Page 46 of Vying for a Viscount
Letitia reached forward and touched her hand. “I know you weren’t. Why would anyone feign such an injury? Not with all the exhilarating functions to attend.”
“That’s what I told Mother.” She lowered her voice. “May I ask you a personal question I’ve always wondered about?”
“You may ask. I may answer or not.” Oh dear, when someone wanted to ask a personal question, it was never a good sign from her experience.
“I understand you were married to Lord Rutherford, and he was my father’s closest friend. Why did we never meet? Why did you never accompany him when he visited? I never believed him when he said you were sickly, especially when his cousin accompanied him. He didn’t treat her as one would a cousin.”
Letitia wanted to turn and look at Rose to see if she’d heard Samantha, but she chose not to. It wouldn’t change the facts. Tears burned in her eyes, and she refused to shed them. Rutherford told people she was sickly? How could he? And to flaunt his mistress in public, passing her off as his cousin? His deception knew no bounds.
“The truth is,” Letitia whispered, “I don’t know.”
Now it was Samantha’s turn to comfort her by touching her hand. “I’m sorry. I heard from my mother that Viscount Greyson is courting you. Is it true?”
Heat kissed her cheeks. “Yes.”
“Mother had hoped for a match between him and me last Season, but he wasn’t interested.” She exhaled. “I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy.”
Letitia leaned forward and murmured, “Is there a young gentleman who’s caught your eye?”
By the blush staining her cheeks, she had her answer. Just not the who.
Samantha leaned forward, and they were very close. “There is. He sends me letters because, like me, he is shy. He is actually here today. I don’t think Mother knows about the letters, but I could be wrong. It could be why he received an invitation for today.”
“Do I know him?” Letitia asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head.
“If you trust me, whisper his name in my ear.”
And she whispered his name. “Lord Bradley.”
“Ahh.” Letitia had never been formally introduced, but she recognized his name fromDebrett’sand remembered he was worth a gooddeal of money, owned several estates, and had a townhouse in Mayfair. She was shocked; she remembered all that. “Have you spoken in person?”
“Once, when we were introduced. After I twisted my ankle, he wrote me long letters. He writes beautiful poetry. He’s sitting a few blankets over by himself. He has red hair and is wearing a blue jacket.”
She found him. He was hard to miss. “He’s sitting alone. Why don’t we join him?” Letitia suggested. Samantha’s cheeks were no longer pink, but stark white. “It was just an idea,” she quickly added.
It was then that Letitia noticed Lady Rose was no longer sitting with them. She glanced around for her, which was hard while sitting down, since many guests were standing around. She didn’t see Lady Rose, but she did see Lord Bradley, strolling very slowly toward them. His complexion was pale with freckles. If memory served her fromDebrett’s, he was twenty-five. However, he looked like a sixteen-year-old lad. She felt sorry for him. It must be hard to be taken seriously when one looked so young and was shy. “Don’t look now, but he is almost upon us.”
“Who?” Samantha asked, looking ready to cast up her accounts.
“Breathe. This is what you want. He is who you want.”
“Excuse me,” Lord Bradley said in a deep voice. Letitia was shocked that it came from him.
Samantha turned her head and looked up at him. “Lord Bradley.”
He bowed stiffly. “Lady Samantha, would you care to take a stroll around the room?” He held out his hands.
Perhaps he wasn’t as shy as Samantha believed.
Without even turning around to say goodbye to her, Samantha said, “Yes.” She took both his hands as he helped her rise to her feet. She turned back as she walked arm in arm with Lord Bradley, looked right at her, and smiled.
A few moments later, she heard, “I didn’t believe Aurora when she said you were here. And you’re sitting alone.” Anastasia’s voice camefrom above.
“Please help me.”
Anastasia reached down. Letitia joined hands with hers and was tugged up to stand on legs that had turned numb from her awkward position on the quilt.
