“I have another treat in store for you, young lady.”
“Oh, really?” Emily replied absently, still watching Williams’s progress across the room. “What is that?”
“I am having a a visit from my niece, Lady Cynthia Sommers. You will want to meet her. She could definitely smarten you up.” Emily wondered that Lady Abernathy dared to criticize her appearance, as Lady Abernathy was no nonpareil in that area, either. Her favorite color appeared to be a quite unbecoming mixture of brown and gray. “Quite the fashion plate, my niece,” Lady Abernathy continued in her stentorian voice. “Has all the London bucks chasing after her. She could definitely teach you a thing or two, young lady.”
Emily was embarrassed to have Lady Abernathy proclaim in front of Mr. Williams that she needed someone to help her attract beaux, but he hardly seemed to have heard. At the very mention of the name Lady Cynthia, a dismayed look appeared on his face, and he halted abruptly. He regained his composure almost immediately and took the seat next to Emily.
Alexander was quite perturbed, however, to hear that Lady Cynthia was coming to Stonehurst. They had enjoyed an enjoyable flirtation last season, until the lady had made it very clear she would not be averse to something more. He had spent the end of the season last year and the beginning of this one avoiding her. He assuredly had not expected to run into her in this little backwater. He assumed she would be enjoying the height of the season. Could she have heard somehow he was in Stonehurst? It was not an impossibility. He had sent his father a note before he left, explaining that he was leaving for Stonehurst at the earliest opportunity to make Miss Smithfield’s acquaintance. It was entirely conceivable that the news had spread. He would have to think later how he would deal with her presence, but, for now, Lady Abernathy had resumed conversation with Lady Smithfield, and this was his opportunity to speak to Emily.
“I found our earlier conversation very interesting, Miss Smithfield.”
“As did I, Mr. Williams. I wished to discuss the matter with you further.” Emily felt she might have been a trifle bold, but Mr. Williams just smiled.
“Good. For I must admit I had a similar goal in mind when I approached you. I feel that a gentleman such as my friend Sedgewick, a gentleman with such serious responsibilities, could only benefit by having a partner and helper. A proper wife can be the making of a man, don’t you agree, Miss Smithfield?”
“I am in complete agreement. Your friend needs a compassionate and caring wife, who will assist him in his parish duties and provide a good example to others.”
“I take it from your matchmaking attempt earlier this evening you feel that your sister meets those qualifications.”
“Well, perhaps I should not say so to a near stranger, but I must admit they seem well suited.”
“You can trust me, Miss Smithfield, for I have Sedgewick’s best interests at heart. And somehow I feel that I know you very well, although our acquaintance has been of short duration. There is a candid, honest quality about you that is quite refreshing.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Williams, but my mother is more forthright in her description of me. The quality you describe so prettily as ‘candid and honest’ she more accurately characterizes as ‘a sad lack of delicacy.’”
“Then your mother does you an injustice. Please believe me when I tell you that I do not find you lacking.”
Emily was so unused to compliments that she barely knew how to react. She decided it would be best just to change the subject, although she meant to hone her skills at flirtation before the marquess arrived. That thought reminded her of the goal at hand, which she had been in imminent danger of forgetting. Mr. Williams’s gorgeous brown eyes were proving a formidable distraction. “As you appreciate candor, I will tell you truthfully that I wish to enlist your help in throwing Lydia and Mr. Sedgewick together. I was hoping you could also tell me if you have any reason to believe Mr. Sedgewick holds my sister in esteem.”
Alexander wondered again why Emily was so determined for her sister to marry a vicar. He had his own reasons for wishing for the match, but why would Emily wish her sister to make such an inferior match from a worldly standpoint? Had she taken him in dislike before even meeting him? He found that notion displeased him for some reason, but then again, what did it matter if it left him free? Emily was still waiting for him to reply, and he felt it would do no harm to give her his true opinion.
“He has not confided in me, of course, but I could not help but notice he appears to admire her. I believe he would not be at all averse to a match if he believed it to be possible. I think that is his secret hope, but he feels she is above his touch, and so has tried to put the thought out of his mind.” Emily nodded, delighted with this bit of news. She had felt much the same way herself, but was pleased to have it confirmed. “And your sister, Miss Smithfield? Do you have reason to believe she’s partial to Mr. Sedgewick?”
“Yes, I do. That is why I’m determined to see them together.” Emily looked at him, considering how much to confide in him. The look in his warm brown eyes must have convinced her, because she continued. “You see, there is another gentleman, with greater advantages from a material and social standpoint, whom my mother would prefer to see Lydia marry. But I do not think such things should be a consideration when two people truly love one another, do you?”
If asked that question even a day previously, Alexander would have laughed and scoffed at the idea of love being a prerequisite of marriage. In his social circle, men and women married to achieve greater social standing and wealth. He knew very few that married for love. But looking now at Emily, who was waiting innocently for a reply, he surprised himself with his answer. “I, too, feel that none of those considerations should matter when compared with the feelings of two people toward one another,” he told her. He was rewarded by a bright smile from Emily, which made him feel guilty for holding such cynical views in the past.
Lady Smithfield, who had greater ambitions for Emily now that her sister was making so creditable a match, was displeased to see her paying such close attention to a penniless curate. What had she been thinking to invite him for dinner? He was much too attractive. She called Emily away on some fictitious errand, but before the evening was over, Emily and Alexander were able to arrange an “accidental” meeting the next day in the village, with Lydia and Sedgewick in tow.
Chapter Four
Over breakfast the next morning, Emily and Lydia were alarmed to hear their mother announce the arrival of another missive from the duke of Alford.
Lady Smithfield eagerly scanned the letter while her daughters silently waited. “How peculiar,” Lady Smithfield finally said, her brow wrinkled in confusion. “The duke writes that Lord Wesleigh left London for Stonehurst Friday last week. Stonehurst is only a four-hour trip from London. He should have arrived by now. I hope he did not suffer an accident along the way.”
Emily was relieved. Whatever was delaying Wesleigh she hoped it continued to delay him for at least another sennight. She needed more time to push Lydia’s romance along. She doubted even a sennight would be long enough, but it was better than nothing.