Sophie’s soft words seemed to seep into Ellie’s soul, and understanding came. She did love Darius. “I must, because his betrayal hurts here.” She placed her hand on her chest and let her tears fall.
“Come sit.” Sophie led her to a settee. “Here, take my handkerchief.”
At the simple kindness, Ellie started crying harder. “I should have known it wasn’t meant to be. I should never have hoped. Mother always said I’d be lucky to marry, and look, the only reason I did is because he didn’t know me. To think that I could have a marriage like Elsbeth or Dory or Lissa was no more than a dream. It’s my fault I’m hurt. I expected too much.”
Sophie jumped to her feet. “Don’t you say that. You’re not the one who is wrong. He is. Eleanor Compton Taylour, heliedtoyou. Not only did he treat you kindly and made you trust him, but he broke that trust. He must not be the man you thought he was.”
Since those had been her exact thoughts, she couldn’t argue, even if a part of her still believed she should have somehow known. “But who is he, then?”
“I have a more important question, Ellie. Will you be able to forgive him?”
“I imagine it depends on why he did it.” She tried to imagine a good reason for Darius to hide from her. “What if he lured someone out there to keep them from harming me? But then he would have rounded them up and not stayed over a week. Or what if he contracted scarlet fever and didn’t wish me to see him fighting it? But he looked fine, though maybe a bit feverish. What if he owed a life debt to the gamekeeper and was forced to meet with him there? But he could certainly tell me that.”
“It doesn’t matter why he did it. Men, from what I’ve observed, will make decisions far different than women in the same set of circumstances. What may seem like the right decision to one feels like the worst decision to the other. So it really doesn’t matter why he hid from you and lied about it. Whatwillmatter in the end is if you can forgive him.”
Ellie’s head understood what Sophie was saying, but her heart rebelled. “I don’t know if I can.”
Sophie sat next to her again. “I understand.”
“You do?”
“No, not truly. I’ve never been in love. But I do know you, and you are a strong, capable, intelligent woman with a kind heart, who I’m honored to call my friend. I know that you will do what is best for you.”
She hadn’t realized how much Sophie’s words meant to her until just that moment. “And you are my wise, kind, and very patient friend whom I will always support.” She gave Sophie ahug, her friend’s small frame comforting, then stood. “Now, as your strong, capable, intelligent friend, I plan to talk to both my butler and my housekeeper and discover what has been afoot.”
“And so you should.” Sophie nodded.
Ellie moved toward the tea service, intending to warm up her drink to settle her belly before calling her staff, but her hip caught the chair, which hit the table and sent the pot of tea crashing to the floor. Though it didn’t break, the small carpet quickly turned dark brown. “Oh, no.” She looked back at Sophie, whose brows rose in concern. “Maybe just strong and intelligent?”
Sophie stood once more. “No, you are very capable as well. You had to hit that chair at just the right angle to tip the table so the teapot would fall but nothing else. I call that quite capable.” Then she crossed her arms, mimicking Ellie’s usual stance.
Ellie grinned, then chuckled, then laughed loudly until new tears fell from her eyes. “Oh my… Just right…nothing else… Sophie…” She finally stifled her humor a bit and sniffed, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief her friend had lent her. “Thank you.”
Sophie grinned. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m so glad I know you so well. I would not like to be on the opposing side of your mind.”
“Thank you. Would you like help with confronting your servants?”
All humor vanished, but Ellie felt much more ready to tackle that situation. “No. I am capable of handling Mr. Beacham and Mrs. Torbett on my own. You can return to whichever book you’ve been reading, and I shall go to the parlor—no, the study, to talk to my servants.”
“I look forward to hearing what you discover.”
She gave her friend a nod before striding out of the room and downstairs. When Beacham appeared in the entryway, shehalted. “I need you and Mrs. Torbett to attend to me in the study.”
“The study? Yes, my lady.” The butler quickly disappeared down the opposite corridor.
Ellie entered the study and settled herself behind Darius’s desk. As she waited, she looked at the drawers and contemplated investigating. She never would have thought to do so before, as it was his desk, but now…
The doors to the study opened and Beacham and Mrs. Torbett hurried in.
Ellie rose. “Please, take a seat.”
“If you’re worried about the Christmas goose, my lady, rest assured it will arrive tomorrow, and we will have it prepared and ready for the oven by Christmas morning,” Mrs. Torbett was quick to speak.
“I have no doubt at all about your ability to ensure we have a proper Christmas feast. Nor do I have any doubts about Mr. Beacham’s ability to ensure all the staff will be present for their boxes the following day. What I do doubt is your loyalty to me.”
“What?” Mrs. Torbett appeared duly shocked.
