The Lady's Secret Love by Lucy Adams

Author:Lucy Adams [Adams, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“A house party?”

Augusta looked at her father steadily, ignoring Stayton’s snort of disapproval.

“Indeed,” she said, firmly. “I have a few acquaintances that I very rarely have the opportunity to see and thus, I should like to have a house party so that they can attend.”

“Acquaintances?” Stayton interrupted, drolly. “Come now, Augusta, do not be so foolish. You cannot have any particular acquaintances given that you spend your time here.”

She lifted her chin a notch and glared at him. “My come out was some years ago and, during the party, a few additional guests arrived and made their introductions,” she lied, darting her gaze back to her father who did not look either surprised or interested. “I have been writing to some for many years and would very much like to see them again.” Turning her head back towards her father, she cleared her throat gently. “Father?”

Lord Berwick shook his head, his eyelids lowering. “I do not want visitors, Augusta.”

Augusta pressed her lips together tightly, looking at her father steadily and wondering if she dared speak to him with as much openness and vulnerability as she had with Lord Rushton. Her stomach tightened uncomfortably, her hands tightening on her lap as she took in a deep breath, steadying herself.

“Father,” she began, as Stayton lifted his glass to his lips and drank noisily. “You may not wish to have visitors but I do not wish to remain here, summer after summer, without any hope of going to London for the Season.”

Lord Berwick’s eyes lifted to her face, his expression still rather dull. “You have no right to demand anything, Augusta,” he said, a tone of warning in his voice. “You know very well that you have a good life here.”

“Do I?” Augusta retorted, a ball of anger forming in her stomach as she spoke with a little more boldness, despite the anxiety that racked her. “You think that my life here is a joyful one, father? Do you truly think that all I have ever wished for is to remain here, spending a good deal of time on my own and doing all I can, whenever I can, to encourage you?” She put her hands flat on the table and rose to her feet, aware that her father’s eyes had flared with evident surprise. “I have long had dreams of going to London, of securing an arrangement and of setting up my own home and building my own family!” she cried, her emotions coming out of her like a storm, billowing out around her and slamming hard into her father. “You do not take me to London, you do not allow me to have a Season and even my brother does not consider me. Why then should you deny me this?”

Silence followed her words, thick and heavy. Augusta caught herself breathing heavily, her hands still flat on the table, her body riddled with tension. Her father appeared quite astonished, staring at her with wide eyes, his color a little heightened and his mouth ajar.

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