Love & Reputation (HC #3.5)

10: Love Story

Cordelia's question was polite instruction, but no one seemed to mind.

Jemima rose to her feet, coaxing her younger daughter into her own arms and offering her comforting pats on the back. She smiled kindly at Rosemary, and as she passed Cordelia they took each other by the hand briefly.

In the same moment, Greer linked her arm through Rose's. "Well, thankfully I am staying here for the house party, so I don't need to make some poor excuse for why I'll be lingering." She squeezed her gently. "When you would like to talk, I'll be here."

And with that she departed as well, patting Victoria on the shoulder on the cusp of the room. It may have been a comforting gesture, or perhaps an attempt to encourage the distraught girl through the doorway, either way the door swung closed behind them after a moment, leaving Cordelia and Rosemary alone in the sitting room.

And Rosemary was nervous.

It had been a long time since she had been scolded by Mrs Cordelia Kilroy – she thought the last time may have involved muddy boots on an expensive rug, Alex's fault of course – but when a woman you admired so much gave you a talking to, you took it to heart no matter how old you were. And when rumours were circulating that you and that woman's son had been caught in an 'intimate position', you were fairly deserving of the scolding.

"I am so sorry, Aunt Delia," she said quickly when she saw the woman's mouth twitch. "Alex and I are friends, and nothing untoward happened, I assure you, but we are adults and we should know better than to be alone without a chaperone."

Cordelia smiled at her, her long lashes brushing her cheeks are she blinked. "Would you have welcomed it? If something untoward had happened?"

Rose choked on air. "What?"

She had to have misheard. But if she hadn't, Cordelia might expect an answer to the question, which was mortifying. Unbidden, her thoughts returned to the library, to his dark eyes looking down at her in the darkness and the way she'd felt his breath hitch when she'd licked her lips. That had been a mistake. The whole thing had been a mistake! She and Alexander had been friends their whole lives – practically related through their connection with the Humphreys – and there had never been anything more between them.

She thought of his hands on her waist by the stables, and their easy conversation, and the way he asked her serious questions and expected serious questions.

Had there?

No, that was friendship!

She thought of his hand cupping her cheek and the warmth that spread between them.

Was that friendship?

She might have groaned aloud, but thankfully Cordelia had already started talking.

"When I first met James, my first thoughts were far from marriage. I thought him kind, and hard-working, and I valued his input on my late husband's estate. He was a steward, doing his job, and I was a widow raising two sons."

Rose blinked. She was lost and unsure why she was being told this story, but also curious. Uncle James had been a fixture in her family for years before she was born, and she had never been told the story of how they had met.

"And then over time respect turned to friendship, friendship to affection, and affection to love." She shrugged lightly, her gaze locked loosely over Rose's shoulder and glossy as she waded through her memories. "And then I asked him to leave."

"What?" Rose slapped a hand over her mouth, startling herself with question.

Aunt Delia grinned at her, her brow waggling slightly. "I did! I knew that if he stayed he would ask me to marry him, and that if he asked I would say yes, but beyond that..." Another shrug. "What would it do to my boys? James was a gentleman, but he was untitled and a steward. What would society say if they were raised by him? And what would happen to the memory of my first husband?" Her hand snaked out to his gently on top of Rose's. "I did not have the privilege of a love match with Gregory, but he was a decent man. I did not want Lucas or Peter growing up without any knowledge of him. So I told James to leave."