Lucy shook her head. “Oh, why is it so much easier to offer others counsel than to heed it myself?”
Jane laughed at that. “Now, there’s a good question.”
Lucy took a deep breath. “Very well. I think I know what I must do.”
“What?” Jane asked, leaning forward on the bench toward Lucy.
“I’ll tell you as soon as I have it all settled.” Lucy stood, scooped up Jane’s book, and handed it back to her.
Jane plunked her free hand on her hip. “Not fair. I give you this wonderful advice and you won’t tell me what you’re planning to do?”
“I thought it was my advice,” Lucy said with a laugh.
“That’s hardly the point.” Jane pushed her nose in the air and opened her book again.
“Thank you, Jane, for everything.”
“You’re quite welcome. Now run off and do whatever it is you’re going to do, so that you may inform me of what it is that much sooner.” She smiled at her friend.
Lucy raced out of the garden, into the house, and up to her bedchamber. She hurried over to her writing desk, pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment, and quickly scribbled a note. She sanded it, sealed it, and rang for a footman to deliver it to Derek’s address.
She could only hope he would heed its contents.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Lucy glanced both ways to ensure she wouldn’t be seen before she ducked under the white trellis and entered the secluded garden near the Upper Crescent. The intimate space smelled like roses and freshly cut grass. She pressed her hand against her middle and let out her pent-up breath. She was alone. Derek had not yet arrived. Perhaps he would not come. Her letter had begged him to meet her here at two o’clock. It was a bit past the hour already. Perhaps he hadn’t been home to receive her missive. Would that be a good thing or a bad one?
She paced back and forth across the grass, biting the tip of one finger and replaying the whole of the last few days in her mind. She had to make things right. Had to. Janie had told her to follow her heart, but as soon as she’d heard her own advice she’d realized the truth. Some things were more important than following your heart. In fact, many things were. Things like friendships and honor and doing the right thing. This certainly was. Ensuring that her friend made the right match. That was the right thing to do. She was certain of it. Blast her stupid heart for being foolish and complicating things. But she was about to rectify that.
“Good afternoon,” a deep male voice intoned.
Lucy swung around.
Derek stood in the shade near the clethra bush, wearing a light gray coat, black trousers, and black boots with a starkly white cravat. He looked like a dream as usual.
She swallowed. “Thank you for coming.”
“How could I resist such an assignation? ‘Meet me in the secluded garden’?” The hint of a smile touched his lips. He moved toward her.
She tentatively returned his smile. “I … I wanted us to have privacy.”
He nodded, his face taking on a serious hardness. “I’m glad you wrote, Lucy. There’s something I want to say to you.”
She released her breath slowly. “I think I should tell you what I came to say first.”
“No, let me.”
She pressed her lips together, unable to keep from smiling at that. It was always like this between the two of them. Both so stubborn. “Very well.”
Derek clasped his hands behind his back and squared his shoulders. “I intend to write to Julian, today, and tell him I cannot marry Cassandra.”
A little gasp escaped Lucy’s lips. She raced over to him and splayed her hands wide. “Derek, think what you’re saying. You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will.” He scrubbed a hand across his face.
Lucy lifted her chin and looked up into his green eyes. They were bright from the reflection of the grass that surrounded them. “But you promised him. You promised Cass.”
He turned on his heel. “That was before. Everything’s changed now.”
Lucy wildly shook her head. “No. I can’t let you do it.”
“You’re not letting me do anything.”
She dropped her hands and paced away from him, desperately trying to think of something to say that would convince him. “Think about this, Derek. Julian may be dead already for all you know. The letter may never reach him.”
Derek nodded grimly. “That’s a chance I must take.”
Lucy strode to the opening of the clearing, frantically biting her knuckle. “No. This is wrong. I won’t let you do it. I won’t be with you. I won’t betray my friend that way. And you won’t betray yours. That’s what I came to tell you. We must stop this. Forget anything ever happened between us. We’re going back to London tomorrow, all of us. This is the end.”