"I’ve already sent for labourers from the village, my lord."
"Excellent. And I will send out for quotes for the roof – it’s going to be expensive, I’m sure." He sighed. "If you can just ensure that whatever is in the rooms will not be damaged if it rains again, I’d be grateful."
"Yes, my lord."
Ezra was happy to leave it in Soames’s confident hands, and he would do anything to avoid going into the nursery to deal with the problem himself.
???
As Constance rode, she felt sick to her stomach. What if something had happened to Ezra? She presumed it would have been mentioned by the innkeeper if the damage had included injury, but she couldn’t be sure. She shouldn’t have walked out on him when he danced with Charity at the ball. She should have told him that she loved him, even if there was always a chance he wouldn’t say it back. Because now she thought she would regret it far more if she didn’t tell him how she felt than she would if she did.
When she arrived at Gracewood Castle, the damage to the roof was obvious from the front. There was also clearly damage to the stables, and a nervous-looking filly was tethered to a post, clearly to stop her escaping through the battered stable wall.
She dismounted her horse alone, before anyone came out to see who the visitor was, and hurried to knock on the door.Ezra’s butler answered, and if he was surprised to see her, he didn’t show it.
"Lady Constance," he said with a bow of his head. "I’m afraid Lord Gracewood is busy dealing with the damage from the storm."
"But he wasn’t hurt in it?" she asked hurriedly.
Soames shook his head. "No, my lady. No one was hurt, thankfully. Some damage has been sustained, as you can probably see, but no lives lost or injured."
"Thank goodness," Constance said with a sigh of relief. It seemed silly now to have hurried over here, but she couldn’t ignore the fear that had filled her heart at the thought of Ezra being hurt.
"Is there anything I can do to help? I’d like to be useful, now I’m here."
"If you’ll just wait here, my lady, I will see whether Lord Gracewood is free, so you can make your kind offer to him."
He showed her into the hallway before striding off to find Lord Gracewood, and Constance glanced up at the roof, pleased to see there was no damage in the entrance. She wondered how much of the castle had suffered, and how difficult it would be to repair. It was a beautiful castle – it would be a shame if it fell into a state of ruin. She had no idea whether Lord Gracewood’s finances could stretch to the fixing of large parts of the castle, but she hoped they could.
When Ezra appeared in the hallway, her heart began to race and she could not help but smile at him – and her heart was warmed when he immediately smiled back.
"Lady Constance," he said, and she wondered if his use of her title was because Soames was probably still in the vicinity, or whether the formality was because she had left him yet again. "I wasn’t expecting to see you."
"I heard that Gracewood had sustained damage during the storm, and I wanted to check…if you needed anything."
He smiled wryly. "Of course, your love of the castle would ensure you wished to check on it."
It’s not just my love of the castle,she thought to herself, but did not voice it aloud.
"But it is very kind of you to come," Ezra continued. "I was sorry you had to leave the ball last week before I could dance with you."
She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "I made a foolish assumption," she admitted. "And I’m sorry."
"Can I know what that assumption was?"
Her cheeks flamed hot and probably bright red, and she wondered if she could really say what was in her heart to Lord Gracewood here in the open hallway, where anyone could pass by. She took a deep breath; she thought she had to.
"I thought you preferred my sister to me," she admitted, feeling that it sounded foolish now that she said it out loud. "I…" It was so hard to speak with him about such matters when she had no idea whether he felt for her as she did for him.
"I thought I had made my feelings clear, and I apologise if I had not," Ezra said rather formally. "I certainly have no interest in your sister. I asked her to dance out of politeness, and I asked her first because she was thrown in my path. That is all."
Constance nodded. "That’s what Charity said. But I feel—"
A footman came hurrying past with two metal buckets, and she fell silent, unable to discuss this in front of other people.
"Was there much damage?" she asked.
"A fair amount. It will take time to be repaired – the staff are busy making sure nothing is destroyed by further rain. But thankfully no one was hurt, no animals lost."
