“Ah, Jesse. Good morning. You’re up early.”
“Morning,” I said, immediately noticing the suitcases being carried around him by a variety of staff members I’d also never seen before. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I’m afraid I’m just leaving for London,” he explained briskly. “I have some business to attend to, but I’ll likely be seeing you both off before you take Eliza to Chicago so she can acclimate.”
Acclimate.
Unfortunately, there was no time foracclimatingin Alex’s wedding timeline. EvenIwas still having trouble wrapping my head around how accelerated it all was, and it wasn’t even my wedding. The entire thing was moving at a pace that made my brain itch, but I waved off the thought.
Now isn’t the time, and it’s not your problem, remember?
“Right,” I said. “Actually, before you go, do you know where Eliza is this morning?”
James was already halfway out the door, calling back to me over his shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”
Then he was gone. I felt vaguely defeated for a minute before I shook my head, turned, and started walking. At least I’d get to explore more of the castle while I was looking for her. God only knew when—if ever—I’d be back here, and the place was fascinating.
I passed through a long corridor lined with portraits of deeply unimpressed ancestors, stumbling upon an enormous library near the end of the hall. It was so impressive that I got sidetracked for a minute, just staring at the floor-to-ceiling shelves and rolling ladders.
Holy. Fuck. That’s cool.
If I hadn’t been on a mission to find my fiancée—mybrother’sfiancée—I would have taken a look around for sure, but that ominous feeling I’d gotten when Thomas had emerged from the woods instead of Eliza was only intensifying.
Another sitting room appeared around the next corner, then another. Honestly, there were more sitting rooms in this place than seemed even remotely reasonable. How tired were Eliza’s ancestors that they needed to sit all the time? But eventually, I pushed through a pair of tall double doors and stepped into a cavernous space that wasn’t a sitting room, but what was on the other side made me stop in my tracks.
The ballroom.
Except, it didn’t look much like a ballroom at the moment. Crew members were moving around with lighting rigs, camera tracks, and stacks of equipment cases. A group of people at the far end of the room were adjusting something that looked like a giant velvet curtain.
I’d only taken two steps inside before a firm hand grabbed my sleeve, tugging me straight back into the hallway. When I twisted to see who the hand belonged to, I wasn’t surprised to find myself staring into Miriam’s stern eyes.
“You’ll end up desperately lost and be very much in their way,” she said sharply. “Come. Let’s keep out of their hair, shall we?”
“Sorry,” I said immediately. “I was just looking for Eliza.”
She released my arm but studied me like I was a mildly suspicious child. “Well, she’s not in the ballroom.”
Yeah, thanks.“What’s going on in there?”
Miriam sniffed. “Lady Elizabeth opens the castle for production teams quite often. A TV show will be filming here off and on for the next few weeks. In fact, I’m turning over most of the bedrooms for the next few days to make room for the cast and crew.”
She grew slightly puffy about it, clearly not thrilled with the logistical nightmare. Then she fixed me with another pointed look. “So if you would be so kind as to stay out of the way?—”
“You got it,” I said quickly. “I’ll stay away. Again, I didn’t mean to get in anyone’s hair. I really was just looking for Eliza.”
Her expression softened just a fraction. “I’m afraid her Ladyship is not feeling well this morning.”
My stomach twisted into knots. Those werenotwords I liked hearing about Eliza ever, but especially not after that kiss. I looked back at Miriam, hoping she’d take pity on me and just spit it out. “Where’s her room?”
She blinked at me like I’d asked for the crown jewels. “That is not information we typically hand out.”
“Right,” I said thoughtfully, then glanced down the hallway. “Well, in that case, I suppose I’ll just keep wandering. Inevitably ending up in the way. I’m also terribly clumsy.”
I tilted my head toward one of the massive porcelain vases resting on a freshly waxed antique table nearby. The thing looked priceless, and frankly, the table itself probably was too. Miriam narrowed her eyes, her lips pressing into a thin line.
Her answering sigh was long and deeply disapproving, but she swept out her hand in the complete opposite direction I was thinking of going next. “Follow me.”
Victory.
