Melanie cringed as Valentine approached his new wife. He caught her hands in his. “Your brother proposed to Melanie and was refused. He took it badly.”
Julia’s face brightened into a happy smile and she hurried across the room toward her. “Oh, well of course you would refuse him, Melanie dear. You haven’t the slightest symmetry of thought in your entire being, and he would make you utterly miserable as a husband. I would have protested the match myself, and vigorously too. He is not good enough for you.”
The moment Julia embraced her, Melanie cringed inside and yearned for release. However, Julia persisted and they hugged awkwardly a few moments longer.
“You shouldn’t have hit him,” Valentine maintained, staring at Walter George. “I would have preferred not to subject my sister to such violence.”
“Well, clearly you were trying to keep the peace and he had it coming.” Mr. George met her gaze and he frowned. “He wasn’t going to apologize. He always did tend to petulance when he didn’t get his own way.”
Julia giggled behind her hand. “I could not have said it better. It was never me who threw a tantrum.”
“No, you dove out the window instead and ran to Imogen for sympathy and advice whenever you were in trouble,” Melanie said without any malice. Julia had always run away from her problems but Melanie didn’t have that luxury. She would face them alone.
Melanie turned away. This mess was all her fault. If she had stuck to propriety she would not have created such a scene. She had forgotten that, while new to being family, Linus Radley was also a bachelor and she an unattached woman.
She flinched as Valentine put his arm around her shoulders and gently escorted her to the front hall. They had gone months without touching, but she could always expect such an action when she’d turned down another suitor. He undoubtedly thought the gesture of affection would make her feel better. She was relieved when he released her and stepped away to collect his hat and gloves from the entrance table.
“I’ll go and talk to him and perhaps this mess will blow over sooner rather than later. He is family and you will have to see him at some point. I wouldn’t like any lingering unpleasantness to mar the upcoming holiday season.”
“I understand.” The thought of seeing Linus Radley again over the Christmas dinner table turned her stomach into knots, but she’d face him when the time came and hide her dislike yet again.
“Come along, Julia,” Valentine grumbled. “Let’s see what fences are left to mend this time.”
The door closed rather ominously behind them and Melanie was grateful. Her legs began to tremble, but she refused to allow a complete collapse. A refused proposal was one thing, familiar though unpleasant, but a private brawl afterward was beyond the pale. She might never live down this shame.
Three
Walter waited until the front door closed behind Valentine and Julia then caught Melanie’s elbow to steer her back into the parlor before she fell over in a faint. She was pale and trembling beneath his hand and he was actually worried about her state of mind. “Are you all right?”
She jumped as if she’d forgotten his presence until he’d spoken and shrugged off his grip to stand alone. “Of course. As unpleasant as that was, I am glad it is over and in the past.”
Walter didn’t place much faith in her words. He was acquainted with her well enough to spot a false smile a mile away. He stepped toward her and she edged back quickly, confirming for him that she found proximity to others extremely unwelcome. Had anyone ever delved deep enough to find out why she continually rebuffed family and friends? “You know my character, Melanie. You have nothing to fear from me.”
Her gaze darted to his guiltily and then she nodded.
He reached for her trembling fingers and caught them in his. “Just imagine we are about to dance. You’ve held on to me many a night for that.”
“I have.” She turned into him, her other hand rising to his shoulder as if they were about to step off into a waltz together. They were actually very good at that, having partnered each other for so many years.
She took a few quick breaths and settled herself again.
When he judged her calmer, he smiled. “I have a question.”
Her hand jerked back from his shoulder. “Oh, please, not you too.”
He stared as her face pinked, unsure at first how to respond. Surely she did not think that he was about to propose? He wasn’t an idiot. In her current state, she wasn’t thinking clearly. Walter shook of his irritation. “Never fear, I only want to ask a question that’s been on my mind of late and will not rest.”
She stared at him and then she swallowed. “Anything.”
“Where were you when your governess died?”
She glanced away to hide her face. “I was at home of course. In Oxford.”
“I knew that.” Walter firmed his grip on her hand and slid the other into position around her back. It was surprisingly easy to hold her like this, pretending to dance when what he really intended was to question her. “But where in your parents’ house?”
Utter terror flickered over what little of her face he could see, but then she swiftly masked it behind a polite smile he’d seen so often. The change in Melanie stopped his heart. Was he close to uncovering the mystery of her alteration? He took a step and she moved with him, lulled by the familiar situation.
She might not like him to presume, but he knew without any doubt he had to wait on her answer, or he wouldn’t ever understand the woman. And to his surprise, he very much wanted to. He took another step, then another, diverting her around a chair so they would not stumble.