Second Chances; A Regency Story (For Anna)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Alasdair had taken a detour through Hyde Park rather than return directly to Hardt House. A hard ride on Rotten Row had done as much for him as the energetic stallion he controlled, and though he'd been in no mood for company when he'd arrived home, he'd joined the children to break their fast all the same.

He had written Annabelle off, as she had not only turned down his suit, but made a mockery of him in the process. He wrote off the notion of marrying as well. Too much would change, and things were well enough as they were. He needed to put forth no effort to avoid her, as such efforts were unnecessary; they traveled in different circles, and had no business together. It had been chance which had put them together at first, and they likely would have no reason to meet again.

He was tense throughout breakfast, and the children had quieted, sharing glances with one another until Cara at last broke the silence, boldly asking if he had met with Mr. Hennessy. He had steeled himself before speaking, and finally implied without stating that Miss Hennessy had not been as amenable to the plan as they had, and that he truly had no interest in marrying. All other questions were parried as they came, turned aside, and at last there were no further inquiries.

That night, Alasdair retired to his study early, and the children whispered in the nursery together. Alasdair was too upset by this; perhaps it was too soon, or perhaps Miss Hennessy had been unsuitable. Either way, they would take his side without hesitation. He was all they'd had for years, and they cared too much to see him hurt.

Alasdair drank himself to sleep, and the following day he brought out paints and canvases he hadn't touched in a great deal of time. He drank again that night, and the night after, but he painted.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Elizabeth stuck to her plan and sent a note addressed to Lady Cara the day following the supper discussion asking her to call, which was politely turned down. Again the follow day another request was sent, Elizabeth assumed Lady Cara just had other demands on her time. When the negative reply followed again, she knew she was being avoided, no matter how nicely worded.

Their routine didn't change. Annabelle still chaperoned Elizabeth to all the fashionable events each evening, parading her about in front of all the eligible gentlemen. By outward appearances Annabelle acted the same, sitting among the matrons and conversing with all the matchmaking mamas. Elizabeth noticed the differences in her, however small. Her smiles didn't reach her eyes, and when they were alone, Annabelle made no pretense of enjoying the events for Elizabeth's benefit as she previously had.

Whenever Elizabeth tried to pry, Annabelle chalked it up to exaggerated hopes and misinterpretation on Elizabeth's end, denying that there was anything worth mentioning. Alone late at night, Annabelle confessed her bruised soul to her journal, wondering where things went so wrong and what she could have done to prevent the falling out. Not only did she miss the physical presence of Alasdair's touch, she missed the conversations they had shared, the easy companionship on their picnic excursion.

After three nights without a decent sleep, Annabelle could not even pretend to hide her fatigue. She stayed in her bed, sending word to Elizabeth that they would cancel their afternoon visits in hopes to be refreshed for the major ball that evening. Upon receiving the message, Elizabeth decided a note wasn't enough effort to figure out exactly what happened to make her sister so miserable.

Within the hour, she was standing in front of the Hardt Manor's butler asking to speak with Lady Cara, her maid escorting her as expected.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Lady Elizabeth was turned away at the door. The household was aware of the sudden end to their brief month of intrigue, and though some of them might have found it interesting to begin the show again, they were too loyal to the family to ignore their wishes.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Miss Elizabeth was quite upset at having made the trip for no reason, even if she had already been denied and knew she most likely wouldn't gain entrance. She had really liked Lady Cara and besides the ruined hopes for the friendship, she knew that being out of favor with such a powerful family was never a good thing. Her anger however wasn't entirely towards Mr. Blackwood. She blamed her sister, for whatever it was that wasn't being said.

Annabelle had finally managed to fall asleep when morning was all but over, just to have Elizabeth intrude on her solitude. "What did you do? Lady Cara won't even speak to me and it's all your doing." The younger sister confronted her.

Annabelle pushed herself up on her pillows, rubbing her eyes and trying to make sense of her sister's accusing confrontation. It took a few moments for her mind to pull together enough to think and she frowned at her sister. "I thought we'd dropped this. It is done with, just forget that we ever met them."

