Regency Rebels by Diane Gaston

Author:Diane Gaston [Gaston, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-05-31T22:01:11+00:00

Amelie kept walking. He really could not be more wrong. Fowler had not propositioned her. But he had left her.

‘He put you in danger by leaving you,’ the lieutenant went on. ‘That was unforgivable.’

Could he not talk of something else? Anything else?

Was it possible to grow older in an instant? Because that was how it felt to Amelie. One moment she was young and in love; the next...

‘Unforgivable,’ she repeated. But his leaving was only part of his unforgivable behaviour.

Not that it mattered to Fowler.

They continued across the park, heading to the gate on the other side. As they reached it, another couple entered, a plainly dressed young woman and a tall, red-coated infantryman.

The young woman halted. ‘Miss Glenville?’

Amelie stared at her. ‘Sally?’ She glanced back to Edmund. ‘My maid,’ she explained.

‘Oh, miss!’ the maid cried. ‘Are you back from the ball? There is to be a battle, and your father wants to leave early in the morning for Antwerp. I have packed for you. Must I come to you now? I—I hoped for a little while longer.’ Her words came out in a rush.

Next to Sally a young infantryman stood at attention, eyeing Amelie and Edmund warily. But when he gazed at Sally his countenance turned soft and worshipful. Amelie envied her so acutely the pain was physical.

She glanced from the maid to the infantryman and back. ‘Of course, you must have as long as you like, Sally. In fact, I do not need you at all tonight. I will manage quite well without you.’

The maid grasped Miss Glenville’s hand in both of hers. ‘Oh, thank you, miss! Thank you so much.’

The maid pulled on the infantryman’s arm. The young man bowed quickly to Edmund, and the couple disappeared into the park.

‘He is, I believe, an old friend of Sally’s,’ she said, as if she owed Edmund an explanation. ‘Amazing that they met here in Brussels with all the soldiers here, but, then, your sister and I met my brother in this park the first hour we arrived. And a friend of yours with him, as I recall. And a friend from London, as well.’ Now she was babbling.

‘Such lucky happenstance,’ he remarked.

Not as lucky as she had been that Edmund had happened to be across the street when that horrible creature attacked her. She could still feel the man’s hands gripping her, smell his unwashed skin—

She buried her nose in Edmund’s red coat. Its scent—his scent—banished the memory.

‘You were very kind to your maid,’ he said.

She shrugged. ‘How could I refuse her? It was her one chance, perhaps.’

It was a chance she would never have. When Fowler first paid her court, she had woven joyous dreams of living happily ever after in her very own fairy story, but she learned that real life was not a fairy tale. It was more often filled with lies, deception, painful words and grave disappointments.

At least Sally might be able to capture a few moments of joy. Amelie hoped the girl would have many such happy moments.

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