Eventually, he decided that he had to speak to her no matter how closed off she seemed. It was partly his own fault for not proposing when he confessed to her, and he would rectify that.
He had known her for two months, and saw her every day and got to know her more and more, always liking what he found out.It was not yet the end of their deal, and she did not yet have to make her wishes known to him, but he had to ask her. He had to make his own intentions plain to her.
Except that she was not home. She was out with her sister, and he was unsure of where exactly and therefore not sure if searching for her would have any good outcomes. Instead, he waited in his study for her to return.
“Philip!” Ophelia said brightly, stepping into his study unannounced.
She was the last person that he wished to see.
“Why are you here?” he snapped. “I have not been inviting you, and I am quite sure that my mother has not either.”
“Is it not obvious, Your Grace?” She asked, smiling through the tears that were suddenly forming. “Why do you think I have been here so often, so determined to be close to you? I am in love with you, Philip.”
His head began spinning. This was the very same lady that had shown him nothing but cruelty for years, and now here she was telling him all this?
“Leave.”
“Philip, please. You must listen to me. It was a mistake. What I did to you all those years ago was wrong of me. I was barely out of leading strings, not nearly mature enough to know that what I did was wrong, but now that we have grown up, I can see it. I never should have done that to you, and I shall regret it for the rest of my life.”
“That is none of my concern.”
“But you loved me,” she whispered, stepping closer to him and reaching out. “And I have every reason to believe that you still do, else you would have had me sent away when I came here. I mean, it was always the plan for the both of us to fall in love- why else do you suppose that the two of us remain unmarried after so many other proposals?”
“Those proposals are exclusively ones that you have received. I have never turned someone else away in favor of you, and I would like to make that very clear to you.”
“And I would like to make it clear,” she replied taking his hand only for him to snatch it away again. “That you and I have something special. We always have. We should be together, just as we always wanted to be. I want you to know that I no longer care about your scars, and as that was the only thing standing in our way, why not call it all over and done with? We would both be far happier for it.”
“You are too close, Ophelia. This is highly inappropriate.”
“There is nothing more appropriate than you and me, Your Grace.”
Philip had a sudden sinking feeling. Ophelia had never been so brazen, having received a highly conservative upbringing, and so for her to have appeared so suddenly, so determined to take him back, there had to be another motive.
Then, he heard footsteps approaching the study.
This was the worst possible thing that could happen. If they were caught alone together, Ophelia would be compromised, and he would have to do the gentlemanly thing and-
And that was what he feared she wanted.
Fortunately, the steps continued past the door, clearly one of his staff going about his duties. He saw Ophelia’s smile fade for a moment, turning into a scowl before she quickly hid it once more.
“You know, Your Grace,” she sighed. “They are saying some terrible things about you. Not to worry, though, if ever it allbecomes too much, you know where to find me. I will be there for you, I promise.”
“And what is being said about me?”
“You will likely find out soon enough. I cannot be the one to tell you, it would hurt me far too much. Think about what I have said, and when you see sense, I shall be waiting for you.”
Philip wondered if she was telling the truth. She left his study with a weak smile, disappearing from view. She had clearly been hoping that she would be discovered alone with him, but even though that had not happened she had given him enough cause for doubt. She had been kinder to him than she ever had been, and the foolish younger part of him wondered if that was because she was being honest about her feelings.
Regardless, it did not matter. Philip had fallen for Jackie weeks before, and since then Ophelia had not caused any positive feeling in him at all. She was gone, as far as he was concerned, even if he was curious as to what was being said of him.
“The young ladies have returned,” the butler said a while later.
“How did they seem?”
“The youngest seemed as always, and the oldest seemed… perturbed?”
Perhaps she had heard exactly what was being said of him? He knew that he had been given the blame for Lucien’s bruise, which he took full responsibility for, but as to why he had supposedly given him it, he was not sure.