"No. I won't be put off like a child. Whatever has occurred obviously affects me as well. I deserve the right to know. You're acting like you did when you returned from your last season, moping around, cancelling things on me. And now you tell me that I shouldn't even have contact with the ducal residence? Not seeing eye to eye does not explain this all." Annabelle listened to her sister's tirade, wondering when the girl had grown up so much.

She sighed with resignation, hating that they both had apparently inherited their father's curiosity. She wondered how little she could say and satisfy her sister. "I will give you a short summary if you promise not to pry. You do not need to know the details but I suppose you deserve a general idea..... As you most likely saw, we got along great and I enjoyed his company. But apparently I missed the signs that he was contemplating marriage, it was the last thing on my mind so I just wasn't looking or else I suppose it would have been rather obvious. I said some things that were out of line, and he informed me of the visit with father and his intent to offer, which caught me so off guard that we ended up fighting. Words were exchanged that I regret, then he left. End of story. Please Elizabeth, just drop it."

Elizabeth, like any girl her age, was not satisfied with this watered down summary, and since Annabelle had not waited for a verbal promise not to pry, she felt no guilt in doing just that. "So if you were so bacon-brained, why don't you just go and make amends? Surely admitting you were in the wrong couldn't be a worse prospect than your current situation."

"I said drop it. Things are complicated. If I thought he would accept anything I said then I would have already gone. He doesn't want explanations; he already made that perfectly clear." Annabelle turned away from her sister, hoping in vain that the girl would take the hint and leave her alone.

Elizabeth was persistent, "When did he say such things? During the argument doesn't count and you haven't spoken with him since.....have you?" She broke off her point long enough to get a negative shake of the head in reply to her question. "You've lost my sympathy. Your main purpose at the moment is to chaperone my season and you can't even do that. You are too busy sitting around crying over him without even trying to salvage a relationship that you claim you didn't even want. You really are a piece of work." With the last parting words Elizabeth left the room, smiling once she was in the hall. If Annabelle wouldn’t listen to reason, perhaps accusations would put some life back into her.

"I'm not crying!" Annabelle yelled after her annoying sister. The words stung, and even though she knew her sister’s habit of trying to anger her into action, the tactic still worked. Why am I so upset that he took back his offer if I don’t want marriage? The question forced her to reconsider why she objected to the status of wife. All her reasons seemed minor compared to the benefits of having Alasdair by her side. She was wrong to have discounted the notion of marriage so completely, and took full blame for that part of their falling out. But he had said such hurtful things, and she hadn’t been able to properly explain herself. She didn’t know if she could change his view of her, but thought she owed it to both of them to at least try.

It took a full day for Annabelle to gain the courage to approach the lion in his den. She put on her favorite teal morning gown and rode in the family carriage to the Hardt Manor. Elizabeth had told her of the letters and denied entrance, so Annabelle have very high expectations that her first attempt would have a favorable outcome.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Alasdair was locked away in his study, forcing himself through the day's accounts, when a wary butler entered with news that a lady had arrived, and wished an audience with him. "Send her away," he said coldly. He was through with women, and there was no way to put an acceptable face on such a lady—if one used the word loosely—wishing a position as his mistress and not his wife. He would not see her, and instructed his butler that any and all women, aside from the Duchess of Hardt herself, were to be turned away without comment.

The butler had left his office to do so when he was stopped by another member of the household. "Bring her to the Poseidon Room." The butler gave a brief nod and moved to do so, sending a maid for a tea service on the way.

