Page 100 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
Adeline’s cheeks heated.Passionate throes, passionate throes…did he even know what he was implying, or was he merely parroting a phrase he’d read in a book somewhere? “There’s no laundry in here.”
Dimitri tugged it from her. “Then there'll be nothing for them to gossip about.”
“Fine,” she relented. “But at the first sign of someone—”
“I’ll drop the basket and run back upstairs and leave you to fend for yourself, yes, yes.”
Adeline unlatched the door to the nearby hidden staircase.
Dimitri grinned at her. “After you.”
She slipped into the narrow space, Dimitri close behind her.
“Lords, these are cramped,” he remarked.
“You’ve never been in them before?”
“Not since I was child. They seemed bigger then.”
Adeline pondered for a moment on how odd it was that he had so little knowledge of the house he lived in, wondering if there was even a scrap of her own house she’d not examined a hundred times by now. She knew every chip in the paintwork, every creaking floorboard, and the thirteen jobs that needed doing inside it.
“You’re quiet,” Dimitri remarked.
“I have nothing to say.”
“I don’t believe that for one moment.” He paused behind her, spare hand brushing against her back. “You’re not… I haven’t upset you at all, have I?”
Adeline stopped, just as still.You’ve not upset me. You’ve confused me. Or maybe I’ve confused myself.“When you’ve upset me, I’ll let you know.”
“Good,” he said, with a smile in his voice. “Please do so.”
They carried on down the winding staircase, Adeline’s ears pricked for sound. A small, still figure came into view, slumped against the steps.
“Erabella?”
Quite forgetting Dimitri was with her in her concern over the girl, Adeline raced ahead, dropping down beside her. Erabella’s eyes were closed, hands folded underneath her head.
“Is she all right?” Dimitri hovered above them.
Adeline placed a hand to her cheek. It was cool, not cold, and her pulse seemed steady. “I think so. I think she’s just sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” Dimitri’s eyes drifted towards the cobwebs and the dust, as if he couldn’t imagine anything more ludicrous than someone taking a nap here.
“Yes,” Adeline said. “She’s been working so hard of late, poor thing must be exhausted…” She sighed, shaking her head. “Let’s get her to her room. I’ll finish her jobs for the day.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I don’t want to wake her. Can you help me lift her?”
Dimitri moved down the remaining steps, sliding an arm under Erabella’s waist. He lifted her against his chest, trying not to look too pleased with himself.
He could not have managed that when they first met.
“Give me another month and I might be able to lift you.” He beamed.
“Hmm, maybe one or two…”
Adeline shuffled forward down the stairs, pausing at the door to listen to movement on the other side, and stepped into the corridor. Slowly, carefully, they made their way down to the servants’ quarters, and Erabella’s room, where they laid her down carefully on the bed.
