“Well, yes,” she said, her tone slightly sharp, since she’d never had much patience for self-pity, “but also to learn other things about them. They’re charming children.”
He looked at her dubiously.
She cleared her throat. “They do misbehave on occasion—”
One of his brows shot up.
“Very well, they misbehave quite often, but truly, all they want is a little attention from you.”
“They told you this?”
“Of course not,” she said, smiling at his naïveté. “They’re only eight. They’re not going to say it in so many words. But it’s quite clear to me.”
They reached the dining room, so Eloise took the seat held out for her by a footman. Phillip sat across from her, put his hand on his wineglass, then drew it back. His lips moved, but very slightly, as if he had something to say but wasn’t quite certain how to phrase it. Finally, after Eloise had taken a sip of her own wine, he asked, “Did they enjoy it? Swimming, I mean.”
She smiled. “Very much. You should take them.”
He closed his eyes and held them that way, not for very long, but still, more than a blink. “I don’t think I’d be able,” he said.
She nodded. She knew the power of memories. “Perhaps somewhere else,” she suggested. “Surely there must be another lake nearby. Or even a mere pond.”
He waited for her to pick up her spoon, then dipped his own in his soup. “That’s a fine idea. I think ...” He stopped, cleared his throat. “I think I could do that. I shall ponder where we might go.”
There was something so heartbreaking about his expression—the uncertainty, the vulnerability. The awareness that even though he wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing, he was going to try to do it anyway. Eloise felt her heart lurch, skip a beat, even, and she wanted to reach across the table and touch his hand. But of course she couldn’t. Even if the table weren’t a foot longer than the length of her arm, she couldn’t. So in the end, she just smiled and hoped that her manner was reassuring.
Phillip ate a bit of his soup, then dabbed at his mouth with his napkin and said, “I hope that you will join us.”
“Of course,” Eloise said, delighted. “I would be desolate if I weren’t invited.”
“I’m quite certain you overstate,” he said with a wry twist to his lips, “but nonetheless, we would be honored, and to be quite honest,Iwould be relieved to have you there.” At her curious expression, he added, “The outing is certain to be a successful one with your presence.”
“I’m sure you—”
He stopped her midsentence. “We will all enjoy ourselves much better with your accompaniment,” he said quite emphatically, and Eloise decided to stop arguing and graciously accept the compliment. He was, in all likelihood, correct. He and his children were so unused to spending time together that they would probably benefit from having Eloise along to smooth the way.
Eloise found she didn’t mind the idea one bit. “Perhaps tomorrow,” she suggested, “if the fine weather holds out.”
“I think it will,” Phillip said conversationally. “The air didn’t feel changeable.”
Eloise glanced at him as she sipped her soup, a chicken broth with bits of vegetables that needed a touch more salt. “Do you predict the weather, then?” she asked, quite certain her skepticism showed on her face. She had a cousin who was convinced he could predict the weather, and every time she listened to him, she ended up soaked to the skin or freezing her toes off.
“Not at all,” he replied, “but one can—” He stopped, craned his neck a bit. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Eloise answered, but as the words left her lips, she heard what Phillip must have heard. Argumentative voices, growing louder by the second. Heavy footfall.
A forceful stream of invective was followed by a yelp of terror that could only have come from the butler ...
And then Eloiseknew.
“Oh, dear God,” she said, her grip on her spoon growing slack until the soup dribbled off, splashing back into her bowl.
“What the devil?” Phillip asked, standing up, obviously preparing to defend his home against invasion.
Except that he had no idea what sort of invaders he was about to face. What sort of annoying, meddlesome, and diabolical invaders he was going to have to meet in, oh, approximately ten seconds.
But Eloise did. And she knew thatannoying, meddlesome,anddiabolicalmeant nothing compared tofurious, unreasonable,anddownright largewhen it came to Phillip’s imminent safety.
“Eloise?” Phillip asked, his brows shooting up when they both heard someone bellow her name.