The Poseidon Room was a morning room bedecked in a theme of the seas, with rich cobalt blues, teals, and pale seafoam. The butler led the woman in and told her that she would be seen to shortly.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle was surprised when after a short while of waiting she was led into the morning room. She began to slowly walk around the room, looking at the furnishings and decor, too nervous to sit still while she waited for Alasdair to arrive. Her hands were clasped in front of her, her knuckles nearly white with the tight grip were a telltale sign of her anxiety.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

When the door opened again, it admitted a tall, slender female figure with wavy red hair trailing down her back. Cara eyed Annabelle cautiously, the liking she'd felt for the older woman gone in defense of her guardian, her brother. Part of her wondered what had happened, but perhaps she didn't want to know. Perhaps she wasn't giving the woman a chance at all, but only looking at her with new eyes.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle looked up at the unexpected voice and gave the younger girl a curtsy as deserved by her rank. She rose and stood in place off to the side of the room, taking in the lack of a friendly smile. She assumed that Alasdair had told his wards something about the situation, or at least Lady Cara. Offering a smile to show she meant no ill will, Annabelle answered the question that Cara most likely already knew the answer to. "Good Morning Lady Cara. I am waiting for a word with Mr. Blackwood."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"He won't talk to you," Cara said. "He was going to have you sent away, but I had you brought here. Whatever happened, it isn't going to happen again." She'd seen Alasdair these past days, and she and Adair had agreed that having a mock-mother in the house wasn't at all worth the trouble. It had been a passing fancy, and they wished things were as they had been when they had first gotten to Town.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle's hopes fell and she looked down at her hands. His agreeing so easily to see her had been too good to be true. Her mind worded overtime but could think of nothing to do to have him hear her out. Instead she addressed Lady Cara, wondering why she hadn't just been turned away outright like her sister. She wanted to ask, but was afraid it would just hasten her departure. "No, I hope neither of us would care to repeat what has happened. We did not see things in the same light and I came here because I believe I need to apologize for the opinions that were so poorly expressed."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"You did not see things in the same light?" Cara repeated, keeping herself visibly collected, no matter how she seethed at the words. She had, unfortunately, inherited her brother's temper.

"Pardon my frankness, but Alasdair does not generally get as upset as I've seen him over minor differences in opinion." Her liquid brown eyes searched Annabelle's in much the same way that Alasdair's had searched. She was looking for the lie, for the chink in the older woman's armor.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"There was nothing minor about the disagreement, but it is not my place to discuss the details of what was said between us to anyone other than Alasdair. He was not the only one that was deeply affected by the matter I can assure you. I do not wish to sit in despair and want to set things right. I'd hoped if he would only hear the reasoning behind the views I held, he would not think so poorly of me." Annabelle looked back up at Lady Cara, showing the truth behind her words and hoping that somehow she might be able to get through to Alasdair.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"You are correct that he was not the only one affected," Cara said, tension seeping into her youthful voice. "Nor were you. I was affected, as was a young boy, and for our sake, I will not allow you to throw yourself in Alasdair's path. He no longer wishes to marry." And Cara could not, without blushing, think of any other types of relationships Annabelle might wish to propose.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle couldn't believe after all Alasdair had put her through over the last several days that he could just turn his back on the matter and expect everyone to forget it. Her hurt mixed with anger at the thought of being played, manipulated, being shown the possibilities and then dropped like a bad apple just when feelings began to develop. It had happened before, which was the reason she had taken herself off the marriage market in the first place. She hadn't realized just what the feelings were this time until after the misunderstanding of an offer. Had she had time to warm up to the idea, thing might have been so different.

"If he is so quickly to decide for or against marriage without taking anyone else's feelings on the matter into consideration then perhaps he isn't any different than the other gentlemen I've encountered in the past. Forgive me for wasting your time, I was led to believe that there was more to Mr. Blackwood than jumping to conclusions and playing with people's emotions. It is a pity that all our lives had to be overturned for naught." Deep down she knew there was more to Alasdair, and she hadn't meant to say so much, but it was hard to hide the hurt she felt at the moment.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"If that is what you believe, then I wish you good day," Cara said, an echo of her deceased brother. "Believe he is nothing more, and that he is refusing you because of some whim. If it soothes your guilt, go and hate him forever. This house needs only one lady."