A Timeless Romance Anthology: European Collection (21 page)

“Oh, good heavens,” Reed muttered, beginning to understand what his father-in-law was hinting at.

“You are to be subjected to at-homes and requesting permission to dance at balls and visits to the family box at the opera. And I have been instructed to make it difficult for you.” Mr. Harrison’s look of empathy clearly indicated he would do nothing of the sort. “Never tell your wife that you’re not required to court her unless you are fully prepared to do so.”

Reed shook his head in disbelief. “Where in the world did this come from? Lucy didn’t seem upset last night.”

Charles and Robert exchanged knowing looks. Reed eyed them both. Charles took pity on him and explained.

“Considering the number of social functions we have not seen you at this Season, I am certain Lucy has been stewing over this for some time. She might not have seemed upset last night, but I can guarantee she was.”

Robert nodded. “And since all of our wives have, at one time or another, been upset with us over our disinterest in squiring them about, Lucy has found an entire house full of sympathizers.”

“I will have to go through with this, then?” Reed slumped lower in his seat. This Season was supposed to have been simple and easy.

“
Yes
.” Mr. Harrison pulled the single syllable out long. Spoken in that way, his yes sounded far more like “in a manner of speaking.”

Reed’s companions looked at him pointedly, their expressions growing instantly conspiratorially.

He leaned forward. “What do you have in mind?”

Chapter Four

Lucy sat in her parents’ drawing room, chatting amicably with many visitors, as she had the previous two Seasons. And, as she had the year before, she found herself watching the door, hoping each new arrival was her Reed. A flutter of anticipation seized her with the very first visitor and only grew as time passed.

I have missed this.

Though last Season, not knowing if he would visit or dance with her, or invite her to ride out with him had been a source of worry, every time he had come by or had spoken to her or sent her flowers, she’d known with absolute certainty that he cared about her. She’d known he thought her worth the effort.
That
was what she’d missed— the little things that said he valued her.

Their at-home hours were nearly gone. Lucy caught her mother’s eye, silently asking the question on her mind.
Where is Reed?

Mother’s eyes softened, and she gave a quick nod of reassurance. She had insisted, along with Lucy’s sister and sister-in-law, that Reed would most certainly come call on her. Husbands grew lonely for their wives, they said. Having not seen her in a day and a half, Reed would realize how much he enjoyed her company and would do whatever he must to see her.

That was the crux of their plan, at least. Reed took her for granted. Requiring him to make even a minimal effort would show him how fortunate he was to have her as his wife. Perhaps he would decide that dancing with her and accompanying her to Society functions were not such chores after all.

Only a moment more passed, and there he stood. Reed greeted Mother first, as was proper, she being the hostess of this at-home. He smiled and nodded at the others in the room, a quick and unexceptional means of acknowledging everyone without taking time to do so individually.

Which will mean more time for the two of us to converse.

Reed took the empty chair nearest her. She kept her eyes trained on him, her smile feeling more natural by the moment. He was here. He had come.

His eyes met hers. She held her breath, excitedly anticipating the twinkle of mischief she’d so often seen there. But his gaze was little more than polite.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Stanthorpe,” he said, his voice low enough to not be overheard by those conversing with her mother and sister. “Fine weather we are having.”

Mrs. Stanthorpe?
They had on occasion resorted to formal address with each other when in public, especially amongst the older set, who were quite particular about that. But it was decidedly odd for him to not call her by her Christian name in her own parents’ house, when they were the only two taking part in the conversation.

And had his first words to her after more than a day apart truly been a comment on the weather?

“Yes,” she managed to reply. “It has been very dry.”

Reed wore the same smile as when he’d first stepped inside. There was nothing particularly personal in it. “I understand the Hombolts’ ball is this evening.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “It is indeed.” She didn’t entirely manage to keep the eagerness from her voice. “Are you planning to attend?”

He shrugged a bit as he reached for a cucumber sandwich. “It will, no doubt, be a terrible crush. Any gentleman with a modicum of sense will stay home.”

“Oh.” What could she say beyond that? He didn’t mean to attend. Perhaps he thought she wasn’t attending. That would certainly explain it. “I am quite looking forward to the Hombolts’ ball.”

He made a vague sound of acknowledgement. “This cucumber sandwich is excellent.” Reed turned his attention to Mother. “An exceptional sandwich, Mrs. Harrison.”

“Why, thank you.” Mother’s eyes darted to Lucy, a look of triumph in her eyes. Did she honestly think Reed’s complement of her tea offerings was a sign of success?

“Well, ladies.” Reed stood and took in the room with a quick sweep of his gaze. “It has been a pleasure visiting with you all.”

And with that, he left. Two days apart, and Reed visited with her only for two minutes and spoke only of the weather and cucumber sandwiches. What an utter disappointment.

She rose from her chair. “If you will excuse me, Mother,” she said quickly, and left the drawing room with as much dignity as she could summon.

The moment she reached the corridor, she took up a brisk pace, rushing up the stairs to her bedchamber. She hurried to her window, drew back the curtains, and looked down at the street below. Reed walked from the house at a leisurely pace, swinging his walking stick as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

She pressed her open hand to the glass, watching him leave her behind without a single backward glance. “Haven’t you missed me at all?” she whispered.

“I am not convinced this is a wise course of action.” Reed resisted his brother-in-law’s efforts to nudge him into the Hombolts’ ballroom.

“Nonsense,” Robert insisted. “Everything is working perfectly.”

Perfectly?
If everything was so perfect, why was he keeping company with his brother-in-law instead of his wife? Reed considered that a significant step in the wrong direction.

