Page 167 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
A fragile warmth hummed in his chest, and he found himself doubting his father’s words, wondering if perhaps Minty would have stayed regardless of what he’d offered her.
“I will,” he said, knowing that this promise, at least, he could keep. “Take care, Minty.”
“Youtake care,” she insisted, and patted him on the shoulder. “Now, be off with you. Time waits for no man.”
Dimitri sighed, and got into the carriage.
Time waits for no man,he pondered. But would she? In another life, one where they were free, would Adeline wait for him?
I shall love you until the day I die,he promised no one, and the carriage kicked into life.
Eager as she was, Adeline could not run the entire way there. Lung capacity and biting cold alone, she slipped three times just getting to the bottom of the lane, and decided to take the country route, the grass less slippery than the well-maintained road.
Elliott’s suggestion had ignited something inside her, a hope she barely dared clutch at. Of course she should just tell him.Of course.Why hadn’t she seen it before? It might not change anything about their stations, but it would change everything else.
She prayed he’d believe her, hoped that he understood—
Halfway there, she caught a glimpse of the polished black Von Mortimer carriage speeding along the road, and her heart leapt with another hope. Had the Duke left?
Thoughts of slipping back into Dimitri’s room, of spending lazy days beside him, spurred her onwards. Perhaps they could do more than casually flirt. The odd chaste kiss here and there wasn’t going to hurt anyone. There was plenty they could do without letting things go too far—
Ifhe believed her. If he wasn’t too furious with her.
That made her slow down, just for a bit, before remembering Elliott’s words, before remembering that Dimitri deserved to know, to know everything—
She skidded like a cat into the kitchens, beaming at the faces of everyone around her.
No one returned her smile.
“Adeline,” said Mrs Minton, rising from her seat. “There’s something we need to tell you.”
The Von Mortimer carriage rattled down the country road, and Dimitri stared wistfully out of the window, a cold fog gathering in the fields and meadows, stretching the woodlands beyond, making the pointed tops of the trees slice through the mist like spearheads.
Adeline had dragged him along that road in another life, to meet the family she treasured above all else. He remembered how baking it had been, how he sweltered beneath the unnecessary cloak, how his skin had warmed beneath her touch.
But winter stole all memory of heat, and he remembered it like a dream.
A dream. Perhaps that was all she was. A dream of his youth, a candle in the dark. Maybe in years gone by, he could look at this time fondly.
No.
Adeline would forever be more than a memory. She was a scar, a brand against his heart, a wish given human shape. A living ghost he’d carry with him to the grave.
But she would not carry him. Whatever she’d felt, she’d given it up for money, as his father was only too keen to remind him.
A cruel, unnecessary reminder.
Or was it? Perhaps his father was afraid that Dimitri wouldn’t go, or that he’d speak to Adeline before making his decision—
No, no. He was being foolish. Hopeful. Like he had always been.
He scrubbed at his temples.
You are already haunting me.
Adeline fled along the road, sides splitting, lungs burning, eyes scanning through the spreading gloom for the Von Mortimer carriage.
“Adeline!”Thomas had called after her.“You can’t outrun a carriage!”
