No love for Louisa

ELEVEN

When Louisa returned from the museum in the late afternoon, she discovered that her cousin Rosemary and Hettie were not at home. Not that she minded in particular, it gave her a chance to just go straight to her room and change for the evening. It also gave her  a chance to peruse some of the pamphlets she had brought back with her from the museum. 

Whilst she was doing so, found herself a little distracted from  focusing on what she was reading, because for some reason instead,  her mind kept thinking about The Earl of Crayford, or as she knew him better,  Mr Alexander Carstairs   

The way he had smiled at her as she had driven away in the carriage, as well  his kind words that seem to want to put her at ease, along with the realisation that she might not have had such a lovely time today if it hadn't been for him, now weighed on her mind a little.  Why he had gone to such lengths, she wasn't sure. 

 She only knew  that it had to be tied up with what had occurred between herself and Mr Marchant  at the Duchess's ball, that night in the garden.  But for him to go to such lengths to make up for it, seemed  to her somewhat slightly excessive. She had been more than happy and willing to forget about that uncomfortable incident when he had apologised on Mr Marchant's behalf on the night of the opera, and she certainly had not expected  any further  kind of compensation for what had occurred. 

 Could it be, that he felt such pity for her, because he was aware of her past circumstance, it was  bringing out that charitable side in him, making him act in such a way towards her?  For some reason this only made her feel  even more uncomfortable. 

She found did not want to be pitied by him or anyone, even if it was with good intentions.  Yet at the same time, she still could not ignore his kindness. It was all very confusing, and for some reason she could not get his face and voice completely out of her mind, which seemed somewhat improper. 

 Which was why she now forced herself  to think of him with his  more noble title, as a reminder to not get overly familiar with him in the future, and  also to remind herself of  place in society, just as Hettie had recommended her to do,  when dealing with such people.

 She was just hoping that whatever Alexander Carstairs intentions and reasons were,  that they had now been fulfilled, so  he could  moved on to some other worthy cause, and leave her alone, and then hopefully he would stop intruding into her thoughts.  

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Louisa did not set eyes on  Rosemary until  much later that evening, when she came into her room declaring had quite a marvellous day.  She and her aunt had dined with the French Count, who had introduced her to his relation  Viscount  Gaston Dupont, whom Rosemary claimed was the height of sophistication  and intrigue. 

For once Louisa was delighted with the distraction, as Rosemary went on to inform her how the Viscount's family had fled France and escaped to England during the revolution,  But how they still held lands and property in France they hoped to one day claim back as their own,  Which was why The Viscount had been determined to see an end if Napoleon Bonaparte, and had used his connections, to helping the English achieve this goal. 

 Rosemary had been flattered he had paid particular attention to her, and  he had promised he would call on her and tell her more about his lands in France.  But  he could not speak too much about  the work he had  done helping  the English Government, as it was still too dangerous to reveal too much. Even though Napoleon had been defeated and imprisoned the year before

"Doesn't he sound really  fascinating?" Rosemary exclaimed in delight "Just wait until you meet him-" she broke of there, now catching sight of the  museum pamphlets scattered on Louisa's bed, wondering for a moment what they were, then she remembered, "Oh, of course Lou Lou, I should ask you if you had a nice time at the museum?  and if you seen everything you wanted to see, now you finally had the chance to go. But I suppose you must have, bringing all those back"  she indicated with a wave of her hand to the pamphlets with a small laugh

"Yes, I quite enjoyed it" Louisa replied, though she had a feeling it would pale into comparison to Rosemary's day, "Miss Sutton also attended with her mother, and she kept me company, which made it so much more easy for me to relax in their company, as I was familiar with them"  she then admitted happily

"Well, I don't suppose she attended there, just to look at old fossils and such. She must have been so  disappointed that Adrian was not there" Rosemary then smirked "My aunt and I happen to run into Adrian coming out of one of his clubs when we were on our way to dine with the French Count" she then revealed. "It made me even happier to discover he had not attended, and I had made the right decision not to go after all, unlike poor miss Sutton" Rosemary now couldn't help looking a little smug.  

"Well, despite the fact that he was not there, I still  think Miss Sutton still quite enjoyed the tour and her afternoon" Louisa found herself saying in defence of her new friend

" Yes, I suppose she would, after all she doesn't have to converse with fossils, so would not have gotten all shy and tongue tied"  Rosemary then mused before continuing

"Adrian revealed to me that his Mother had asked him to be there, but he said he made a last minute excuse to get out of it, and fobbed of his older brother into going on without him.   He said there was nothing he would find more tiresome than having to eye up more of his father's relics, and he couldn't understand and seemed totally  bewildered why his mother had even thought up the whole scheme in the first place, as she is not particularly  fond of Museums herself, and he  didn't know why she insisted that they all try to attend. He thinks his brother Alex had something to do with it, because he seemed unusually  keen on the whole thing"

On hearing this, Louisa felt herself shift uncomfortably, with the sense of unease she had been trying to quell, since she had came back from the museum.  She decided to remain quiet, and would not reveal her own suspicions on the matter, even after  having them further confirmed by Rosemary's disclosure after she had spoken with Adrian  

 But, the idea that she Louisa, had been the reason for the whole venture, still seemed unreal and an  impossible thought to claim so,  especially to Rosemary. She would feel foolish to even trying do so.

So instead, she changed the subject back to Rosemary's afternoon  with  her French Viscount, Thankfully Rosemary was only too happy to comply.