That settled it, then. I had to stay.
“Very well.” I tried my best to smile. “We will stay until the ball.”
“Good.” Mrs. Kellaway searched my face, as if trying to read me like Owen always did. “After that, I will honor your wish to return home.”
Home. I held onto the word for a long moment, an ache spreading through my chest. I hadn’t been home in five years. Until coming to Kellaway Manor, I had been adrift, yearning for a sense of belonging. I had found it again here. But once again, I couldn’t keep it.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I cleared my throat. “Thank you for everything.”
Mrs. Kellaway smiled, but her eyes were sad. She eyed me carefully, her brows pinched. “Does Owen know about your marriage plans?”
A felt a sharp stab in my heart. She would think less of me now. She would think that I had been falsely encouraging her son. Mrs. Everard couldn’t have been the only one who had noticed the time we spent together.
“You’re the only person I’ve confided in,” I said.
Mrs. Kellaway gave a solemn nod with her lips pressed together. I sensed the depth of her disappointment without a single word. “May I ask one more thing ofyou?”
My heart raced, but I nodded.
“Tell Owen. He deserves to know.”
I nodded again, but my skin was on fire. I had been so close to a clean escape, but Mrs. Kellaway was right. Owen did deserve to know. It would be cruel of me to hold him back from seeking a future with someone else. Perhaps Miss Lyons could make him happy after all. The idea filled me with bitterness, but I pushed it away. It wasn’t my concern who he married. All that mattered was that it couldn’t be me.
I released a tight breath, rising to my feet at the same moment Mrs. Kellaway did. My stomach begged for food, but no amount of delicious scents could tempt me into the breakfastroom. If I was going to survive the next week, I would have to spend it as far from the other residents as possible. My heart ached so violently I wondered if I had the strength to do it.
It would take the last of my courage to speak to Owen, but I had no choice. I had to tell him about Mr. Frampton, and I had to stay at Kellaway Manor for another week to watch Miss Lyons and Alice gloat over their victory. Not only would I have to give up the future I truly wanted, but I would have to watch someone else try to claim it.
I could think of nothing more torturous.
After I was sure breakfast was over, I sneaked to the library to look for my brothers. Their maid often took them to breakfast, but I was usually the one to bring them to the library to read with the Everards. As quietly as I could manage, I approached the doors and peeked inside.
I saw Mrs. Everard’s grey hair, then the balding top of Mr. Everard’s head. But Peter and Charles weren’t there.
I heard voices in the parlor, but with a quick peek through the doors, I confirmed that it was the last place I wanted to be. Alice and Miss Lyons sat together at the card table, along with Edmund and Mrs. Kellaway.
As I peeked through the doors, a pang of dread struck my chest. What if my brothers were unsupervised again? The consequences had been dire the last time that had happened.
A deep voice came from behind me. “You can’t avoid them forever, you know.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin, pressing a hand to my chest. I whirled around. Owen stood there, a teasing grin on his lips. Hehad caught me spying into the parlor. I would have been angry if I hadn’t missed his teasing expression so much. Peter stood on one side of him, Charles on the other.
“I was just looking for you two!” I whispered. I strode away from the parlor doors, stopping near an arched window with a marble bust. My brothers followed me, and unfortunately, so did Owen.
“I felt the need to give them another lesson,” Owen said with a smile.
I stared at him in surprise. He could have been in the parlor with the rest of his family, but instead, he had chosen to spend time with my brothers? I scowled at him, my usual defense, though his gesture had sent my heart spiraling. “Why did you take them without my permission?”
He stepped closer and put his hands on my brothers’ shoulders. “We wished to surprise you.”
“Surprise me with what?” My voice was hard and unfeeling.
Owen’s smile fell into a rueful frown. “I thought you wouldn’t mind.”
I didn’t answer. The awkwardness of the night before still thrived in the air between us, and he acted as if it wasn’t there.
I sighed. “I was worried, that’s all.” I allowed myself a small smile. “You better have taught them something remarkable.”
Owen grinned. “Oh, I did. Boys, present your masterpiece.”
