A Match of Hearts: A Regency Romance by Hilary Gilman Page A

upon her lips,
returned the bow with equal formality. She heard a little gurgle of laughter
from her companion and turned towards her.
    ‘Does it bother you to be so publicly
disowned?’
    ‘Oh no. She does it for my own sake.’
    ‘Just as Launceston cuts me for my own sake.
How silly they both are.’
    ‘Silly?’
    ‘Yes, very silly. For, instead of
enjoying the company of persons they love and who love them, they sacrifice us
upon the altar of respectability.’
    ‘Love—?’ Her eyes widened. ‘Do you then
love Lord Launceston, Zanthe? I should never have guessed it.’
    Zanthe sighed, and her sparkle faded. ‘I
have loved him for almost eight years. Like, who was that man in the Bible—the
one who toiled for seven years for the woman he loved only, of course, the
other way around.’
    ‘Jacob.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘It was Jacob who toiled seven years for
Rachael. But, on their wedding night, they gave him the wrong sister, and then
he had to serve another seven years for Rachael.’
    Zanthe sniffed. ‘More fool him! Seven
years is quite long enough to wait for anyone, and so Launceston shall discover
before he is very much older.’
    ‘Do forgive me if I seem to pry, but, how
came you to marry Lord Brookenby if you were in love with the Viscount? You do
not seem to me to be the kind of young lady who could be forced into a marriage
you did not wish for. You told me once that you thought you had been abandoned
by the man you cared for. Was that it?’
    Zanthe was silent for a moment,
remembering.
    ‘I beg your pardon,’ said Susanna,
misinterpreting her reticence. ‘I should not have asked. It was impertinent.’
    ‘No, no, I was the one who introduced
the subject, after all. And, to be truthful, I should like to talk about it. I
never have, you see, and it would help me to get it clear in my own mind. It is
such a lovely morning, I do not feel like being indoors. Let us find a bench in
Sydney Gardens and enjoy a comfortable cose.’
    They made their way along Great Pulteney
Street towards Sydney Place and entered the gardens through the Sydney Hotel.
They found a bench overlooking the Chinese bridge and watched the rowing boats
pass by, carrying ladies in white muslin and gentlemen strenuously wielding the
oars.
    ‘It was the spring of the Year Nine, and
I had just been presented by my aunt, Lady Forester. Mama and Papa were
travelling somewhere, I cannot recollect where, but were to be in London within
the month. Parry was still at Eton, of course, and to tell the truth, I was
very lonely. I knew no one in Town, and my aunt is not an entertaining
companion.’
    Susanna pressed her hand
sympathetically. ‘I can understand just how you felt.’
    ‘Yes, I realised that the first day we
talked on the way to the Pump Room. We have a lot in common.’
    ‘How did you meet Lord Launceston? At a
ball?’
    ‘Oh no. It was much more romantic than
that. At the time, I had the dearest little dog, a tiny Maltese terrier. He was
just a little ball of white fluff with two coal black eyes and a shiny little
black nose like a button. Indeed, I called him Button because of it. Well, one
morning, I was walking him in the park, Hyde Park, my love, and all at once a
great, hairy beast of a dog came bounding up and chased my poor little Button, so
that he pulled his leash out of my hand and ran off across the Row. I screamed,
for I thought the dog would kill him or he would be trampled by a horse. Then,
all at once, a gentleman who had been cantering by pulled up, slid sideways out
of his saddle, and scooped Button up in his hand.’
    ‘And it was Lord Launceston?’
    ‘Yes, and then he called off the big dog,
which was jumping up, trying to get at my dog.’
    ‘And it obeyed him?’
    ‘Well, it was his dog, you see.’
    ‘Was Button hurt?’
    ‘No, just very frightened. Jarvis
explained that his dog had been merely funning and would not really have harmed
him.’
    ‘And you fell in love?’
    ‘Yes, but I did not