A Love Unbroken - Rose Pearson Page 0,26

grown all the more as he had realized what she had done, and since that moment, he had found himself thinking very well of her indeed. Certainly, she appeared to be a little quiet and reserved, and on some occasions, her conversation was a little lacking, but there was a heart of great compassion and consideration within her, he was sure of it. She was, he considered, the sort of young lady he wished might become a very close acquaintance of his sister, merely so that she might choose to behave a little better, but given that Lady Amelia and Lady Selina were of such different characters, he doubted such a thing would ever occur.

His thoughts drifted back towards the letter that Lady Selina had sent to him, wondering again at its urgency. What had she written that demanded his immediate attention? Sighing, he shook his head to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose as though to rid himself of an irritation. Whatever it was, he would find Lady Selina that very evening and apologize to her for his lack of time in reading the letter. No doubt she would be able to inform him of its contents this evening. Charles just had to hope he was not too late in learning of it.

“Have you seen Lady Selina this evening?” Lord Banfield’s eyebrows rose with such swiftness that Charles wanted to laugh aloud. “I seek her only to ask about a letter she sent to me,” he continued, before Banfield could even begin to exclaim over Charles’ request. “And not for any other reason, I assure you.”

The surprise and evident delight that had been beginning to spread across Banfield’s face immediately fell away.

“I see,” he muttered, as though he was a little disappointed. “And I thought that you were going to be in search of her for some other purpose!”

Charles grinned.

“I am very well aware of that,” he replied, as Banfield sighed heavily. “No, it is only that she wrote to me this afternoon – an urgent letter, by my butler’s account – and I did not have the opportunity to read it.”

“An urgent letter?” Banfield replied, now looking a little surprised. “And you have no knowledge of what might be contained within it?”

“None,” Charles replied, with a shake of his head. “I do feel a little embarrassed that I did not have time to read it, and wanted to speak to her this evening, not only to apologize, but to ask her what was contained within it.”

“I do not think that you will find her here this evening,” Banfield replied, with a small frown. “I did hear that Lady Hayward, her chaperone, had encountered something of an accident.”

A frown caught Charles’ brow.

“Oh?”

“It was at last evening’s ball,” Banfield explained. “I do not know the particulars, but I did hear Lord Aldridge say that he had been required to accompany Lady Selina to the carriage, where Lady Hayward was waiting. Apparently, some oaf had knocked into her – having been somewhat inebriated, I believe – and she stumbled and injured her ankle.”

“And therefore, you would not expect her to be present this evening,” Charles finished, a little frustrated. “Well, I can do nothing else but return home and read this letter, then!”

Banfield shrugged.

“I am sure that, had it been of great urgency, she would have written to you again, or called upon you in person,” he said, in a clear attempt to quieten Charles’ frustration. “You can read it the moment you return home from this evening.”

Nodding, Charles let out a long breath, passing one hand over his eyes.

“Indeed,” he agreed, heavily. “I confess I have had a good deal on my mind of late. My sister is, yet again –”

“Let me guess,” Banfield interrupted, with a small smile. “She has not done as you asked?”

Finding nothing to laugh about, Charles grimaced.

“My mother, at least, is being a good deal more supportive of my actions, but it seems that Amelia is refusing to do precisely as she is told.” He shook his head. “I believe that last evening, she stepped away from her companion in order to talk to another gentleman in private.”

Banfield frowned, the smile fading away.

“I see.”

“This evening, I fully expect her to stay directly by my mother’s side, however,” Charles continued, with a shake of his head. “She did attempt to defend her behavior last evening but I have warned her that there shall not be even a hint of impropriety this evening, else she