Free Marjorie Farrell by Lady Arden's Redemption Page A

you want me to stay with you?” asked Celia.
    “No, Celia,” replied Arden with genuine gratitude, knowing what a sacrifice that would be. She was sure Celia must be eager to see her fiancé and enjoy all the attention she would receive as the news circulated. “I would feel much worse if you gave up your evening.”
    “We will miss you,” said Celia, “but you do look a bit pale. I would not want you to become really ill.”
    “Your father was supposed to go with us, Arden,” said her aunt. “I suspect he was held up again. Would you tell him that we’ve already left?”
    “Of course, Aunt Ellen.” Arden saw the two women off and realized that she really was tired. She picked up a novel that Celia had just taken out of the lending library and took it up to bed, leaving word with the butler that he should inform his lordship that the ladies expected to meet him at the Forsythes’.
    * * * *
    The earl arrived home more than an hour later, and after receiving the message from Hoskins, changed quickly, and left for the ball. When he arrived at the Forsythe home, he looked around for his sister-in-law to apologize. “I see Celia is surrounded by well-wishers, Ellen,” he observed. “I am very happy for her. But where is Arden?”
    “Didn’t she give you our message, James?”
    “No, Hoskins only said that the ladies had gone ahead. I assumed that meant all of you.”
    “She was tired out from a headache. It was probably good for her to rest for one evening.”
    “Hmmm. She is not given to headaches,” mused the earl. “Do you think she did not want to be outshone by her cousin?”
    “Arden may be many things, James, but she is not one to be jealous of others’ happiness,” replied Mrs. Denbeigh. “Perhaps she is upset, however, by the contrast between her immediate future and Celia’s. Are you still set on sending her to Millicent’s?”
    “Unless she receives and accepts an offer from Gareth Richmond, I am.”
    * * * *
    Gareth had noticed Arden’s absence immediately and had excused himself earlier than he had intended. He was surprised at his own reactions when Mrs. Denbeigh and Celia arrived. Everything around him, which had been clear and focused, became merely background noise as he found himself looking for the distinctive coronet of black hair. His disappointment was so strong that he found himself reexamining his feelings for Arden. If this was only an attraction, it was the strongest one he had ever experienced. Maybe his aunt was right. Maybe he should make her an offer. He found himself more open to the idea than at any time since the earl had suggested it.
    When he returned home that night, he joined his aunt in her bedside vigil. Just as she had thought, the marquess died before morning, slipping away from them peacefully, and leaving them to comfort one another.
    Gareth sent off a note to the earl, making him aware that he would be busy over the next few days helping his aunt arrange the funeral, and attempting to support her in her grief.
    * * * *
    Arden found herself looking for Gareth at the musicales and routs of the subsequent week and was surprised when she was disappointed not to find him. She told herself that she was just becoming used to their little skirmishes, but when he was announced one morning a week after the Forsythe ball, she found her heart beating a little faster than usual as she waited for him to be shown into the drawing room. She and Celia were working at their embroidery, something she was competent at but found boring. She stuck herself with her needle when she finally heard footsteps, only to see her Aunt Ellen’s face at the door.
    “Captain Richmond is in the library with your father, Arden,” announced Mrs. Denbeigh.
    Arden was puzzled by her aunt’s tone. Captain Richmond had spent more than one morning with her father discussing War Office business. And yet Ellen announced the visit as though it were something out of the ordinary. Celia, who had