The Footman and I - Valerie Bowman Page 0,81

year ago. Lucas was merely carrying out his wishes.”

Frances stared at him. Was that true? She searched her memory for the bits of gossip she’d heard about Lord Kendall. Yes, his brother had died. But she hadn’t been out in Society then and hadn’t known much about the man. The only Lord Kendall she’d known of was the current one and he had always been linked to the Employment Bill. But it stood to reason that the bill had been around before Lucas had taken up the earldom.

“The truth is,” Lord Bellingham continued, “you’re the one who was able to show him how wrong he’d been about the law, Miss Wharton.”

The man could have knocked her over with a piece of parchment. “Did he tell you that?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, but if there’s one thing I know it’s that the world is not black and white. There are many shades of gray, Miss Wharton, and if you had let Kendall explain why he did something as seemingly insane as pretend to be a footman at a house party, you just might begin to see the gray.”

She furrowed her brow. Now the man was speaking in riddles. “What gray?”

“Kendall wanted to find a lady who was kind to servants, who thought about others, and who loved him for himself. He found that in you.”

“He didn’t have to lie to me.”

“No, but think about what happened from his perspective. He only intended to serve dinner. To see which young ladies he might want to meet later. He never expected a young lady to catch his attention so thoroughly by asking him to look out into the hall for her. Then he saw her again the next day while trying to do his chores in the library. They struck up a conversation and he began to look forward to talking to the young lady.”

Frances shook her head. Tears blurred her vision.

“He began to realize he’d found the young lady he was looking for,” Lord Bellingham continued. “Only how exactly does one admit that one has been pretending to be a footman?”

Frances sat blinking at the marquess for several seconds. Before Lord Bellingham had entered this room, she would have told anyone who’d listen that she wouldn’t forgive Lord Kendall until her dying breath, but now she was actually beginning to question herself. “You’re confusing me, Lord Bellingham. I can no longer decide if I’m right or if I’m being petty and merciless.”

Lord Bellingham steepled his fingers together in front of his chest. “Have you ever made a mistake, Miss Wharton? One you wished with every bone inside your body that you hadn’t made?”

Frances blinked at him again. She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Lord Bellingham let his head fall back against the chair cushion. “You’re fortunate then. Because I have, and let me tell you, there’s not a day that goes by that regret is not my constant companion.”

“That sounds awful,” she breathed, staring out into the gardens again.

“It is. Take it from me. The moment you make the decision you’ll regret for eternity can also feel very much like being perfectly right.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lucas sat at the desk in his second-floor bedchamber at Clayton’s estate. He had just finished writing the final letter to the last of the members of the House of Lords asking him to reconsider his vote for the Employment Bill. He’d also written a letter to the Chancellor, asking him to stop the vote. He was sending all the letters out by courier at his own expense so they would get to London as quickly as possible.

Lucas intended to return to London immediately as well. He hoped to beat the storm that was gathering outside. He would have to tell his mother his decision about the law. She wouldn’t like it, but he didn’t care. He was through trying to live his dead brother’s life. From now on, he was going to be himself, make his own decisions, and the devil take the consequences.

A knock at his bedchamber door interrupted his thoughts. “Come in,” he called, already annoyed. No doubt it was Bell come to blather on with more unwanted advice. The man could be a complete nuisance when he wanted to be.

He heard the door open slowly behind him.

“If you’re here to tell me some more drivel about how I’m a quitter I don’t want to hear it,” he said brusquely without turning around.

“What did you quit?”

Lucas’s heart stopped beating. He swiveled quickly in his