Edmund walked from the dining room mentally sneering congratulations at himself. He’d won the perfect wager; Doodle would lose his lucky snuff box. The thought left Edmund unmoved. The luxurious throbbing that occurred every time he looked at or thought about Miss Priscilla Stanley had suddenly become a painful ache as if her refusal had somehow unsettled the flow of his blood. Everything was unfolding just as he’d planned so why did he feel like a tree struck in half by lightning, his heart exposed to the elements? There was no logical reason why he should feel upset or dejected. He didn’t want to marry Miss Stanley, but somehow at the same time he did. Edmund wasn’t used to simultaneously processing opposite emotions. He felt like someone had taken two files out of his mental chest of drawers and dumped them on the floor of his soul. He’d asked a woman to marry him and she’d turned him down. That should have produced a feeling of completion, but instead he felt undone.
On the way to his room he ordered his carriage and as many cans of hot or cold water the kitchen could immediately send to his room. He had to bathe before he went mad and killed himself to escape his stench. As soon as his chamber door was closed behind him he tore off his clothes and threw the rank bundle wrapped around his shoes out the nearest window with relish. The arrival of water and towels momentarily distracted Edmund from his inner turmoil. He didn’t care if the single bar of soap wasn’t his usual regimented two inches thick or that the two towels had been dumped on the table next to his bath at odd angles with the edges of the table.
Once he was scrubbed red from head to toe his cleanliness was an uncomfortable reminder of the scene by the wishing well. If he’d been clean she might have said yes. He rolled his eyes at his body’s euphoric response to the thought. He was a grown man not a green boy. He’d been firmly rejected; he was leaving. It’s what she expected. It was what he wanted; at least it was what half of him wanted.
Twenty minutes later he was pulling on his hat as he stepped out into the sunshine. The gravel crunched under his boots as he approached his carriage. There was no sign of the uncouth gentleman who’d arrived a week earlier. His footman opened his carriage door an exact one hundred and thirty-five degree angle and stood at attention as Edmund stared glumly into his empty carriage. He sternly reminded himself that he had no intention of carrying away a bride, but part of him was desperate to drive away with his new found penny. He put a foot on the first step, but was halted by luxurious throbbing caused by thoughts of pushing Miss Priscilla into his carriage. “I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” His two footmen looked at each other in disbelief as Edmund took his boot off the step and hurried back towards the house. Their fastidious employer had never been known to forget anything.
Like a man intent on walking the plank into shark infested waters Edmund followed a maid to Priscilla’s chamber door and then waited until the servant was out of sight before knocking three times. It was complete madness. He barely knew the woman. She was five years older. She thought him a stinking mannerless bore, but it didn’t matter. He wanted her. She made him laugh. She made him feel… His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet approaching the other side of the closed door.
“Yes?”
“Miss Penny…it’s me, Lord Warenne.” The other side of the door was silent. “I’ve had a bath. I need to speak with you in private. Are you crying? Miss Penny…” He tried the door handle, but it was locked. “Why are you crying?”
“Go away.”
“I can’t leave my lucky penny…”
“You don’t want me, I’m cursed. They call me Cilla, the seal of doom.”
“Don’t you mean Cilla the silly penny? There’s no such thing as curses. Luck is more often a matter of choice than fate. Open the door; I can’t bear to hear you crying.”
“Go away, before I ruin your life.”
“There’s something I need to tell you and it’s not something I can say through a keyhole. I’ve had a thorough scrub and I’m wearing clean clothes…”
“Then I’m definitely not opening the door.”
“Penny please…” Edmund rested his forehead on the door. “…I don’t want to leave without you. Do you expect me to leave without seeing you? Won’t you let me kiss you goodbye…on the hand?” After an eternal five minutes of silence Edmund felt his heart knocking on his ribs demanding satisfaction. “Miss Penny my carriage is waiting; come away with me. We can reach London by this evening…”
“Don’t tempt me; just go.”
He could hear footsteps retreat from the door and then silence. What if he never saw her again? He groaned in disgust at his feelings of horror. Had he lost his mind? Did it matter? He knocked five times on the door with Lordly determination, but he hammered his knuckles in vain. There was no answer from the other side. He stood caressing the door handle trying to pretend it was still warm from Priscilla’s touch until two maids walked past giggling in-between whispers. Feeling stupid Edmund straightened and knocked one more time. “I’m leaving!”
“Good. You’ll escape the curse.”
“Miss Penny, I…” Another servant slowly wandered past eyeing him with curiosity.
“Do you mind? I’m having a private conversation.” The servant raised an eyebrow, snorted in contempt and disappeared around a corner. “Miss Penny…won’t you open the door?”
“Never.”
“Then I guess this is goodbye…goodbye Miss Penny…” Denied a reply, Edmund caressed the door handle one more time before walking away feeling incomplete and yet relieved that he was miraculously still a free man. Climbing into his carriage he strangled an insane desire to kidnap the old maid and forced himself to mentally organise his immediate future. After returning home and packing his trunks, he’d spend the rest of the year in Bath. He’d ensure he was introduced to all the marriageable young beauties and with luck he’d soon forget the luscious Miss Penny. With his plans formulated he relaxed into the jostling rhythm of the carriage as melancholy settled over him like a dusty ancient cloak infested with bedbugs.
Go to chapter 6