Page 25 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Yes, but at least you don’t look it.”
“You need to work on your flattery,” she said, fixing the hat into place. “Shall we?” She held out her arm.
“I’m not an invalid,” he pouted. “You don’t need to support me.”
She shrugged, and opened the door. “As you wish.”
Dimitri walked off down the corridor, and she followed after, stopping at the top of the grand staircase. He paused, waiting for her to follow.
“What is it?”
“I’m… I’m not supposed to use these stairs.”
He rolled his eyes, or at least, one of them. “I’ve always found that rule to be preposterous, and certainly today. Get down here.”
“Coming!” She hurtled down after him, basket bouncing in the crook of her arm. Moments later, they stepped out into the gardens, acres of unspoilt lawn folding out ahead of them. Dimitri flinched slightly at the light, but the hat did its job. Adeline turned to face him, barely suppressing a grin.
“Permission to run about with gay abandon, My Lord?”
“Are you genuinely asking permission?” he asked. “And it’s Dimitri. You’re committed to Dimitri, now.”
“Of course,” she said, and tore from his side to hurtle through the grass, almost tripping over her skirts. She laughed, quite forgetting who she was or what she was doing, some faint remnant of a childhood long put away bubbling up inside her. She ran until the lawns grew wilder, the flower beds higher, into the shade of the trees, before slumping down in the long grass and picking up a handful of daisies to weave into a crown.
“What are you doing?” asked Dimitri, slowly catching up to her.
“Making a daisy chain.”
“Whatever for?”
“Because even you will struggle to look miserable wearing a daisy chain.”
“I’m not—”
A gardener appeared behind them, pulling a wheelbarrow. His eyes widened at the sight of Dimitri, before bobbing his head in a quick bow. He scurried on up the winding path to another chap pruning the hedgerows, and their voices fell to low, hushed whispers, their gazes tight on the two of them.
Adeline glanced at Dimitri. His jaw was stiff, his breath coming out in short, tight bursts.
“This was a mistake,” he uttered, “I shouldn’t have—”
He turned to hurry back to the house, but Adeline caught his wrist. “Wait,” she said, half expecting to be shucked off. “Please. Let me speak to them.”
He tensed underneath her touch, but he did not move. “All right,” he said.
Without another word, Adeline marched up to the gardeners and dismissed them on his behalf with a few choice words of her own. She felt Dimitri’s gaze on her as she made her way back.
“What did you tell them?”
“To round up any other gardeners and make themselves scarce for the day. They did not argue. I must say, it’s nice being able to boss people. I’m surprised you don’t do it more often.”
“I give you full permission to boss whomsoever you like on my behalf.”
“I’m firing everyone.”
At this, he laughed, short and hard. She resisted the urge to poke him in the ribs, instead finishing off her daisy chain and draping it over his hat. It really did make him look a lot less miserable.
They continued their walk to the edge of the grounds, until they came to a shallow stream. The heady scent of summer flowers and damp earth glittered around them, and Adeline became once more aware of how hot it was.
“Permission to jump in the stream?” she asked.
