She felt her aunt smooth her hair affectionately. “I understand how you feel, Georgiana, but your uncle is right. It is best to get this over with. You used to enjoy the season so much, and I know you can enjoy it again if you give yourself a chance. We won’t force you to come with us but, please, do it for us?”
However, as much as Georgiana loathed the thought of being subjected to the ton’s scrutiny once more, she recognized her aunt had a point. She heaved a long sigh of defeat and resigned herself to her fate.
Her aunt and uncle had done so much for her after all, taking her in at the tender age of five when her parents had died. They had already raised their own children, who lived far away for the most part. They hadn’t needed to start all over again by raising her. It wouldn’t kill her to do this for them.
“Is Ambrose going this year?” she asked hopefully, as her aunt kissed the top of her head before going back to her seat beside Jonas.
“I don’t know,” her uncle replied. “He may not be. He hasn’t said anything about going, and he has made no secret of the fact he dislikes having to attend such events.”
Georgiana felt herself tensing again at the thought of facing all those curious stares alone… “Very well. I will consider going but only if he goes with us. With my best friend by my side, I will be able to endure all the gossip. I honestly don’t think I could even begin to manage without him. Not if you insist upon my going.”
Her aunt and uncle seemed to consider this, and Georgiana almost held her breath as she waited to hear what they would say. She nearly sighed with relief when her uncle looked at her aunt before slowly nodding his head.
“Very well. I can see having an escort would spare you from some of the worst gossip.”
“And he could escort you home if necessary and prevent you from feeling lonely should Jonas and I become preoccupied talking business with the other old married couples,” Adelaide added approvingly.
“Very well. I suppose I should go and see Ambrose directly after breakfast and ask him,” Georgiana said before absentmindedly taking a bite of toast.
“And I will tell Lucy to start packing for you,” her aunt said with a smile, as she also resumed eating.
“And what if he says no?”
Jonas chuckled, “That boy has never been able to say no to you. Even when you played together as children, if you set your mind on something, he would protest for a time, but his compliance always proved inevitable.”
Georgiana had to smile at some of the memories her uncle’s words brought back to her. “Now, now, I think you are giving me far too much credit.”
Her uncle raised an eyebrow at her. “Very well, name one instance where he unquestionably held out against you,” he challenged. “I am not counting the times when he compromised to meet you halfway! I mean a time when he outright stuck to his guns and refused to do whatever it was you wanted of him and did not apologize for doing so.”
Georgiana thought hard on this while she ate. There was that time— No, he had compromised then, too, by getting the puppy himself and letting her play with it as much as she liked. And what about that time she had insisted they go to help look for that stray horse, even though it was raining buckets, and there was a danger of flooding?
She opened her mouth to remind her uncle about that, but then paused. No, she remembered now; he had apologized the very next morning. Did that count as an apology, if he had only been apologizing about the fact she had become upset with him for not being willing to help her?
She frowned as she heard her uncle start to chuckle. He raised his cup at her, as though in a toast to the fact he was right. She glared back at him. “Just because I am not good at thinking on the spot does not mean you are right, Uncle.”
“Mmm … I am sure,” her aunt cut in with a playfully patronizing air.
Georgiana could not resist a little huff at her aunt before deciding she had eaten all she cared to for the time being. After all, this morning’s topic had hardly helped her appetite. With one last bite, she rose from her chair to leave.
“Well, I am going for a ride and to talk to Ambrose about— I will ask him to come to London with us for the season. He might say no, as two weeks is hardly enough time to prepare.”
“But you will honestly try to convince him?” her uncle asked.
Georgiana paused for a moment at the door. “Yes, uncle, I will do my best to get him to come,” she affirmed.
Just a few moments later, she was out of the house and at the stables. Seeing her favorite horse waiting and saddled for her instantly put the smile back on her face. “Thank you for having him ready for me, John.”
“I knew you would be wanting to ride this morning Miss.”
“And you, you are such a pretty boy, aren’t you, Caspian?” she asked, as she stroked the pure black nose of the horse in front of her, while accepting the reins from John. “I am dreadfully sorry I have forgotten your sugar this morning.”
With almost no assistance from John, Georgiana was soon in the saddle, high on Caspian’s back. “I will likely have a long ride today, but I may stop along the way and walk on foot for a while. Still, I would like you to be ready to cool him down if needed when I return.”
“Of course, Miss. I hope you enjoy your ride.”
Georgiana did not waste any more time, setting Caspian’s head straight for where she hoped to find Ambrose. She knew full well she would not be able to enjoy her ride at all until she knew what his answer would be.
The ride to the neighboring estate, which often seemed too long, now felt far too short. Worse, she still had no idea how to bring up the subject with Ambrose. At times like these, she wished he were her brother in blood as well as in spirit. Then, he would be living with her uncle and aunt in the same household, and he would already know about their plans.
She sighed, knowing such thoughts were nothing more than wishful thinking, as she maneuvered Caspian to a stop near the stables of the Ambrose’s estate.
“Please send to ask Mr. Rowley to join me for a ride,” she told one of the nearby stable hands, who had been tending to the horses. “And, if he says he is too busy, tell him I have an urgent matter to discuss with him this morning.”
“Right away, Miss Montgomery.”
Georgiana watched the young boy bolt away to do as she had asked, confident Ambrose would not keep her waiting long. Absentmindedly pursing her lips, she debated whether she should talk about some happier topics to open the conversation or if it would be better to make her request first.
“Well, if you are making that face then it must be something serious.”
Georgiana was almost startled by the sound of her friend’s voice, hearing the mildly teasing tone without being the slightest bit offended. “It is serious,” she replied honestly. “But first, has anything of consequence happened with you lately?”