“Edwin is perfectly proper, says all the right things and is remarkably charming.He’s everything I dreamed he would be… but.”
“It’s not enough.It’s flat.”Pere nodded.“I get that.All these gentlemen are here for my benefit.And they are all attentive, charming, and engaging, but there’s no…”
“Need.”
“Need?”Pere repeated.
“Need.Like—something funny happens, and they’re the one you wish you could tell.Because they’dgetit.”
Pere leaned back in her chair.“Ah, yes, none of that for sure.I wish there was.”She flicked a piece of lint from her dress.“I’m still struggling to comprehend that you found that… with Henley.”She blinked, then shook her head.
“I am too.It’s all rather confusing.”
“You don’t sound confused,” Pere said, leaning forward again.“You sound like you know exactly where your heart is.Your mind is just protesting because it doesn’t fit the plan.”
Anna blinked, Pere’s words slicing to the core.“I also feel… guilty.”
“Of?”
“Of… being so double minded.I’ve done what we shame gentlemen for doing, leading someone along, and I don’t know how to fix it, and part of me, a wicked part, doesn’t want to let go of Edwin just yet.He’s what I’ve wanted for so long; it’s hard to reconcile that.And I know it sounds terrible, I can’t believe I’m admitting it out loud.”Anna buried her face in her hands and took a deep breath.
Part of her was relieved at naming the phantom emotions that had been wreaking havoc on her mind, but it also clarified the blackness of her heart.No one ever wanted to consider their faults.
“You’re being honest, that’s commendable.And all I can say is, you better figure it out soon.And speaking of soon…” Pere stood.“It’s breakfast time, and even though I wasn’t the one up all night galivanting in the moonlight, I’m quite famished and… if I’m being totally honest as well…” She rang for her maid.“I can’t wait to observe all this information for myself.You know, I had this weird feeling that something was afoot but I couldn’t name it, maybe I’m more aware of things than I gave myself credit for.”She gave a little giggle.
Anna stood as well, regarding her friend hopefully.“You don’t think less of me?”
Pere frowned.“Heavens no, you’re being truthful with me, and that’s what friends are for.You are sorting out your feelings, not intentionally hurting others.”She gave a wave of her hand.“Do you want my maid to fetch yours and we can get ready together, or did you want your own room?”
Anna twisted her lips and glanced to the door.“I’ll go to my own room, give myself a moment to think, and whoever is finished first, knock on the door and we’ll go down together.”
“Brilliant.”Pere took a seat in front of her vanity as a maid knocked.“Enter.”
Anna took the same moment to escape to her own room, and ring for her own maid.In short work, she was presentable for breakfast.As she was reaching for the door, a knock sounded.
She opened the door to a smiling Pere.“Shall we?”
“We shall.”Anna followed her friend into the hall and down the stairs.
Anna couldn’t help but glance ahead, down the hall toward the door to the servants’ stairs.A blush crept up into her face and she placed a gloved hand to her cheek trying to cool her skin.
The breakfast room was already warm with the scent of toast and coffee when Anna and Pere entered, the morning sun gilding the silverware and casting lace-edged shadows across the tablecloth.Conversation was low and refined, punctuated by the occasional clink of porcelain or a subdued chuckle.
Edwin rose almost immediately upon seeing them, a practiced smile already in place.
“Lovely as always, Lady Anna.May I offer you a seat?”He withdrew a chair beside him and gestured for her to accept it.
“Thank you, Lord Devon.”Anna held her breath as she sat, heart fluttering with emotions that were anything but simple.
How she wished this was far less complicated.
“Pere.”Edwin’s voice greeted his sister with the dismissive tone of an elder brother.
“Brother,” Pere replied in a similar tone.“I’ll take it a step further, as the sibling that clearly has more manners, and ask you if you slept well?”
“Well enough.”Edwin gave a tight smile.
Anna poured herself some tea, needing something to do with her hands as the tension swirled around her—tension born of her own emotions.Movement caught her eye, and she watched as an impeccably dressed Lord Hawthorne strode into the breakfast room.
