“Thank you, Mr. Barker,” Sir Aaron said. He had a voice made for the stage, and if she had not been so annoyed, Louisa would have reveled in it. “Friends, for many years, this theater has served the community well. But times are changing. Rather than see this lovely building fall to ruin, we—Lord Ezra Colburn, Ashton, Lord Lenten, and I—have devised a plan. How will we preserve the integrity of this theater while also giving the community a place they can enjoy? By converting it into a gentleman’s club.”
The response from the crowd was a mesh of jubilation and anger, depending on who was reacting. Louisa was most certainly of the latter. Not only had he betrayed her, but he had also betrayed every woman and every man not of the upper class. He had taken a place that was open to everyone and excluded the majority of those who lived in the area! How could she not have seen this coming?
Mrs. Rutley placed a hand on Louisa’s arm, but Louisa pulled away. “Shall we leave?” the headmistress asked.
Louisa snorted. “Not before I’ve spoken to Sir Aaron. And he had better have an explanation for this treasonous behavior, or so help me!”
As people ventured into the foyer, Louisa found an opening in the crowd and pushed her way toward the stage. Mr. Lush was shaking Sir Aaron’s hand when she stomped up the stairs.
Upon seeing her, Sir Aaron said something to his companions and waved her to stage right.
“Miss Louisa, I hope you understand—”
“How dare you!” she hissed, wishing the pain in her chest would subside. “We had an agreement! I was to be given a chance to present my case, and you took that away from me!” Angry tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them back.
“I did it to save you the embarrassment of losing,” Sir Aaron said. “You would never be able to raise the amount needed to see this place fully restored.”
She gaped at him. His words were like nettles to her heart. “Are you saying that you’ve never believed me capable of succeeding?”
He shook his head. “I admire what you set out to do, that is the truth. But what you wanted was a task far too difficult to complete.” He placed his hands on her arms. “Don’t you see? Tonight, we’ve begun the journey toward our destiny together! Lord Ezra means to change Chatsworth forever. Years from now, they will have written plays and have performances about how we turned the village into something far better.”
Unable to stop it, a single tear rolled down Louisa’s cheek. “And where will this play be held?” she asked.
Sir Aaron looked as if she had struck him in the stomach. “I—”
“You speak of our destiny as if I’m a part of it, but nothing has changed. Your interests lie only in yours. Mine is of no consequence. Good-bye, Sir Aaron.” She turned and walked away.
“Miss Louisa, wait!” he called after her. “You’re being impractical. This is not about me or you but rather the future of Chatsworth.”
Wiping her eyes, Louisa turned to face him once more. “You’re right. I’ve not been considering the future. But I am now, and you’re not in it.”
Ignoring his plea that she remain, she walked into the foyer in search of Mrs. Rutley. Both she and Mr. Barker were speaking beside a potted plant, the man playing with the ring on his finger. Then she caught sight of Lord Ezra and Lord Lenten and changed course.
Upon seeing her, Lord Ezra lifted his glass of wine. “A pleasant evening, wouldn’t you say, Miss Dunston? And it’s all thanks to Sir Aaron.”
“You’re a scoundrel,” Louisa said, not caring a whit for who was listening. “Both of you.”
Lord Lenten shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
But it was Lord Ezra’s next words that caused her ire to reach heights she had never known existed.
“Chatsworth is changing,” he said. “Soon, we’ll own every farm, shop… and school in the area.”
Readying a proper rebuke, Louisa opened her mouth, but Mrs. Rutley took hold of her arm. “Come, Louisa. There is no need to entertain the likes of these men.”
With her chin lifted, Louisa followed her headmistress out the front doors and into the cool night air. What began as an evening filled with promise had quickly transformed into a night of despair. She had thought her destiny was with Sir Aaron. A life of happiness and love. And perhaps they would write about him one day. But her name would never be mentioned.
ChapterThirty-Four
For two days, Louisa refused to get out of bed. She lacked the strength to do more than to rise to relieve herself and return to the sanctuary of her covers. Sir Aaron had called over Saturday morning, but she had refused to see him. There was no reason to do so. Whatever words he wished to say to justify his sedition would only fall on deaf ears. He had broken one promise too many, one more meaningful than all the others, and she could not forgive him.
Despite her stalwart decision to remove him from her life, she was unable to erase him from her thoughts. She missed his smile, his laugh. Being in his company. How could her life progress without him?
She thought about the day they had first met at the tobacconist’s shop. That had been their first standoff, followed by another at the very theater she was trying so hard to save. He knew exactly what to say and do to exasperate her and took every advantage to do so.
Despite the difficult start, however, their relationship grew into something she would never have imagined. He had saved her from the tailor’s nephew, Jeffery Venter. They had worked together to remove the thorn from the dog’s paw. They were perfect for one another.
Until they were not.