The Complicated Earl (11 page)

Isabelle awoke and it was a moment or two before she remembered the events of the previous night. The crushing pain that had descended on her then returned and she rolled over and buried her head in her pillow. She allowed herself a few moments of despair before trying to drag herself back to some sort of normality. She had to carry on as if the rejection from the Earl had not happened. This afternoon he would be giving his consent for the wedding to take place and it would inevitably lead to celebrations and them all spending even more time together. She had to be able to face him as she would normally. She shook herself and stepped out of bed. It was time to be strong and she was determined to appear as normal. She quickly dressed and went downstairs to join Mary for breakfast.

“Hello m
y dear. I didn’t expect to see you so early. How are you feeling? Has your headache eased?” Mary asked, pouring tea for Isabelle as she sat down, noticing that her cousin still looked a little pale.

“I’m fine thank
you,” Isabelle replied with a wan smile. “My headache has eased, but I think I will have a quiet day today to prevent its return.”

“That is probably wise,” Mary said gently. She was even more convinced that something had happened between the Earl and Isabelle if her cousin wanted to h
ave a quiet day. To have such a day on a Sunday in Bath meant missing church and the weekly promenade along the Royal Crescent. Only someone who was avoiding being seen would miss those weekly events.

They breakfasted together and Mary left for church.
Mary knew too well that to try and question her cousin would be futile. Isabelle would tell her in her own time what had happened. Isabelle sat quietly in the drawing room when left alone, trying to read, but never moving beyond the first paragraph. Her mind was filled with the image of the Earl bending down to kiss her and the feel of his lips on hers before he pulled away. Her thoughts were eventually interrupted when she was joined by James who looked tired but happy.

“Izzy, how are you?”

“I’m well thank you. Did you enjoy the rest of the ball?” She knew it would not be difficult to divert James from talking about what had happened with her.

“I did and we even flouted convention and danced three times!
Are you shocked? The gossips will definitely have something to talk about this morning, but Tom told me he was going to speak to Sophie after they had arrived home and they will visit this afternoon for the formalities. He was in a foul mood last night though, said it was nothing to do with us, but he was desperate to get away. I can’t understand why he doesn’t like balls.”

Isabelle had flushed when her brother
had mentioned Tom, but James was too distracted by his impending engagement to notice any change in his sister. He left her to go and eat his breakfast while Isabelle pondered whether she was happy that Tom had not enjoyed himself or if it upset her to know he had not had a good time.

Mary returned and mentioned that she had seen the Earl at church, but Sophie had not been with him. They had not had chance to chat at the end of the service as Mary had been accosted by
Mrs Arnold and had struggled to get away. She warned Isabelle that she expected Mrs Arnold to visit on Monday. With her cousin’s still pale face, Mary was concerned that a visit by Mrs Arnold may overset her.

As the afternoon progressed Mary tried to persuade Isabelle to join her in a walk to the Crescent.
“It will do you good my dear.” Mary cajoled.

“Thank
you, but I would rather stay here this afternoon. I shall enjoy the solitude. Perhaps the headache has been caused because of all the extra activity James’s visit has brought,” Isabelle replied. Although feeling more like herself, she did not want to face an afternoon of polite nothings.

James offered to escort Mary
on the promenade and they left Isabelle once more to her thoughts, which had begun to take on a more positive turn. She had never been one to dwell on life’s cruelties and she forced herself to become quite philosophical about the incident. At least she had felt the rush of first love whereas she had doubted whether it was possible for her to ever feel it. Now she knew that she was capable of falling in love. Surely that must mean that when her heart could think of the Earl without missing a beat that there may be possibilities with others she might meet? Perhaps after all there was a man somewhere who could love her whom she would love in return.

Isabelle was brought out of her reverie by a commotion in her hallway.
She had heard the doorknocker sound, but she had given instructions that she was not receiving visitors, so had not expected to hear voices, let alone the raised voices that she could now discern. She was moving to the door to find out what possible reason there could be for such noise, when the door was flung open and she was faced with the Earl looking more angry than she had ever seen anyone look in her life.

Isabelle felt alarm at the state of the
Earl. She had blushed when she had realised who was standing before her, but she let the feelings of indignation at the unexpected intrusion influence her greeting. “What on earth do you think you are doing entering my home in such a way, when I am not receiving visitors?” She demanded standing before him.

“Do you think by not receiving visitors you would avoid me? When did he leave? I am going to kil
l him when I find him!” Tom approached her as if to grab her, but Isabelle was in no doubt that there would not be a repeat of the gentle touch from the night before. Anger was oozing from his every pore.

“Why should I want to avoid you? I was trying to avoid my headache returning, which is probably futile with you barging in like
a madman! At least you can do me the honour of speaking to me in a civilised way and tell me what possible reason you could have for coming here.” Isabelle was cold and firm. Her words and the look in her eyes challenged Tom and her cold anger seemed to make him recollect himself a little.

He
moved away from her and stood leaning on the mantelpiece. A long moment passed before breathing deeply he turned back to her. “Tell me you had no part in it,” he said, his tone almost pleading.

“My Lord this is impossible!” Isabelle said in exasperation. “No part in what? I am beginning to think I need to call a Doctor
, you appear to be out of your senses.”

“I don’t need a Doctor
; I need a gunsmith in order to shoot your brother!” Tom snarled, flaring up once more.

“James? What has James done that could possibly warrant such an outburst?” Isabelle was by now baffled and seriously wondering a
bout the sanity of the man standing before her.

