothing, and stepped into them.
Brent had spent all morning and half the afternoon scouring that damn park, looking for Prissy, after the duke, his daughter, and his henchmen had left him standing in the middle of the park with a torn coat, a smashed and ruined hat, and a body that was bruised and scraped. Not to mention he had been on foot for the entire search.
He’d decided against wasting time by going to his house to get a carriage or a horse to ride. But, if at the time he’d known how long he would be out there, he would have certainly gotten some kind of transportation. It was well into the afternoon before he realized he might have to leave the park without the aggravating little dog.
And it was all because of an enchanting lady who walked out of the mist and into his arms. He would dearly love to put his hands around the slender neck of the beautiful and very tempting Lady Gabrielle and scare the devil out of her cheating little heart. At just the thought of her, his lower body stirred reflexively, and Brent grunted a rueful laugh.