A Lady's Guide to Courtship

VI. A Seemingly Friendly Advice

But Ysabella knew that it was not well to hate someone simply because someone you love does. So she chose to be cordial when Thomas walked over to greet them, looking very much like his brother in built and height, but with a naturally smug look on his face.

After the short social greetings, Thomas and Nicholas took to themselves for a longer chat. Ysabella pretended to be listening to the conversation going on between her mother and her friends. Emma and Aurora were standing nearby, talking to Adam Nimrod and his acquaintances. She leaned her head to the side to hear what Thomas was saying to Nicholas.

"—was here, I believe, but he has matters of import to attend to," the man was saying, his voice lower than Wakefield's.

"Will you be accompanying your mother to Wickhurst then?"

"What choice does a man have when his own brother up and disappeared, leaving the poor woman behind?" Thomas replied before he emptied his glass of brandy. "Yes, I am afraid I have to do the task."

"Levi will be arriving in Wickhurst for a hunting party in the woods. Nicholas, Maxwell and Ralph will also be joining us, I believe, so is Wakefield."

Ysabella took a small step back, nearer her brother and Thomas. A hunting party? Why was she not aware of it?

"Is that so?"

"Yes. It has been quite some time since we last hunted what with Benedict and Levi marrying off consecutively, of course," Nicholas explained. "You can join us if you like. The more the merrier, eh?"

Thomas was already shaking his blonde head, one that was too well-groomed, a stark contrast to Wakefield's tussled one. "I am afraid that my brother's hobbies do not reflect mine, Nicholas."

Ysabella cleared her throat and pretended to be looking at the dancing couples in the dance floor when Emma threw her a knowing look. Her sister knew what she was doing and she did not care. Aurora threw her an amused look before she focused her attention back on Adam Nimrod.

She heard Nicholas' light chuckle. "You and Ben are so much alike, Thomas—boring."

Wakefield's brother smiled and it was too late for Ysabella to look away when his blue eyes found hers studying him. The laughter in his eyes turned to that of interest and if it ever morphed into something else, she did not know since she made a sharp turn to join her mother and her friends in a conversation about how to properly sew the perfect leaf on cotton.

"You simply need a needle and thread, really," she said to the group who turned to her, looking perplexed and confused. "Green would be the much preferred colour," she added in haste, cringing at her own words.

"My daughter has no talent in such domestic things," Lady Alice reasoned with her friends and they laughed. Ysabella joined in, ever mindful of Lord Bertram's attention.

*****

That night, Ysabella waited until Aurora fell asleep before she put on her robe and slipped out of the bedchamber. She could not sleep and needed something to eat.

The way to the kitchen was easier after having gone there for two nights now. She grabbed anything that fancied her. Intending to carry her plate back to the room, she paused and contemplated the sudden thought that popped in her head.

And then she turned and walked to the opposite direction, careful not to meet anyone that might still be awake. A faint sound coming from one of the gaming rooms reached her but there was little chance someone would see her for she intended to climb the stairs that was supposedly not for the guests.

Once she reached the top landing, she turned into the same corridor she and Wakefield walked into that first night in the manor. She found the door Maxine entered that night and tried the doorknob. Much to her surprise, it was unlocked. Looking at both ends of the corridor, Ysabella checked for anyone that might be a witness to her trespassing and found none.