Page 59 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Yes, yes, I’m a terrible person, I know, I’m working on it.” He sighed, looking down at the lunch. “I thought it might be nice, if you want to, to have lunch together? I see the way you always eye my food. I thought you might enjoy it.”
Adeline blinked at him.
“You’re still more than welcome to take a break—”
“You’renota chore, Dimitri!”
Dimitri buckled. “So you keep saying,” he whispered, “but sometimes I struggle to believe that.”
Adeline shrugged, slipping into the seat beside the food. “Believe whatever you will, Dimitri, but the truth is what it is. And I really,reallyappreciate the food.”
At that, he half smiled, and slid in opposite her. Adeline tucked into her plate, trying not to moan as the beef dissolved on her tongue. Dimitri stifled a laugh, his tail flicking back and forth under the table in obvious amusement.
Don’t look,she told herself.You promised you wouldn’t.
But there was something delightful about the way it lashed back and forth, how it betrayed his emotion so earnestly.
“It’s all right, then?” Dimitri asked, expression timid. “The meal? And the… inviting you to share it with me?”
“It’s delicious. And… it was thoughtful. Thank you.”
“I’m glad.” He paused. “I shouldn’t have snapped at Thomas. I’ll apologise to him later.”
“Good.”
“So… we can do this again? Just lunch. I’m not sharing all the good food with you.”
Adeline slid another forkful into her mouth. “You drive a hard bargain.”
That night, when she returned to her chamber, she removed the scrunched up letter from her pocket. She knew she ought to throw it away, that it was an invasion of privacy, and silly to cling to it regardless.
And yet she found herself flattening it out like a flower she intended to press, and when she tried to sleep, the word pretty thumped about the room, and her mind tried to conjure the other words he hadn’t written.
On the next Sunday, Dimitri woke curiously early, plagued by the knowledge that he would not be spending the day with Adeline. He opened his curtains and stared down the path she’d be departing from, but he did not see her go.
Thomas brought up his tray.
“Miss Adeline,” he asked from his position, “has she left yet?"
“I don’t think so, Young Lord. She was still in the kitchen when I came up.”
Dimitri noticed a smile was twitching in his cheeks, and he wanted to tell Thomas to stop it, but the growing rational voice in his head that sounded a lot like Adeline reminded him that that was unfair, and that he had yet to apologise for being short with Thomas a few days ago.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you the other day when I dismissed you.”
Thomas blinked, as if certain he’d misheard. “That’s all right, my lord.”
“I know it’s all right, I just—” Dimitri groaned. He wasn’t very good at this apology business.
And he still didn’t like the implication of Thomas’ smile.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “You can go now.”
“As you wish, My Lord.”
He departed, and Dimitri picked at his breakfast, eating more than usual but not as much as he had the past few days.
He didn’t like that he wasn’t going to see her today.
