He felt her confused gaze between his shoulder blades as he strode away.
He was avoiding her,and she wished she knew why.
Ellen sighed as she plucked a daisy from the ground and stared at it sadly. She thought they'd made good ground, getting closer to each other. Sometimes there were moments when she thought she was sure she meant something to him. She sometimes caught him watching her with a strange, intense look in his eyes, only to look away quickly when she met his gaze. Or the other day, when he'd tucked a strand of her hair back and his hand had brushed across her cheek, and she'd had to use all her willpower not to turn her head and plant a kiss on his palm. She'd used the trick she'd used with Noni, writing the letters of the alphabet on his palm and offering once more to teach him. Then he'd taken a step back, aloofness enveloping him like a cloak, and she felt she must have imagined it all.
What was happening? Where were they going?
And what would happen after they returned to London?
Ellen stepped around the fountain and found the Dowager Baroness, Lady Honoria Tewkbury, sitting on a bench in deep thought. She looked up at the sound of Ellen's footsteps crunching in the gravel.
"I do not wish to disturb you," Ellen stammered.
Honoria shook her head. "Come, join me here."
Ellen complied.
"How is the child?" she enquired.
"Better, now that the fever is broken. The doctor says he will improve rapidly from now on."
"That is wonderful news, indeed. I am glad. I am also glad that you have married Tewkbury and that you are here." She took Ellen's hand between hers.
"I am glad to be here," Ellen said softly.
"Tell me about my son," Honoria said after a moment's silence. "You must know him better than I do by now." A small, sad smile played on her lips.
"Well." Ellen wasn't sure if that was true. "He knows quite a bit about fashion."
Honoria nodded. "Yes. He's been interested in fashion since he was young."
"And fragrances. Did you know he creates his own perfumes and is very successful at it?"
"I did not. But how excellent for Edmund, and I can so well imagine he would be successful at it."
"He has kept it a secret from most people, I believe. I hope I did not overstep by telling you about it. But I also feel you ought to know this about your son: he is very talented in the areas that interest him."
"Thank you for sharing this with me." Honoria bowed her head.
Silence fell between them. Ellen didn't know what else to say.
"I have often reproached myself for having been too weak," Honoria said after a while, "and that I should have stood up to my husband more often. He was a force of nature: a strong, choleric personality who would accept no opposition. But I also knew underneath his loud, blustering personality and his rough exterior, he meant well." Her fingers tugged nervously at her sleeve, her skirt, her shawl, and her sleeve again. "I have got no excuse for my weakness, except that I loved them all, my husband, Edmund and Edward. And I lost Edmund in the process."
Ellen pursed her lips. "I imagine that for a sensitive child as Edmund must have been, an overbearing father who ran roughshod over him, even if he meant well, must have been distressing."
"Yes. I tried to stop him from being sent to Harrow. But his father insisted it was a rite of passage that every boy had to go through to reach manhood. A kind tutor at Harrow informed me he was not doing well, that he was terribly bullied and beaten regularly. He'd stopped eating altogether, and so I insisted that he be removed from the school. It was the only time I could assert my will against my husband's. It was the only thing I could do for Edmund. But I am afraid the damage was done, and it left deep scars in him."
"And Edward?"
"He stayed at the school and did well." Lady Tewkbury rubbed her temple. "He was such a golden child, doing everything excellently, and he was his father's favourite. Edmund knew that, of course ... "
Ellen sighed.
Honoria sat up with a start. "But all that is in the past. So many unfortunate things happened that I wish I could undo now. Alas, I can't. So let's not talk about the past anymore. Tell me about yourself. I understand you were a schoolmistress before you married Edmund."
"Yes." How would Honoria take it if she knew the truth? She decided to try. "My real name is Mary-Ellen Gordon, and I am the daughter of the late Lord Blackshurst." Lady Tewkbury looked at her politely, then a dawning realisation crept across her face. "The daughter of Lord Blackshurst? Oh."
"Exactly," Ellen replied dryly. "You've heard the story?"
