Page 47 of The Best-Laid Plans

She scooted a little closer, near enough for him to take her hand. “How soon will you begin your law education?”

“I am for London in a fortnight. I will secure lodgings somewhere—Mr. Jonquil indicated several boarding establishments can be found nearby that cater to students of the law. Generally, they place several students in a flat, but it is, apparently, not a miserable arrangement.”

“I am so happy for you, Newton.”

He studied her expression. “You do not seem entirely happy.”

“Iamhappy for you. But I am not particularly overjoyed for me.” She stood and paced away, twisting her hands around one another. “My family is returning to Shropshire in two days’ time. I have no choice but to go with them.Thatwill be, to borrow your phrase, a miserable arrangement.”

Newton had known she would eventually have to leave Bath and do so with the people who treated her with such unkindness, but he’d repeatedly pushed that from his thoughts. He ought not to have. He ought to have been thinking of a way to help her. But what could he do? Her father was granted by the law full control over every aspect of her life. She was at his mercy. Newton could do nothing to help her.

He moved to where she stood. “Will you come to London for the Season? You have spoken of wishing to do so.”

“Even if my family could afford to do so or had once been willing, I am certain they will not do so now,” she said. “I have every reason to believe they blame me for Lillian’s fall from grace. Life at home is going to be awful. I know it will be.”

He took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “I am so sorry, Ellie. I truly am.”

She took a slightly shaky breath. “I am not looking forward to the next... well, the nextforever.”

Newton took a quick look toward the doorway, making certain it was empty. Finding them momentarily alone, he closed the small distance between the two of them. As she’d done once before in this very room, Ellie leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He set his arms around her. She was soft and warm in his embrace, peaceful. With her, he found the elusive feeling of home.

Standing with her in his arms, he found himself questioning everything. His family provided him with income that would support a family in some degree of comfort. If he abandoned his dreams of being a barrister, he and Ellie could, perhaps, be together. Could he find happiness enough in their connection to push away the disappointment of losing that dream, the tedium of having no occupation? But if he followedthatdream, would he ever stop regretting losing the dream ofher?

* * *

Ellie was happy for Newton, but her heart was heavy. He’d held her tenderly, expressed a wish to see her in London, but he’d offered no reassurance of his love or his wish for a future together. He intended to find a flat with a group of other students, hardly the lodgings one searched out when wishing to marry.

She wanted to believe she hadn’t imagined his feelings growing genuinely more tender toward her. Perhaps, eventually, those feelings would have grown strong enough for him to make anything resembling a promise. But they’d run out of time.

Artemis came upon her as she sat worn down and burdened on the bed in the guest chamber. “You do not seem quite your usual self.”

“My family is returning to Shropshire,” she said. “My sister’s sojourn in Bath has taken a turn for the worse.”

Artemis sat beside her. “Imagine that.”

Ellie pushed out a breath. “I am absolutely certain they blame me.”

“Why admit they caused their own trouble when they can secure a convenient scapegoat?” Artemis shook her head in obvious annoyance. “Your family are not precisely scholars, are they?”

She smiled a little but found her heart wasn’t entirely in it. “My life is about to be extremely miserable.”

“Not necessarily.” Artemis turned a little, facing her more directly. “What if, instead of going to Shropshire to be tortured and mistreated, you came to Northumberland with me and wandered the dusty and drafty corridors of a five-hundred-year-old castle?”

Ellie was too surprised to do anything but narrow her gaze and draw her brows in silence.

“None of my siblings is planning to visit this winter. My sister and brother-in-law, the ones who live there, have their own family to occupy their time and attention. All of the Huntresses have their own homes in which to pass the cold, dark months.” Though Artemis was being a bit jestful in her tone and explanation, there was real sadness in her eyes. “It is terribly lonely, Ellie. I’ve come to actually dread being at the castle.”

“And you wish me to join you there?”

She smiled a little uncertainly. “I would be unspeakably grateful.”

Ellie didn’t dare let herself believe it possible. “Your brother-in-law is known to despise company.”

“He won’t object,” Artemis said.

“You can’t be certain of that.”

“Actually, I can.” Some of her friend’s confidence was returning. “I wrote to the duke and duchess asking for their honest feelings on the possibility of my bringing a friend to spend the winter there.”

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