Ginny glanced down at her work, a soft blush tinging the maid’s cheeks.
“I have not seen you look so lost in thought since your first week here, Your Grace,” Ginny explained. “As of late, you have been coming to bed with a glow about you. Now it seems that the darkness from before has returned.”
Elara glanced away from the mirror to look at her hands in her lap. Hands that now, more often than not, were touched orreached to touch Constantine when they were in the same room.
Yes, she suspected a darkness of sorts had returned to her thoughts. In eight days, Augustus was scheduled to return to London. Their investigations into what had happened had led them to him, but no new details about Evander had emerged. What if Augustus was actually not involved in Evander’s disappearance at all? What if, despite all their efforts, they reached a dead end for answers?
Furthermore, what would that dead end signify? Would she stay married to Constantine? She needed time alone to reflect on these things.
“I am simply weary from the day,” Elara sighed, forcing a smile as she looked back up at the reflection. “My hair seems brushed enough, Ginny, thank you. You may go now.”
“Shall I finish preparing you for bed first?” Ginny asked, setting the hairbrush down.
“That will not be necessary,” Elara replied. “Just do me the kindness of loosening my stays, and I shall tend to the rest.”
“Very well, Your Grace,” Ginny acquiesced.
With her gown already removed, Ginny reached down to the exposed strings of her stays at Elara’s back and untied them. She then ran her hands between the stays and the fabric of Elara’s white shift, pulling gently to loosen the restrictive clothing.
“Ring for me if you need anything else, Your Grace,” Ginny said as she stepped back.
Elara waited until she heard the door to her suite close, and then sighed. For a moment, she remained on her vanity stool, feeling weary not just in mind but in body. William was a happy,interactive boy and took much of her energy during the day. Not that she minded. In fact, it was one of her favorite parts of the day. The other had once been the visits from the women in her family, but now, that slot competed with time spent with Constantine.
Which, she wagered, was not at all good if they were going to annul their marriage in the near future.
Disgruntled by the thought, Elara rose from her stool and undressed. Her nightgown, a plain white linen piece, was already laid out for her on the bed. Yet as she picked it up, she decided she did not want to wear it. Ever since her impassioned night with Constantine, Elara had begun to feel differently about her body.
She had never been ashamed of it, but in truth, she had never much paid attention to it either. Yet that night, when Constantine’s eyes had positively illuminated at the sight of her breasts, she began to notice her figure as well. It was as if his touch had ignited some new feeling of pride or awareness within her.
Tossing the plain nightgown aside, Elara walked away from it and opened her wardrobe. She looked over her options, wondering what to pick. Then she saw it. The nightgown her mother had given her not long after she married Constantine. Afterward, in fact, she had told her mother that appearing before him naked had failed to make him weak, and her mother provided her with a different set. That was Nora’s way of insisting she try one more time.
It was made of crimson silk. Its sleeves were barely straps that sat atop her shoulders, and the bust came down to a lowV.It was long and covered her legs, but there was a single slit that ran upto her hip on the right. It also came with a matching robe.
A smile touched her lips as she reached for the silky ensemble and quickly drew on the nightgown. It felt heavenly as she slid it over her body, and, even though she was alone, she did a little spin in it.
‘I love you in red.’
Constantine’s words, his voice, erupted into Elara’s thoughts. She ceased her spinning immediately. She had despised him that first day. Now…
Elara snuffed out her candles and climbed into bed. Despite the summer heat, she wrapped herself in her blankets and snuggled deep; her mind a tangled mess of rage-filled moments, happiness, pleasure—and, depending on what happened with Augustus the following week, possibly heartache.
Have I somehow fallen for the man I once despised?
Such thoughts did not cease, even as Elara spent the next three hours trying to fall asleep. Despite how many other things she tried to think of, her mind always went back to Constantine.
Finally, a little after midnight, she tossed her covers off with a huff and climbed out of bed.
“Perhaps a nibble of something, or warmed milk would help,” she murmured to herself.
She slipped the red robe over her shoulders, belted it, and took leave from her room. In the hallway, the sconces had been put out, and not a soul was to be seen. The servants, even the fires, were asleep. With a weary sigh, she went back to her room, lit a lamp, and then made her way down to the kitchens.
When she arrived at the vast, empty space, she began inspecting the cleaned counters and empty basins, looking for anything that might have been left behind. Frowning when she found none, she went to the pantry. To her relief, she found a few cloth-wrapped loaves of bread, a crock of butter, and a jar of gooseberry marmalade. Deciding it would do, she placed her lamp on the nearest counter and began to gather the goods.
“Could not sleep either?”
Elara gasped and nearly dropped the armful of food as she heard Constantine’s deep voice rumble from behind her. She whirled around, ready to chastise him for sneaking up on her, but her words died on her tongue as she saw him. His brown hair was rumpled, as if he too had been tossing and turning, and his breeches were not entirely buttoned at his waist, leaving them to hang on his hips. What drew her attention most, though, was the sight of his naked torso and arms.
She had felt his muscles when he had hugged her; when he had slid his body atop hers that particularly passionate night, but she had neverseenhim naked before. The plains and ridges of his muscles were smooth and evenly proportioned, and they wrapped around his body from neck to those delicious-looking hips where his breeches hung.
