The Wedding Game(65)

‘If it has made you happy, then I am happy,’ she said. She loved him. And she had learned from loving Belle that sometimes love meant you wanted the best for your beloved, even if it destroyed your own dreams.

They were at the door now. Only a few more steps until he allowed her to walk away. He paused and she held her breath, waiting for the word that would make her stay.

Instead, he said nothing, and looked both ways to make sure they were not seen before he leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead in a way that was more brotherly than passionate. ‘We will see each other soon. Until then, thank you.’ He pressed her hand with his to emphasise the depths of his emotion. And then he waited for her to pass through the door so he could close it behind her.





Chapter Twenty-Four

It was another painfully ordinary afternoon in the Summoner home, but with a few major changes. Belle Templeton was visiting her sister and had settled in her usual seat beside the window to make a hash of a lace-trimmed pillow slip. Amy was in her usual seat on the opposite side of the window, ready to rip out the stitches again when it all went horribly wrong.

‘I like sewing now,’ Belle said with a ladylike nod.

‘You do?’ Amy looked up in surprise.

‘It is a thing that married ladies should like to do,’ Belle said. ‘So I like it now.’ She handed the project to Amy for inspection.

Marriage had not improved her technique in the least. But at least she enjoyed the attempt more than she had in the past. Amy gave her a nod of approval. ‘You are trying very hard to be a good wife, aren’t you?’

‘Guy says I am doing a wonderful job.’ Belle leaned forward and whispered, ‘There are things that married ladies do that are much easier than sewing and much more fun.’

‘That’s nice,’ said Amy, faintly. ‘But I am sure your husband would not want you talking about them.’

‘He said I was not to tell you about that time in Vauxhall Gardens,’ she said. ‘But I am sure, now that I am married it is all right.’

Amy blinked in shock and focused on the needlework in her lap like the proper spinster she’d always claimed she wanted to be. At the back of her mind, she must have known that one day, Belle would outstrip her in knowledge of some subject. Since Belle was to be the one to marry, it was only logical that it would be this one.

There was something deeply consoling about needlework. If one did not care about the results, one did not even have to think while doing the task. At some point, she would look back on today’s stitching and notice the unevenness of it. Then she could pull it out and do it again.

But it was no longer necessary to care so much about her work, or Belle’s. From the besotted look on Mr Templeton’s face when he came to collect her after her visits with Amy, the last thing in the world he cared about was whether his wife could stitch a straight seam.

When she had hinted to him about Belle’s need for assistance in the running of the house, he had politely but firmly refused her offer of help. Worse yet, Belle, who had been so dependent on her before, showed no interest in opening her home to Amelia the spinster. Apparently, the happy couple had not forgotten her efforts to keep them apart and no longer required her assistance.

Her sister was happy. That was what she’d wanted, all along. But she had never imagined a future where her own life had passed by unlived while she managed Belle’s. And now, without her quiet sister in it, the house was emptier than she could have imagined.

When she glanced up from her work to check on her sister, Belle was staring back at her. ‘Are you sad?’ She put aside her work basket and leaned forward to lay a hand on Amy’s cheek.

Amy forced a smile. ‘Do not worry yourself. I am fine.’ Belle was happy. She reminded herself of that fact several times a day. She had always told herself that this would be enough. And now to pretend that it was so made her throat tighten.

‘Do you want to come with Mary and me to pick curtains for my new house? I think I like blue. Guy says I can have any colour I want.’

‘But not white,’ Amy said, smiling. ‘You are very lucky to have found a man as good to you as Guy.’ Then she paused, repeating her sister’s last words in her mind. ‘Who is Mary?’

‘Mary is my new friend. Mr Lovell says she is coming to live with us and help me with the things I do not know about running a house and being a wife. That way, you do not have to.’

‘But...’ She wanted to live with Belle. It was not a burden. And what else was she to do?

Belle’s smile had not dimmed. ‘I like Mary. She is very nice.’

‘You’ve met her?’

Belle nodded happily. ‘She likes me, too.’

She had been replaced. Amy took a moment to control her temper before speaking. There was no point in being angry with Belle. She could not have known what the news would mean, if Amy had not known it herself until just that moment. ‘Of course she likes you,’ she said, not losing the smile. ‘And I am glad you are happy. Truly, I am.’

‘At first, when you said I had to get married and leave home, I was frightened,’ Belle said. ‘But it is very nice. I like being married. You should do it, too.’

Amy swallowed until she could breathe around the lump in her throat. She had not seen Ben at all since the day she had brought his mother to him. It had been almost a week and there had been no visit, no letter, nor any sign of him at the parties she’d attended. If he felt any of the things he’d claimed to, what had become of him?