Chapter Thirty

“There’s a gentleman here to see you, my lady,” Billings said from the doorway of the parlor, interrupting Maddy’s private reverie.

She put down the piece of needlework she’d been holding for the last twenty minutes and straightened in her seat, her heart jolting. Perhaps Jamie had finally returned from London, Maddy thought, her heart lurching. “Who is it, Billings?” she asked evenly.

“A Lord Blakely, my lady. Shall I show him in?” Billings asked.

Maddy swallowed her pang of disappointment and nodded. “Yes, please do.”

A few moments later, Billings ushered Lord Blakely into the parlor, and Maddy stood, bobbing a curtsy in return to Lord Blakely’s bow as Billings closed the door behind them.

“My lady, you look lovely this afternoon,” Lord Blakely said, crossing the room to kiss her hand.

“Thank you, my lord,” Maddy said with an easy smile, gesturing for him to take a seat. “You look dashing, as always,” she said, returning the favor.

Lord Blakely flicked back his coat and sat easily beside her on the chaise. “I enjoyed seeing you all at the Pump Room last night. It’s so nice to have friendly faces in the midst of all that madness.”

“The Marriage Mart madness, my lord?” Maddy asked teasingly. “I noticed quite a few of the ladies turning their attention to you last night.”

Lord Blakely sighed slightly. “Makes me feel a bit like a side of beef,” he confessed conspiratorially, and Maddy laughed.

“I would think that flattering, my lord,” Maddy said with a grin. “Better that than to be sized up as nothing but stew meat and cast aside.”

Lord Blakely laughed. “True enough,” he said, glancing around the parlor. “Is your brother not at home today?”

“No, he and Lady Rivenhall have gone for a carriage ride,” Maddy said, not even trying to hide her glee at the newest development. After their getting of ‘fresh air’ last night, Fitz and Rose had returned, both flushed and smiling, and had spent the rest of the night as only each other’s dance partners, much to Maddy’s delight. Though Maddy hadn’t had a chance to speak further to Rose, as they were leaving, Rose had squeezed her hands tightly, kissed her cheek, and whispered, “Oh Maddy, thank you. I’m so very, very happy! I wish everyone could feel how I feel right now!”

Which Maddy took to me a very good sign indeed. And then, when Fitz had come down earlier today, he had asked Maddy for help in tying his cravat, aggravated that it didn’t look exactly perfect, his hands shaking slightly as he fought with it. When Maddy had inquired who he was trying to impress, he’d smiled broadly and said nothing.

Until he had called for the carriage so that he and Miss Rivenhall might take a ride through town.

Maddy had wanted to dance in joy at that, and shooed him out of the house, not wanting him to be late for his engagement with what she hoped would very soon be her new sister-in-law.

Lord Blakely raised one eyebrow upon hearing Fitz and Rose were out together, without an escort. “Is there a connection there? I’d often wondered at Rotherham House if they were fond of each other, from the way they interacted, but both were so shy about admitting it to the other, I wasn’t sure…”

“I think they received a bit of a push from an outside source, and now things are just as they should be,” Maddy said smugly, and Lord Blakely laughed.

“An ‘outside source’, you say?” He grinned. “You wouldn’t be playing the role of match maker in this little scenario, would you?”

“I admit nothing,” Maddy said, smiling.

Lord Blakely cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “In that case, I was hoping you might take on another match making effort.”

Maddy grinned. “My services may be available. Who are you interested in being matched with, my lord?”

Lord Blakely watched her for a long moment, and then spoke. “You, my lady.”

Maddy’s eyes widened, and she sat back in her seat uncomfortably. “I… my lord, I…”

“You must know that I’ve most enjoyed your company, and find you a lovely partner – in all things. Conversation, dancing, and I hope, our lives. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

Maddy bit her lip, suddenly torn at his sweet, charming proposal. Though Rose and Fitz had told her of Lord Blakely’s affections, she hadn’t truly believed it, and now here he was, proposing a marriage between them.

Fitz’s words echoed in her head – that Lord Blakely was a better match, that she had to do what was best for the family, and just as quickly, she heard Jamie’s voice flitting through her mind as he told her he loved her, again and again, as they made love.

“I…” Maddy cleared her throat. “My lord, you do me great honor with your proposal,” she said, stalling for time.

Lord Blakely gave her a small, shy smile. “But?”

Maddy looked down at her hands, upset with herself at having to let down this perfectly decent, perfectly handsome, perfectly nice man, but she knew with every fiber of her being that she had to follow her heart.
Never again would she do anything less.

“But…” Maddy repeated softly. “Lord Blakely, you are truly one of the best men I have ever been acquainted with. I have so enjoyed our time getting to know each other, and I know in my heart that you deserve to be happy. But equally so, I have vowed that I will be happy as well. Having said that, it wouldn’t be fair to you to accept your proposal – though it does me great honor – when my heart belongs to another. I don’t say this to hurt you, but because I think you deserve, and expect, honesty. I truly like and respect you, my lord, but my feelings… my feelings do not match yours, though it pains me to admit it. Truly, it does.”

Lord Blakely nodded slowly, absorbing her speech. “It’s Carrington, isn’t it?” he asked softly, and Maddy wanted to sob at the tenderness of his acceptance of her feelings for another.

“It is,” she whispered. “I cannot help who I…”

“One cannot help who they love,” Lord Blakely finished for her. “And judging from what I saw at the house party, he is truly enamored with you as well. But I wouldn’t be able to respect myself if I didn’t try to win you hand. You are a truly remarkable lady, and I have enjoyed every minute we have spent together.”

A tear spilled down Maddy’s cheek and she whisked it away impatiently. “I don’t deserve such honor and affection from you, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you, because I truly do like you, my lord, but our hearts simply don’t listen to our heads, do they?”

“Indeed not,” Lord Blakely said, taking her hand in his. “Please, don’t distress yourself. As I said, I had to try, but I respect anyone willing to trust their hearts rather than their heads. There’s not enough of that in society today, is there?”

She shook her head slowly. “But, Lord Blakely, I promise… I will do everything to find you a good and happy wife. I’ve already had some match making success…”

Lord Blakely laughed good naturedly. “Good enough. Find me a good wife, and perhaps I’ll forgive you for breaking my heart.”

Maddy looked up at him, aghast, then saw the teasing glint in his eye, and relaxed. “I’ll do my best, my lord, I promise. One perfect wife, coming up.”

A few minutes later, Lord Blakely stood and bowed to her respectfully and she curtsied in return, and with another sweet kiss on her hand, took his leave of her with a tender smile. Billings saw him out, and Maddy sank back down onto the chaise, her head swirling with what had just transpired.

It had been an interesting day indeed, she thought, suddenly exhausted.


Though she knew Fitz would be angry to know she had turned down a proposal from what he (and Rose as well) considered a perfect match for her, she knew she had made the right decision.

After her first disastrous marriage, she would never compromise her heart again – that she had promised herself with steely resolve.

And her heart lay with Jamie – her warn torn, teasing, tender lover who trusted her with his secrets – and his passion.

She thought again of their lovemaking, of the way he made her feel with just one look, and knew without a doubt she had made the right decision.

Now, she just had to deal with the consequences of it – something she was more than willing to do for love.

She just wished she had reassurance from Jamie in London that she had made the right decision – for both of them. She hadn’t heard from him once, and thought she trusted him implicitly, it was hard not hearing from him even once since their parting.

Picking up her needlework again, Maddy struggled to concentrate on the threads in front of her, when all she could think of were the threads binding her and Jamie together.

Hopefully forever.


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