The Earl, the Lady and the Song of Love by Fanny Finch
Chapter 12
After all the pleasantries had been exchanged, they settled down for dinner.
Daria had outdone herself as always, preparing a variety of sumptuous dishes. As they emptied the plates and filled their bellies, their father decided to lighten the ambience with small conversation.
“How fares your mother? It has been a while since we last saw each other.”
Lord Kensington was quick to respond. “She is very well, thank you. She visited this morning to have breakfast. She did send her regards, but I forgot to give them when we met earlier in the day. Forgive me.”
Her father visibly lightened up. “Did she now? Do send mine, will you? It is wonderful to hear that she is doing well. I believe I shall be meeting Lord Cheshire at the quarterly merchant’s meeting. You will be there too, will you not?”
Again, Lord Kensington did not miss a beat. “Certainly, given all goes well. Lewis will also be present, I presume.”
“That is correct. I am growing old and all of these duties will be left to him soon. I would like for him to get more involved with the family business. I have decided that he will begin to join the meetings this year. Perhaps, I shall retire in a few years, leaving him to continue before death finally takes me away.”
“Father,” Imogen cautioned. “You are not going anywhere, not anytime soon. You still have at the very least three decades left. You will live long and old enough to see your grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
Her father chuckled as he reached for his glass of wine. When he had supped, he replied, “That would be lovely now, would it not? Oh well, we shall see.”
Turning to the earl, he continued, “Kensington, what do you say we arrange a dinner with your family when we see each other at the meeting? I shall bring up the matter. I believe Lord Cheshire will agree. We have never done anything like that between our two families. I believe it is high time we moved our relationship past business.”
Lord Kensington drank from his glass before responding.
“Yes. I feel the same. I think Mother will love that, very much.”
“A toast, shall we then?” Her father asked, raising his glass. “To more evenings like this?”
They all followed, raising their glasses in the air. “To more evenings like this!” they chorused.
Imogen was all smiles as she clinked glasses with her father and Lewis. When she turned to the earl, their eyes met and lingered for a moment longer.
There was something in his gaze, in the way he looked at her that made her feel he saw her, truly saw her.
Breaking eye contact, she quickly clinked his glass. As she drank, she kept her gaze on anywhere but him. It was a short while before she recovered from that moment.
The rest of the evening went by fairly well.
They went on to speak a little about business, the weather, the ton, and their hopes for the season. Imogen was quite happy to let the men talk, only saying a word or two, every now and then.
As she listened, she came to see that the earl was not a man of many words. When he had to speak, he delivered his message with as few words possible and returned to silence.
It was also evident in his demeanor that he was the reserved kind.
Imogen decided that she liked that about him, she liked it very much.
Eventually, dinner came to an end and as they left the dining hall, the earl declared that he would be taking his leave.
“So soon?” Her father asked. He seemed a little sad.
Lord Kensington nodded. “There are things I must still see to before going home. As it is a long ride there, I must get to it.”
“I understand. Alright then, I bid you a goodnight. Thank you once again for honoring my invitation.”
Lord Kensington bowed his head as he shook her father’s hand. “It is I who has been honored, Mr. Hartford.”
As they finished, he turned to Lewis. “Lewis, it was wonderful seeing you again. I look forward to our next meeting.”
“As do I,” Lewis replied. “Feel free to visit again.”
The earl’s smile widened. “I certainly will.”
When he was done speaking with her brother, he finally turned to her.
“Miss Hartford, the evening was even more memorable with you sitting across from me. What I would do to behold such a lovely sight again.”
Tongue-tied, Imogen simply smiled up at him as sweet shivers ran up and down her spine.
Not minding her silence, he continued to speak.
“Will you think it too forward of me if I invited you to my estate in Kensington? It is only an hour’s ride from London. I really would love to see you again, as soon as possible. Of course, your brother can come with you. What do you say?”
Imogen was truly taken aback by this.
He wants to meet me again?
She had barely said a word all dinner. Yet, he must not have thought her boring if he truly wanted to see her again.
Oh dear.
A fuzzy, warm feeling was beginning to spread through her, and she liked it too much to want for it to stop.
She swallowed and cleared her throat before responding.
“I believe I would love that. As long as Father grants his permission, of course.”
She turned to her father who was quick to agree. “With all my heart! You and Lewis should go. Have a lovely time! I hear the Kensington estate is a beauty to behold. You should at least see the sight for yourselves.”
Gladdened by her father’s response, she turned to Lewis. He nodded, smiling.
Aware that he had just given his approval, she looked back at the earl.
“Well, I guess we shall be there. How soon do you want us to visit?”
“Shall we say three days from now, if it is alright with you?”
It was Lewis who responded. “It is. I shall clear my schedule.”
Lord Kensington raised his brow at her, letting her know he still wanted to hear her answer. That simple gesture meant more to her than he would ever know.
She bobbed her head. “Yes. It is fine.”
She watched as relief visibly washed over him, and it touched her to think he had really been worried she would say no.
Taking her hand once again, he dipped into a bow and pressed a lingering kiss to the back of her palm.
As he rose, he said, “I shall count the minutes until then.”
“Me too,” she heard herself say. It was the truth. She very much could not wait to see him again.
Imogen was still grinning from ear to ear when her father and Lewis returned from seeing the earl off. Her father bade them goodnight and went into his study, leaving her and Lewis alone in the hall.
“You like him then, do you not?” Lewis asked, coming to stand beside her.
Her first thought was to deny it, but she decided against that.
“I suppose it is too soon to tell, but I do not not like him.”
“Ah. I see. Fair enough, I shall take that.”
“And you? You were not as warm towards Lord Exeter.”
“That is because I could not shake off the feeling that there was something not quite right about him. I told you this, but you believed I was simply being overprotective.”
Imogen sighed. “You were right. I should have listened to you.”
“No, you listened to your heart,” he put an arm around her, “and I cannot fault you for that.”
There was a small moment of silence as she looked up at him, feeling thankful all over again, for the kind of brother she had been blessed with.
“So, do you have such feelings concerning Lord Kensington,” she asked as the moment passed.
Lewis seemed to give this some thought. Eventually, he shook his head.
“Never. Not when I first met him and not now. Nevertheless, I shall implore you to be weary still. Give it some more time before you believe his intentions so easily. I do not wish to see you hurt again.”
A sigh slipped her lips as rested her head on the crest of his shoulder.
“I hear you, brother. Do not worry. This time, I shall do as you say.”
He rested his head atop hers. “Hopefully, everything will turn out fine.”
There it was again, hope.
If she could not let herself believe just yet, Imogen decided that perhaps, she could finally let herself hope.