The Abandoned Lady

Chapter 3

'Lady Amelia, you have a visitor; a gentleman waiting in the study .' Lily, the servant announced. Amelia felt her back stiffen as she looked up from her novel. A visitor who was a gentleman? She only had one visitor, Miss Fury, her one and only best friend.

'Who is it?' Amelia asked quickly.

'I believe it is...Lord Pierce, future earl of Warrington. Gosh, he is the most gorgeous man ever. Sorry , my lady, I shouldn't have said that-'

'What?' Amelia burst out in shock. 'Please don't lie to me. Why would he visit me, me, a hideous wreck.'

Lily hesitated to find an answer. 'Probably...er-' Even, she did not have the answer. 

'Don't bother finding yourself an answer. Let us go downstairs girl and find out what he wants.' She heard Auntie Agatha bellow.

Amelia sighed heavily. She was going to be face to face with the most eligible bachelor of this season. She felt as though was going to faint due to her nervousness. She approached the door following her small Aunt as the servant opened it.  She felt like an huge ogre next to her Aunt.

'Ahh, The famous Lord Pierce. Do sit. What matter do you have to discuss with my niece? 'Auntie Agatha said before Lord Pierce could even stand up. 

Amelia didn't dare look up to see his beautiful face. Just his presence sent a shiver down her spine. Yes, she'll continue to stare at the floor rather than humiliate herself again in front of him.

Oscar cleared his throat and tugged his cravat. He had finally gained the courage to do this and here, after a glass of whisky, he was. Slightly warm and slightly fuzzy. 

'Lady Agatha, Lady Amelia. A pleasure to meet you.' studied her for a moment. He could see Lady Amelia turning beetroot red and the strange beetroot coloured dress didn't help matters either. The dress seemed too tight and looked as if it was suffocating her. Her fatness was even more apparent, with her chubby face and fleshy fingers, Imagine having to lie on top of her and... He shivered at the thought of even going there.

Oscar cleared his voice and said the words that would change his life forever.

'I want to ask your niece's hand in marriage.'

****

Amelia could not believe it, she was now officially a married woman! Lord Pierce had insisted that they marry 3 weeks after he had proposed. She had bagged the most handsome man in England and yet, she felt weary, uneasy and confused. Why had Lord Pierce been so eager to marry her when he hadn't even spoken 2 words to her since the proposal. Well, Amelia hadn't even said a word either, just a nod and 'yes/no' here and there. At the church, he had seemed ready to run and hesitated when saying 'I do.' Oh god, was it always going to be like this? Was there something going on that she wasn't realizing? Money? Amelia sighed. It had to be, why else would the gorgeous man marry her?

After several minutes of contemplation, she finally built up the courage to ask him a question that had been bothering her. She cleared her throat and took several breaths and looked outside the right hand side of the carriage windows as they were riding to Warrington House, her new home.

'Lord Pierce...Do you...do you believe in falling in love?' She exhaled deeply. She believed in love even though she had never witnessed such herself, but her Uncle's love for her Aunt showed her that love did exist. It had to. But falling in love,  She had seen plenty of women getting married in the past with the same blissful and...love struck expression on their faces. Yes, she truly believed in it, maybe more time was needed.

 After a moments of silence she looked at her husband who sat on the opposite her but on the left hand side, only to see him with  his eyes closed. Oh Lord, she felt so annoyed with herself, she should have looked at him before worrying herself to death about asking the question. Amelia sat back on the seat and relaxed, this was going to be a lonely, long ride.

The funniest thing was Oscar had heard her question and felt like laughing. How could she have asked such a ridiculous question! Of course he didn't believe in love. It didn't exist it was only an illusion. He was going to break the ice to Amelia, but not now and he went back into his day dreaming.

The carriage finally came to a  halt. Oscar immediately got up to see Amelia still staring out the window.

'Falling in love is only a foolish illusion...let us  get one thing straight, I swear to you that it impossible for me to fall in love...especially when it comes to a woman- like you. So, get rid of any hope of such a futile wish.'' Saying that, Oscar leaped out the carriage and into the home he had left 4 years ago. It looked wonderful from the outside, but the same couldn't be said for the inside as it was run down and in need of desperate repair: A reflection of himself in many ways.