Page 6 of The Way We Were

Chapter Three

Lucy opened up her eyes the next morning as the sun filtered through the curtains. The open windows let in the smell of the sea, and she inhaled deeply. She felt groggy and still tired after a restless night, her memory full of her unhappy reunion with Reggie.

She’d worried that it would be difficult to see him again, his eyes so like Anna’s. Some days her grief for the loss of her child would lie slumbering, never gone, but manageable. Other days she would cry as if the loss had just happened again, as if she might never be able to stop crying.

Tears leaked from her eyes into the pillow, and she covered her mouth against a sob. No, she could not lose control, not when Reggie was so close. She didn’t want him to hear, didn’t want him to comfort her, didn’t want to remember how loved he once made her feel.

Even as she got the worst of her sobs under control, she knew that the ache of losing her precious child would never go away. And since she hadn’t become pregnant again, perhaps Anna might have been the only child she’d carry within her body, close to her heart.

She sat up and swung her legs to the floor, sliding her arms into her light dressing gown. After using a handkerchief to dry her face and blow her nose, she crossed to the window and slid aside the curtain. Blue water, glittering under sunlight, the waves capped in white before lapping at the shore. People strolled along the beach, and she imagined how calming that would be.

But Reggie would insist on accompanying her, abolishing any sense of peace. And much as she was disappointed in him, furious at his thoughtlessness, suspicious over his behavior with Miss Fournier, what she hadn’t counted on was her heart reminding her of the attraction between them that hadn’t gone away. It had been so easy to forget in her grief and disappointment, but being in his presence, with his warm gaze upon her, reminded her of how overpowering her emotions had been from the moment they’d met.

To push aside her conflicting feelings, Lucy focused on Miss Fournier. She didn’t know if Reggie was telling the truth—and that saddened her. Or perhaps Miss Fournier wasn’t telling Reggie the entire truth. Was the woman using him to get what she wanted? Much as Lucy wished she could ignore the situation, she’d come to Brighton to face it. And that meant facing Miss Fournier.

Hearing no movement in the suite, Lucy emerged into the sitting room cautiously. All she found was a note on the table from Reggie, saying that he was at headquarters, but would return to join her for luncheon. He mentioned having the hotel send up a maid, and as if on cue, someone knocked on the door.

After Lucy was dressed with the maid’s help, she had the young woman deliver a note to Miss Fournier, inviting her to breakfast. At first, she considered having her come to the suite but then decided on a more public setting to keep any emotions from erupting. Whether hers or Miss Fournier’s, she didn’t know.

Miss Fournier met her in the lobby, and her eyes lit as if Lucy was an old friend. That in itself was suspicious.

Or maybe the woman simply liked meeting new people. Lucy had to somehow keep an open mind if she was ever going to discover the truth.

Miss Fournier stretched out her hand in greeting, lovely smile wide with happiness. “Good morning, Mrs. Lawton!” she called.

Lucy reluctantly allowed the contact, then released the other woman’s hand. “And a good morning to you, Miss Fournier.”

“You will think I am too forward, but I feel like I know you already. Your husband says so many wonderful things about you.”

Lucy arched a brow and managed a perfunctory smile. “Shall we head into the dining room?”

Miss Fournier nodded then gestured for Lucy to precede her. Once they were seated and had placed their orders with the waiter, Lucy and Miss Fournier looked at each other in awkward silence.

And then Miss Fournier started speaking a bit too rapidly, with a touch of vivaciousness that grated on Lucy and made her feel far older than the other woman, although there probably wasn’t more than five or six years’ difference. Miss Fournier spoke about the trip, the squall that had frightened her as they crossed the Mediterranean, Reggie’s kindness in loaning her a book when she’d finished hers, and the way he tried to keep up her spirits when she felt low.

“And now here I am, having at last set foot on English soil. I feel truly an Englishwoman for the first time.”

Lucy frowned. “You’ve never been here before?”

“I was born here, but then my parents traveled to India before I was a year old for my father’s assignment.”

“You must have no memories of England. Does it seem like what you expected so far?”

“It is noticeably cooler, even in the summer, which I appreciate, considering the fashions we women must wear.”

Lucy found her lip twitching in a smile before she controlled herself. “No accommodations were made in India for the heat?”

“Not for Englishwomen, especially one whose father constantly reminded her that her future was in England.”

“Did you want that?” Lucy found herself asking.

“I was never sure growing up. I didn’t want to be parted from my father after my mother died five years ago. But now that he, too, is gone, I found that leaving seemed better than staying. I had friends but not family. Here in England, there are cousins whom I’d like to know better.”

“I am sorry to hear about your father. Captain Lawton often commented on how much he admired him.”

Miss Fournier’s smile turned wistful. “He was a good man, stern but generous. I always thought him fair until…” Her voice trailed off, and she seemed to blink overly much. “I am chattering on in quite a familiar fashion. It’s been so long since I’ve spoken with a gentlewoman.”

“I asked questions. Perhaps it is I who is too forthright. But after what my husband told me about you, my curiosity has overruled my manners.”