A Simple Deception

V

"There is a fine line between naivety and optimism; out of goodwill, some people tend to cross that line. 
" Omar Cherif

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V.

After the doctor had been and tended to Mr Whitfield's shoulder, Cecily was quick to end the meeting and, as politely as she could manage, ushered both Mr Whitfield and Mr Bishop out of the door.

When they were alone, Cecily exhaled loudly, and placed her hands on her hips. "Well," she huffed, "of all the things I thought I would never do ..." she trailed off before turning her attentions to Susanna. "We had better hope Lord Bertram does call again soon. We are dangerously close to the end of the season."

Susanna was distracted and barely listening, too excited about her evening plans. She had never had evening plans before, or at least plans her mother was unaware of. Plans without her mother. Susanna knew that the idea of meeting a man by herself was utterly stupid, but after years of enduring the same procession of parties and soirees every summer, she found that she did not care very much at all.

Was it, or was it not, her own life?

Susanna wondered if she were to pose that question to her mother whether Cecily would answer, "No." Her life was supposed to be about securing a husband, breeding children, and then enduring this all again as a mother in twenty years' time.

Susanna made the decision right then and there to never subject her own daughter, should she be blessed with one, to the insufferable society that was the London Season.

Alex Whitfield was the complete opposite of what Susanna had been subjected to these last few months, and she could not deny that the very idea of something different was appealing to her. But she could also never deny the fact that he was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most handsome man she had ever seen. Susanna, of course, had never before seen a man of his complexion before, but she was amazed and in awe of his beauty.

Her life truly had flashed before her eyes atop Mr Whitfield's horse that morning, and what had she achieved? Her life had remained unchanged since leaving school, and it would be the same until she married, and then what?

Susanna's eyes flicked to her mother. As much as Susanna admired her mother's backbone and her confidence in a ballroom, Susanna had no desire to become her. Cecily would have her marry Lord Bertram for his connections and his stately manor. She really had no idea of what sort of man he was.

Well, Susanna had received enough of an idea in his reaction to Mr Whitfield earlier. Lord Bertram would not dine with a man of dark complexion. Such small mindedness confused Susanna. But then, she could assume that Lord Bertram had little desire to be worldly, a trait that Susanna wished she had immensely.

The world was an enormous place filled with people of all colours, shapes, sizes, cultures and beliefs, and so many people within Susanna's acquaintance believed that the end of the world was marked on the banks of the Thames.

Susanna was going to leave the house tonight. She was going to make her way to the park, and she was going to speak with Mr Whitfield again. Those were the first decisions she had made for herself this summer, and those were the only choices that had pleased her.

"Mother," Susanna said shortly. "I couldn't care a wit if Lord Bertram never called again. He has the intellect of a chicken and the personality of a grapefruit."

Cecily frowned deeply, but Susanna could have sworn that she saw an amused smile teasing the corners of her mother's lips. "Very funny," she said reproachfully. "Susanna, you have to be married."