“Addy?” Lila pressed, eagerly awaiting her response, no doubt.
She cleared her throat. “I thought to surprise the both of you. Since you weren’t able to join me for Christmas, I decided to come to you here in Yorkshire. Unfortunately, neither of you was in residence.”
“When did you arrive?” Lila asked.
“Eleven days ago.”
“Eleven days?”
“During a snowstorm,” she elaborated.
“You’ve been stranded here at Marchingham Hall all this time?” Letty shook her head. “You poor darling. You must have been terribly bored with nothing except our brother and his disapproving glares for company.”
He didn’t always give her disapproving glares. No indeed, sometimes he looked at her with the blazing intensity of the sun, and she could do nothing but bask in it even if she knew there was a strong chance she would be relentlessly burned. She was Icarus, flying too close to the sun. Only, the sea she had drowned in had been Lion himself.
“I had Aunt Pearl,” she said weakly, studiously avoiding Lion’s gaze.
“Your aunt Pearl has accompanied you? Oh, we must meet her!” Letty exclaimed, clapping excitedly. “We’ve heard so very much about her from your letters.”
“And you must meet our aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Hargrove,” Lila added. “How utterly thrilling this is. We thought to surprise Lion for Christmas, but the roads were covered in snow and we had to wait a few days in York. I had feared we would be stranded in a hotel until the roads finally became passable. But we had no notion you were here as well.”
What could she say to that? Her smile felt as if it had been pinned in place by an enterprising seamstress, and the heat in her cheeks continued to prickle. It didn’t help that Lion still watched her, silent and unsmiling.
What was he thinking? Were his regrets even stronger this morning than they had been last night? A maelstrom of emotions had whipped up within her. She had been ready to flee before descending the staircase. But now her friends were here, at last. They were smiling and overjoyed to see her, and she felt the same way. There remained, however, the cloud of what had happened between herself and their brother hanging overhead.
Letty and Lila must never know, she decided in that moment.
“I am so happy to see you both,” she said. “Aunt Pearl and I are set to leave this morning. Had you been any later in your arrival, I would have missed you.”
“Surely you will alter your plans now,” Lila said.
“Of course she will.” Letty turned to Lion. “Addy must stay now that we’ve arrived, don’t you agree, brother?”
Addy dared to glance in his direction now. His icy-blue gaze clashed with hers, sending a jolt of awareness through her. How she wished she could read what lay within those blue depths.
He inclined his head, his countenance remaining as forbidding as ever. “Naturally, Miss Fox is welcome at Marchingham Hall. She may stay for as long as she likes.”
Forever, some raw, ridiculous voice cried out inside her. A voice Addy promptly stifled. Lion may have given in to their mutual attraction, but the aftermath of their lovemaking last night had made it abundantly clear to her that his poor opinion of her had not changed.
She swallowed hard, ignoring her stinging pride and aching heart. “That is most generous of you, Your Grace.”
“It’s settled!” Letty announced. “You’ll stay for Christmas.”
“But—” Addy began to protest.
“Nonsense,” Lila interrupted. “We’ve only just been reunited.Les Trois Mousquetairesmust have the proper time to chat after all these years apart. Letters are woefully insufficient, do you not find?”
“I—” Addy started, only to be cut short yet again, this time by Letty.
“Of course she does, and that is why she is here. Come, let us introduce you to our aunt and uncle.”
Addy was scarcely aware of the introductions that were performed. Lord Hargrove was a stern-faced, elegant gentleman with silver hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. Lady Hargrove bore an obvious resemblance to Lila, Letty, and Lion, her golden hair shot through with threads of gray and white, her eyes the same icy blue. Her astute gaze traveled between Addy and Lion as conversation whirled about, her expression ever so slightly calculating.
Aunt Pearl arrived and a second round of introductions unfolded, and as portmanteaus were brought in by footmen, it was decided that everyone would convene for breakfast. Addy and Aunt Pearl’s departure was temporarily delayed. As Addy was led off by her eagerly chattering friends, she told herself that she could withstand a few more days at Marchingham Hall.
She would simply keep her distance from Lion, enjoy spending time with Letty and Lila, and forget last night had ever happened.
Impossible, whispered that same, taunting voice within her.
