“Nothing except for your mooning over my brother day and night.” Lizzie blushed. “Perhaps I should have stayed back in Brighthollow to allow you two to be newlyweds.”
“Don’t be silly. We love that you are here with us.”
“It’s obvious you like being around him very much.”
Amelia wrinkled her brow at the uncertain tone of Lizzie’s voice. “Yes,” she said, drawing out the word slightly. “He is good company.”
“I mean youlike being around him,” Lizzie repeated, her gaze darting away.
Amelia jerked in surprise, for she understood the meaning that was meant in those innocuous words. “Ah, I see. Lizzie, though it would be very inappropriate to speak to you about my…private relationship with your brother, I do think that you should know what we share is something you can still have. I hope you won’t judge your future by one bad experience from your past. With the right man everything can be…can be…perfect.”
She said the last word in a whisper, for it struck her how right that word was.Perfectwas how she would describe the physical connection between herself and Hugh. And as he let his walls come down and showed her more and more of his true self, their time outside the bedroom was also becoming more perfect.
“Amelia, Lizzie!”
The two turned, and Amelia couldn’t help but smile. There, at the top of the hill, were Meg, the Duchess of Crestwood, and Charlotte, the Duchess of Donburrow. They’d stood from a picnic blanket where their young children were still playing, and were waving.
“You say you know both Meg and Charlotte, yes?” Amelia asked as they started up the hill together.
Lizzie nodded with enthusiasm. “Oh, yes. They are sisters of men in the duke club, just as I am. Though they were both so much older than I was, they both kindly included me in their circle back when I was a girl.”
Amelia smiled. Of course they would, for she couldn’t picture either lovely woman being anything but kind, no matter their age. “Good afternoon, ladies!” she said as they reached them.
Hugs were exchanged and Amelia laughed as both women cooed over how tall and beautiful Lizzie was becoming. It was clear she would have champions of the highest caliber as she made her way in Society, and that pleased Amelia greatly. Together they could all make her transition easy.
“And look at the bride,” Charlotte said, reaching for Amelia’s hand. “The country has done you wonders—you practically glow.”
Amelia swallowed hard as Meg examined her more closely. “You do look wonderful, Amelia. I wonderwhatevercould be making you so happy?”
They laughed good-naturedly, and Amelia did the same, despite the heat that flooded her cheeks at their teasing. And at her own thoughts about Hugh, which rushed back, louder and more confusing and unbalancing as ever.
“Sit with us,” Meg said, patting the blanket. “We so need to catch up, Lizzie—we have not seen you in an age.”
Lizzie glanced at Amelia and, when she nodded, happily took a place on the blanket with the other two. Amelia remained standing, trying to calm her restless, throbbing heart.
“I could actually use a bit of air,” she said. “A little walk to the edge of the lake and back. But then I will sit and we’ll have a lovely, long chat together.”
The three women glanced up, and she saw concern on all their faces. Meg was gentle as she said, “Of course. Travel can be quite overwhelming. Take a moment and we will be here waiting.”
Amelia squeezed Lizzie’s shoulder, then turned and made her way back to the path. Just over the next rise was the lake’s edge, and she followed the lane there. She stood near the water, drawing deep breaths as she tried to control her wild emotions.
Emotions that were building up inside of her. Telling her one thing and one thing only: that she was in love with Hugh. And it was a much deeper and more powerful feeling than anything she had felt for Aaron Walters.
“Amelia?”
She froze as her name was said by the voice of the very man who had just come into her mind. She turned and found Walters standing before her, watching her intently.
She stared, still uncertain if this was some odd conjuring from her errant mind. And also taken aback by his appearance. He looked the same, of course, as he had when she’d left his home just two weeks before. He held a hat in his hand, but every hair on his head was perfectly in place. His bright eyes were the same. He was still tall and absolutely handsome.
But when she looked at him, she felt…nothing. He seemed a boy to her now, shifting around as he cast side glances at her. Not like Hugh, who had always held her gaze steady. Who always made her feel like he was certain at all times.
“M-Mr. Walters,” she stammered at last when she realized she had not yet responded to his greeting. “What a surprise to see you here.”
The shy smile that had been on his face faded and something harder set his jaw. “Mr. Walters,” he repeated. “Is that whathewould force you to call me?”
His poisonous tone should not have been surprising to her. After all, her husband had destroyed Aaron’s hopes weeks ago, and he believed that it had been done just to hurt him. Still, hearing that venom raised her hackles and made her wish to defend Hugh.
“No,” she said. “I simply believe it would be inappropriate for me to be so familiar as to call you by your first name now.”
