Maggie shook her head. "I'm sorry. That's impossible then. You could never be happy with a man who would be unfaithful."
"But if we were happily married-"
"A leopard never ever changes its spots. If he has been indiscriminate in his dealing with women it will come back to haunt you both whether you want it to or not. You could never trust a man like that."
"He's weak. All of us are sinners."
"Some of us more than others, it would seem," Maggie said with a sniff.
"Really, it's not as bad as it sounds."
"Hmm. If he's supposed to be looking after your welfare, it makes all the difference. Take my advice and find someone more staid, and without a past history such as his."
"All men over the age of twenty most likely have some sort of history," she said with a sigh.
"Yes, but he was in the Army too. If ever there was a sign of trouble, it's that!" Maggie said emphatically.
"Yet he warned me off another nice man about his own age for being too much of a rake, though to be fair I have never seen him manifest anything like unsavoury behaviour in my company. Never once."
"And Dr. Sanderson?" her companion asked sharply.
"No, not really. Certainly not since we have been together as guardian and ward."
"Ah, so he did before, then! I hope you know what you're doing, my girl."
Arabella blushed. "I don't know what I'm doing. That's the trouble. All I know is I've never met anyone like him."
"And he has another woman. Along with someone else who likes him. Go for someone younger, more uncomplicated," she advised. "You've barely spread your wings. Don't tie yourself down to someone you'll always have doubts about."
Maggie raised her considerable bulk from the chair and departed, her nose in the air.
Arabella sighed. If only it were that simple to get Blake out of her head.
A short time later Arabella was still sitting in her study with her head in her hands when she heard a tap at the door.
Blake poked his head around and said, "Everything all right?"
"Yes, of course. Why shouldn't it be?"
He stared at her, stung by her abrupt reply. "I don't know, you seem upset."
"I'm not ill, if that's what you're worried about," she said with a touch of asperity.
He was tempted to wipe the look of cool hauteur off her face with one blistering kiss, but instead he asked, "Would you like to go for a ride?"
"No, no thank you."
"Surely you can't be that busy. I've hardly seen you for these past few days. Get the new steward in here to-"
She glared at him. "I'm being completely uprooted from my family home. Do you not think I have a right to be upset? I know you're only my guardian, but I do have some feelings, you know. I would appreciate you respecting them."
"I would like to think I always do, Arabella," he said, clearly hurt by the accusation.
"Then please go away and leave me to my family business," she said, waving him away.
Blake nodded and withdrew. He felt his chest constricting with despair. She had been acting so oddly ever since their conversation about Philip Marshall....
Blake was even more confused, however, when they returned to Bath and he found Adam and Oliver Neville there. Yet more contenders for her hand…
He had hoped staying at the Eltham townhouse would have allowed them to spend more time together under the pretext of socialising with everyone in the house. Now it was as if they were never ever alone, and she made no effort to seek him out to re-establish the former intimate friendship they had once shared.
Blake turned his attention to his old friend. Michael had moved so close to Bath after he had been demobilised to take the waters there, and they seemed to have done some good, for he was gaining some sensation in his back and hips again.
Blake examined him and said, "The bath waters seem to be the best thing for you at the minute. The heat is efficacious, and the buoyancy will help hold you up if you wish to try to walk."
"Some days I think it's hopeless," Michael admitted.
Blake shook his head. "Alexander Davenport was injured far more severely, yet now after two years he is up and about, and even married and expecting a child soon. You must never give up."
Michael sighed. "I don't wish to. But surely I ought to see some improvement by now. As for a wife and chldren, why on earth would any woman ever wish to tie herself down to me?"
"Sarah fell in love with Alexander when he was blind and his back-"
He shrugged. "Then she's the exception. Or she simply took pity on him-"