Elise followed her friend’s stare and through the window she could see Celia and Dane talking to Stenfax. “You were right about Rosalinde’s sister. IlikeCelia, even if she did lay claim to Stenfax once.”
“No, she never did,” Felicity said, her tone faraway. “Only you have ever done that.”
Elise flinched at that assessment and slipped from her friend’s embrace to walk back to the wall.
“You don’t believe it to be true,” Felicity said.
“I don’t know anymore,” Elise admitted.
“Well, ask Stenfax yourself, for here he comes,” Felicity said.
Elise spun around to watch Lucien walk through the terrace doors toward her. She tensed as she awaited his arrival, awaited how he would treat her and if she could bear the barriers between them.
“Congratulations again, Lucien,” Felicity said, moving toward him. He embraced her just a little too tightly for the sentiment and Elise saw worry line his handsome face. He erased it before he pulled back and leaned down to whisper something to his sister.
Felicity nodded, tossed Elise a knowing smile and then went into the house. Elise’s heart stuttered as Stenfax now strode toward her, his gaze focused firmly on her. When he reached her, he caught her hand and lifted it to his lips.
“Have I told you today just how lovely you look?”
Elise blushed. “Not in so many words, but when I rounded the corner into the parlor where we wed, your eyes got rather large. Though to be honest, I wasn’t certain whether you liked what you saw or were considering making a run for it.”
A rare smile broadened over his face. “I was not considering running, I assure you.”
“No?” She drew a long breath. She didn’t want these walls between them forever. And maybe, just maybe she could start to tear them down after all. She threaded her fingers through his. “I am surprised to hear you say you didn’t consider escape.”
“You think I wish to escape you?” he asked, his smile falling and his tone becoming serious.
“How can I not, Lucien? This marriage was thrust upon you, I know it was your honor that dictated you wed me rather than a real desire.” He opened his mouth, but she moved forward. “Oh, please, let me finish.”
“Go ahead.”
“I appreciate the protection, please don’t misunderstand. But there is so much we’ve left unsaid. So much between us from before, from now. I hate to start with so much in the balance.”
She waited for him to respond, to deny what she said or to walk away like he had been doing throughout the time of their short engagement. Instead he nodded slowly.
“I agree, Elise,” he whispered. “Wemusttalk it out at last. Let’s sneak away, just us, and do that.”
Elise stared up at him. She couldn’t read his expression and that frightened her, especially after the chaos of the past few weeks. “Won’t the others notice our absence?”
“In such a small party, of course they will,” he said, taking her hand. “But Felicity will explain. Now come, we have much to do if we are to resolve things between us at last.”
She frowned at his turn of phrase. Resolve things between them at last. The idea was not very comforting. After all, he could have many plans for their future that weren’t going to end happily for her. Many couples in Society lived separate lives.
“You tremble,” he whispered.
She nodded. “I do.”
His expression softened. “Come on.”
He tugged her forward gently, toward the winding staircase that led from the terrace to the garden below. He took her on a side path that led back to the front of the estate and to her surprise, a phaeton was waiting there for them. He helped her up, said a few soft words to the groom who waited there for them, and then climbed up beside her.
They rode off together, not toward the main gate of the house, but farther into the estate, down pathways she had last traveled as a girl when she came here with her family. She might have enjoyed the trip through her memories if she wasn’t so afraid of the outcome.
Stenfax, on the other hand, seemed entirely at ease. He even whistled as they rode on and on, through twisting lanes, past the manicured lawns and into the quiet, wooded depths of the estate.
After twenty minutes on the lane, he rounded a curve and a cottage rose up ahead of them. It was a beautiful place, faced with large, round river stone. Smoke curled up from the chimney, welcoming them there.
“Your father’s old hunting lodge?” Elise said softly.