“Stick with the plan, Reed,” Robert said. “You’ll not only settle your current contretemps, but you’ll save yourself a great deal of misery down the road.” Robert gave him a significant look. “You’re a married man now. If you don’t put your foot down, you’ll soon become extremely well-acquainted with misery.”

“That is a fine thing to say about your own sister.”

“You are the one who married her and turned her into a
wife
. She was a fine, sensible sort of lady before that.” Robert gave him one final nudge, forcing him into the ballroom. “Time to face down the dragon.”

Reed straightened the cuffs of his jacket. “First she’s a wife, and now she’s a dragon. How much worse can this get?”

“Your mother-in-law is approaching,” Robert answered.

“So quite a bit worse.” He shot Robert a grin.

Robert laughed as they walked around the edge of the ballroom. “Mother isn’t so terrible as some.”

True. He was exceptionally fond of Lucy’s family, even if its ladies were currently making life difficult for him.

“Mrs. Harris,” he said. “It is indeed a pleasure to see you again.”

She smiled. “I know the look of a suitor when I see one. I daresay you’ve come to ask permission to dance with our Lucy.”

Robert pierced him with a significant look. Reed gave a subtle nod. He knew his part. “I am promised already for the next several dances,” he said. “But should I have dance free before I quit the ball, I will be certain to seek your daughter out.”

Mrs. Harris’s eyes pulled wide with shock. Reed offered a very appropriate bow and took leave of his mother-in-law. He glanced back only briefly. Robert, who still stood by his mother, gave him a firm nod of approval. Their plan was moving along nicely.

Why, then, do I feel so utterly dissatisfied?

He saw her in the next moment— his Lucy. She stood amongst a group of her friends, chatting away. Even from a distance, he could see the sparkle in her eyes. The first time he ever saw Lucy was at a ball, like this one. She’d been standing, as now. At first he’d taken only a passing notice of her. But then she’d smiled, and Reed hadn’t been able to look away.

He hadn’t managed to summon the courage to pay her court until the start of the next Season. Fortunately, he’d not turned coward then. He’d asked her to dance, and she’d agreed. At the end of that Season, he’d asked her to marry him, and she’d agreed.

What went wrong?
Why has
this
Season been so miserably disastrous?

She hadn’t been satisfied with his company any longer. Every evening, it was the same complaint— she didn’t want to be at home with him. She wished to be out with Society and her friends.

Mr. Harrison appeared at his side unannounced, “You’re not turning lily-livered on us, are you?”

“Not lily-livered. I only—” His eyes returned to Lucy. “I was only wishing things were different between Lucy and me.”

“They will be, my boy.” Mr. Harrison slapped a firm hand on his shoulder. “Your marriage’ll be happy and loving again, just as soon as you’ve ignored your wife properly.”

“I am beginning to suspect, Mr. Harrison, that your entire family is a bit touched in the upper works.”

“Nothing mad about it, Reed. It’s a fine plan.”

He was attending a ball, something he generally did his utmost to avoid, and his wife, whom he’d not really seen in two days, was there. This “fine” plan required him to not dance with her— indeed, to not even talk to her. That seemed a little daft.

But he had only been married a few months. His father-in-law and brothers-in-law had more than forty-five years of marriage experience between them. They understood the issues better than he did. And if their plan worked, and he and Lucy could have the happy and contented stay in Town he’d anticipated, the entire ordeal would be worth it.

That was what he told himself as he tore his gaze from Lucy and walked away.

Chapter Five

Lucy’s patience was nearly spent. She had sat through four nights of Society functions waiting for Reed to rush to her side and declare he couldn’t bear to be away from her another moment. She had even seen him at most of the gatherings, but he never said so much as a word to her. He smiled and made friendly conversation with any number of people then left without ever noticing her.

She stepped into her parents’ sitting room, where her mother and sister-in-law Amelia bent over their needlework, discussing someone’s choice of gown the evening before.

“This is not working,” Lucy declared with all the authority a youngest child could manage.

“Nonsense, dear,” Mother said. “Our embroidery is coming along nicely.”

“Not the embroidery.” Surely her family had noticed her dilemma. “This plan we’ve concocted to remind Reed how lonely and miserable he was as a bachelor so he’ll come running back to me and declare he’ll never neglect me again.
That
is not working.”

Mother looked at her over her needlepoint. “Why in heaven’s name do you think that?”

Lucy looked from one of them to the other. Surely they weren’t so blind as to have not noticed the lack of results their scheme had produced.

“Reed is living as a bachelor and couldn’t be more pleased about it,” she explained. “I have never seen him look happier at a ball or musicale as I have this past few nights. He pokes his head in, chats amicably with a few people here and there then gladly leaves with his cronies, no doubt to spend the night at their club. He’s gleeful.”

Mother and Amelia exchanged knowing looks.

“Clarissa said Lucy’s determination was flagging,” Amelia told Mother.

As Clarissa was not currently present, Lucy could only assume her “determination” had been a previous topic of discussion among them.

“This is not a question of determination,” Lucy insisted. “I miss my husband. I miss seeing him each day and talking to him. That isn’t a bad thing. I love him enough to have married him, after all. Wishing he were with me is to be expected.”

“Of course it is,” Mother said, but she didn’t sound as if she actually agreed.

“He may not like to attend balls and soirees and such, or perhaps he doesn’t like attending them with me— he has, after all, made more appearances at social events these past few days than in the weeks prior— but I would rather have his company quietly at home or doing something he enjoys than to not have it at all.”

Amelia gave her a commiserating look. “And are you prepared to make that sacrifice every day for the rest of your life? You would be telling him that his preferences are the only consideration in your marriage.”