“But,” Luke continued, “remember this. She might be able to ignore you, but she can still hear you.”
Daniel looked at his friend, amazed. He had not thought of that. She may not be willing to speak to him, and she may pretend that she does not hear him. But she would hear him. And, for now, Daniel knew that that would have to be enough. She may still never forgive him, but he knew now that he could not give up on being with her.
“You are absolutely right, Luke,” Daniel said, determination rapidly replacing the gloom and hurt that had consumed him the past few days. “I will do anything I must. I will fight to win her back.”
Chapter 23
Rose rolled her eyes and tossed yet another letter from Daniel into the bin beside the desk in her bedroom.
She sighed heavily, staring out of her bedroom window, wishing once more that she could undo the events of the last few weeks and go back to a time when she did not feel betrayed by the men she had loved so dearly. Man, she thought with a bitter chuckle. There was but one man, after all.
She had little time to dwell on it, however. Just then, there was a light rapping on her door.
“Milady?” Sarah asked.
Rose leapt from her seat, trying to not look as perturbed as she felt.
“Yes, Sarah?” Rose asked.
“There is a lady here to see you,” Sarah began. Behind Sarah, Rose could hear delicate footsteps on the staircase.
“Rose, darling,” Mary’s voice wafted into the room.
Rose laughed.
“Thank you, Sarah,” she said.
Sarah smiled and curtseyed, then took her leave. As she did, Mary stepped into view in Rose’s bedroom doorway.
Rose walked across the room and hugged her friend, leading her to a chair opposite to where she had just been sitting.
Mary released Rose and smiled brightly.
“I came to tell you of a picnic being hosted at the park this weekend,” she said, her eyes full of excitement.
“Oh?” Rose asked. She knew at once what Mary was going to say. She took a deep breath.
“I would absolutely love it if you would come with me,” she continued.
Rose smiled. She still was unsure whether she was ready to step outside of her home, but Mary was so enthusiastic about the picnic, she reminded Rose of when they were children playing tag in the gardens.
Rose also knew that she would likely have to answer many more questions if she refused, and she thought that a couple of hours at a picnic with Mary was worth not having to discuss the events with Daniel. As long as she does not start asking about him, she thought.
After thinking for a few moments, Rose nodded.
“Of course, I will attend with you,” she said.
***
As Rose and Mary arrived at the picnic, Rose had a terrible thought, one she wished had occurred to her before she agreed to attend. What if Daniel was there, too? It appeared as though much of the ton was in attendance.
It was almost certain that Daniel would be, too. Rose closed her eyes and groaned to herself. It was too late to reconsider her attendance. The best she could do was hope that she was wrong, and that he had crawled into a hole somewhere and had stayed there.
She and Mary exited the carriage. Mary looked once more like a little girl, and she wished that she shared her friend’s sentiment. Despite her lingering sadness and fresh trepidation, she was determined to try to enjoy herself, if only for Mary’s sake. She and Mary each took one of the baskets and small blankets that they had brought with them, and found themselves a nice, unoccupied spot under a large tree.
As they set up their little spot, Mary’s enthusiasm became infectious. Before she knew it, Rose was nearly as thrilled about enjoying the lovely picnic as her friend was.
That was, of course, until she saw someone approaching them from the corner of her eye. She glanced up, and her smile dissolved at once.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” Daniel said, bowing to the two women.
Mary, having not noticed Rose’s change in expression, smiled warmly and curtseyed.
“Good afternoon, Lord Elbrook,” she said.
Rose clasped her hands behind her back to prevent herself from balling them into fists. She nodded her head, unable to force herself to give Daniel any sort of formal greeting, when she was barely able to keep herself from screaming at him all over again.
“Good afternoon,” she said, using a great deal of her energy to keep from clenching her jaw and speaking to him through her teeth.
“Hello, Lady Rose,” Daniel said, his voice changing almost imperceptibly. “It is wonderful to see you.”
“What can we do for you?” Rose asked, a bit too quickly and pointedly. She flinched as she saw Mary turn her head sharply in her direction.
Rose forced herself to smile, perhaps a bit too brightly.
“What I meant was, what brings you to our little corner?” Rose said, injecting as much warmth into her words as she could muster, and feeling about as warm as snow.
Daniel smiled, and Rose pretended not to notice the sadness behind it.
“I wanted to invite you to a game of shuttlecock,” he said.
“Oh, I do love shuttlecock,” Mary said. “Will we be playing singles or doubles?”
Rose looked sharply at Mary, who was blissfully unaware of her glare. As she had feared, Daniel took Mary’s interest as encouragement.
“Whichever you ladies would prefer,” he said with his bright, charming smile.
Rose felt her cheeks flush. She could not believe that Daniel would dare to approach her as though they were friends after what he had done.
However, she could hardly afford to make a scene in front of Mary, not to mention everyone else at the picnic. Worse still, she suspected that Daniel knew that.
Rose smiled, albeit wanly, never directing her gaze to Daniel.
“I suppose we could play a match,” she said slowly.
Mary clapped her hands and beamed at Daniel. Rose swallowed the urge to scream.
“When do the matches start?” Mary asked.
Daniel looked at his watch.
“Since people are still arriving, we will begin in about an hour,” he said.
“Then we shall see you in an hour,” Rose said, this time barely attempting to conceal her irritation.
Daniel smiled again, which infuriated Rose even more. He did not seem fazed in the least with her cool demeanor. Or, if he was, he was hiding behind his actor’s façade, something at which he was obviously quite good.
“I look forward to it,” he said. He bowed, and for a moment, Rose feared that he would attempt to kiss her hand. She did not know if she would be able to keep herself from slapping him if he did. Fortunately, however, he did not. He simply stood upright once more and walked calmly away.