T
om looked at her before answering and then his shoulders seemed to relax slightly. “I knew you couldn’t have known anything about it. Thank God. James and Sophie have eloped to Gretna Green. I don’t know what time they left, but they’ve gone. I don’t understand why. I spoke to James last night and told him I would speak to Sophie after the ball and we would visit this afternoon to make the necessary arrangements. Why would they then decide to elope when I have given my permission? It’s a foolish, idiotic idea, but not one that can’t be overcome I suppose.” He finished sounding calmer and sat down on a chair.

As he had spoken he had not noticed the colour drain from Isabelle’s face. “When do you think they left?” she asked quietly
wanting to be sure of her suspicions before she spoke. He was in no mood to be open to speculation.

“I don’t know. After I had spoken with Sophie last night she told me she would not be attending church as she wanted to come and see how you were.
She was concerned that you had left early because of illness. She told me she would be staying with you, but would be back around two. We could then walk out together, returning here. At half past two I received a letter from her, delivered specifically at that time as per her instructions apparently. All it said was she was sorry, she wanted to be with the man she loved on her terms and she hoped I would find it in my heart to forgive her. I guessed they had gone to Gretna Green. Sophie had always spoken about it being the most romantic place to marry.”

Isabelle looked sickened.
“My Lord, she is not with James.”

T
om frowned, “What do you mean? Of course she is with him.”

“Did she mention James by name
in her letter?”

“
No, but everything in the letter pointed to it being James and she seemed happy last night when we spoke of her marriage.”

“There is no easy way to say this, so I apologise for being so blunt but Sophie has not been here at all today. James rose as normal and h
as spent some time with me. He knows nothing of Sophie’s whereabouts; in fact he has accompanied my cousin to the Royal Crescent in order to go looking for her. He could not wait until the announcement was made and wanted to find out your plans for today, so has gone hoping to see you there. James has not seen Sophie since last night at the ball.”

As Isabelle finished she did not have time to react to
Tom who had slumped in his chair. As she had spoken they were interrupted by the arrival of James and Mary returning from their walk. James’s voice could be heard from the hallway, but Isabelle’s attention was brought back to Tom when she heard a moan escape from his lips.

James and Mary entered the room. “Ah Standish, I believe you don’t like taking no for an answer. Benson told us you barged in
against Isabelle’s wishes. What’s going on old chap? Where’s Sophie?”

James was all good humour and Isabelle’s heart went out to her brother, she was about to destroy
his happiness. “James, sit down.” She motioned gently for him to join her. It was obvious from the expression on Tom’s face that she needed to take control; he had just received confirmation of his worst nightmare.

“Is everything well?” James asked looking between the pair. “You are not
ill again are you Izzy? Sophie is well?” Their silence was increasing his alarm and Tom could not meet his gaze.

“James
sit down,” Mary instructed and sat next to him on the couch. “Isabelle?” She asked bracing herself for news she could sense was not going to be good.

“James, we believe that Sophie has run away, has eloped to Gretna Green,” Isabelle said softly.

James looked between the pair. “Is this some kind of sick joke?  Standish if you are playing games I swear I will not be responsible for my actions.”

“It is no jok
e; I thought she had gone with you, only she has fooled us all. There can only be one other that she has eloped with,” Tom said. “I need to try and catch them before it is too late.” He stood and made to move to the door. James had fallen against Mary’s shoulder and she had put her arm around him and was speaking quietly to him.

“Wait!” Isabelle said stopping his departure. “What are you going to do if you catch her?”

“I’ll bring her back!” Tom answered in disbelief at such a foolish question from the usually sensible Isabelle.

Isabelle
opened her mouth to speak but was prevented from responding by a further commotion in the hallway. “Oh what now?” She said in exasperation, but part of her hoped it might be Sophie returning.

She went to the door as Benson the
butler stood outside. “Madam, I beg your pardon, but there is a Mrs Arnold and Miss Arnold asking to see you on a matter of urgency.”

“
Show them in Benson, thank you,” Isabelle sighed. She was not sure if any of them could cope with Mrs Arnold, but she might have information that would help and her family were obviously involved with the whole sorry episode.

A
subdued Mrs Arnold was brought into the room along with Miss Arnold who had obviously been crying relentlessly. Her eyes were red and she did everything possible to avoid looking at the people gathered. Mrs Arnold looked to the Earl and seemed to go a paler shade of white than she had when she had entered the room. “My Lord, I am sorry. Your household said you had come to Miss Crawford’s and it is of utmost importance we speak.” She was agitated and upset.

“What can you possibly say that will help? Hasn’t your fami
ly done enough damage?” Tom demanded. He was in no mood to humour a woman such as Mrs Arnold.

Isabelle intervened, “
Mrs Arnold, please be seated and tell us what you know. We need to find out as much as possible quickly.”

“I know my dear, I came as soon I as found out. I am so sorry, I did not know, truly I did not,” she said flashing a look of appeal at the Earl. “I found Charlotte reading this letter.” She handed a letter to Isabelle, but Isabelle passed it straight to the Earl.

The room went silent as he read the letter, but he said nothing as he finished it. He looked at Isabelle and he passed her the paper. Isabelle had to physically stop herself from throwing her arms around him because of the look of despair in his eyes. Instead she took the letter and began to read.

My Dear Charlotte,

By the time you read this my dream will be underway, yes you will have guessed I am on my way to Gretna Green with Sidney. You know he is and has always been the love of my life.

I’ve tried to be a dutiful sister
and do what Tom wanted, but no matter how I tried I could not love James. Perhaps if I had not met Sidney things would have been different, but I did and no other man can compete with my feelings for him.