Eleanor stirred faintly and tucked closer.
As the fire burned low, James closed his eyes, and for the first time in longer than he could remember, he slept soundly the full night.
CHAPTER 18
Eleanor first noticed James’s absences because the house seemed to pause without him.
It was not quiet, but something in its rhythm shifted. Doors closed more often than they opened. Footsteps passed her without stopping. Even the servants’ voices softened, as though sound itself might travel too far.
She noticed it one morning at breakfast.
James’s chair remained empty.
The table had been set regardless, silver placed with exacting symmetry, his napkin folded and waiting. Eleanor hesitated before sitting, a foolish instinct she had not yet unlearned, and then took her place alone.
Mrs. Hargreaves hovered near the sideboard longer than usual.
“Is His Grace expected this morning?” Eleanor asked lightly, reaching for her tea.
Mrs. Hargreaves clasped her hands. “His Grace has already taken breakfast, Your Grace.”
“Oh.”
“He left just after dawn.”
Eleanor nodded. “Of course.”
Mrs. Hargreaves did not leave immediately. “Shall I have something sent up later? If you wish?”
“No,” Eleanor said at once. “This is sufficient.”
The woman inclined her head and withdrew.
Eleanor stirred her tea though it did not need it. She had learned to observe without drawing notice, and observation told her this was not the first morning James had gone early. It was simply the first she had been awake to see the gap.
Later that day, she encountered him only in passing.
She was crossing the east corridor when voices carried toward her. James emerged from the study with his coat already on, Thomas beside him, a folded packet in his hand.
They slowed when they saw her.
“Eleanor,” James said.
The use of her name still unsettled her, arriving without warning and leaving behind it the faint sense of being acknowledged.
“Good morning,” she replied.
Thomas bowed and excused himself at once, retreating with the discretion of a man who understood when he was no longer required.
James remained.
“I did not see you at breakfast,” he said.
“I slept poorly.”
A pause. Not long, but deliberate.
“I will be gone most of the day,” he said. “There are matters to attend to.”
