Miss Merton's Last Hope by Heather Boyd Page A

Valentine scowled. “You left without taking your maid along and now I see you’ve met with Walter. What did he say to you this time to make your face blush so?”
    “Amy was busy helping Julia sort the linen today and I didn’t want to disturb their plans.” She gestured toward Walter as he let himself into his home and disappeared inside. “Mr. George was perfectly amiable, so there was no cause for any concern.”
    She turned for the front door of their home, wishing desperately to vanish instead. Julia smiled warmly when they met inside, but Melanie sidestepped her sister-in-law and headed to her bedchamber. Despite his shocking suggestion and advances, Walter had given her much to consider. Whatever these methods of avoiding conception were, she’d never heard a whisper of them.
    Valentine poked his head through her doorway. “I begin to wonder what is going on between you two. First he yells at you and now you call him amiable!”
    “There is nothing between us,” she insisted. There should never be.
    He nodded. “See to it that there can never be any misunderstandings. He is too good a friend to lose. We owe him a great deal.”
    “I know.” She glanced at her brother. “I don’t wish another misunderstanding either, not with the way Mr. Radley reacted.”
    Valentine turned away.
    “Wait,” she called out to him. “We should discuss when I could return to our parents.”
    “Never.” Valentine reappeared at the doorway. “Why on earth would you want to go back to them?”
    Melanie shook her head. “We never spoke of it, but my stay should have only ever been a temporary tactic to divert Father’s temper. With Mrs. Hartwood’s support for Julia assured, and her doing so well, it is high time I got out from underfoot.”
    “I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I am trying to understand your decision, truly I am, but you must know how strange it is for me. I’d always assumed you were waiting for the right gentlemen to ask for your hand.”
    “I do understand how strange my decision must seem to you.” She shrugged. “I tried to tell you once before, but you laughed and turned away without realizing I was in earnest. I lost my courage then. It is time I went home.”
    “This is your home,” Valentine insisted.
    “No, it is Julia’s, and I promise you I am happy for that.” She smiled at him, but could see he was torn. “Could you please make arrangements for a carriage, or I can take the stage on my own if that is more convenient and thrifty. I don’t wish to be a burden to you.”
    Taking the stage on Friday would allow her time to say goodbye to Mrs. Clemens and to Walter.
    Valentine sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “A private carriage and a suitable chaperone, as always. I won’t have you placed in any danger, and I expect you to return for the summer each year without fail.”
    “If you insist.” Melanie would not come again. It was time to let go of the past and this place. She grasped the door and slowly shut it in his face.
    However, she trembled so badly, she climbed onto her bed and grasped the small pillow to hug against her chest. She was being torn in two by conflicting desires.
    She wanted to stay with all her heart, but Walter would always yearn for children and the idea he’d have them with someone else caused her more pain than she’d ever imagined possible. She hadn’t felt this wretched since Andy had passed away.

Twelve

    The obligations of meeting expectations, even if it were to his married sister on her birthday, were becoming a trial. This extravagant dinner could not be over soon enough for Walter’s taste. He kept his eyes on his plate, a smile on his lips and ignored the subtle flirtations aimed at him from his left.
    “Have you traveled much, Mr. George?”
    Walter was hard pressed not to groan each time Miss Lane opened her mouth. She was determined to make him notice her. He glanced along the table and regretted Melanie’s