Page 99 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
But how would it, when they spent so much time together? How could he grow out of her if he never had the space to grow?
Or maybe he would grow, and it would grow with it.
But it can’t. It can’t. I won’t let it.
She realised in that moment that she was talking to herself as much as him, and still fell asleep with the key clutched in her hand.
For the next two days, with Prince Alexei’s arrival right around the corner, the manor was swamped with additional staff and Adeline was pulled from almost all her duties to Dimitri. Given the intimacy of their last exchange, she embraced it, ignoring the strange tug at the end of the first day when she realised they’d scarcely spoken two words towards each other. It was not worth dwelling on, not worth letting it invade her, and she was too tired for it anyway.
Too tired, and too sensible.
She launched herself into every task, beating rugs, sweeping halls, mopping floors, dusting and polishing and scrubbing and scraping until her hands were rubbed raw and chafed.
“You put us to shame,” Erabella warbled, looking somewhere between a yawn and a sob. She shook slightly on feet, and it occurred to Adeline that although the maid was far from lazy, she was young and inexperienced, never having known the Manor in its heyday.
Adeline shrugged, searching for a reason that wasn’tI’m trying to ignore how I feel about our employerand instead said, “I just suppose the faster we work, the sooner we’re finished.”
“Right,” Erabella droned, looking exhausted by the very prospect. “Finished sooner, yes.”
Adeline smiled at her off-handedly, and finished sweeping the grate in what was to be Prince Alexei’s chambers. Erabella slipped from the room, leaving the empty laundry basket behind her.
Adeline took a final turn around the room, appraising every surface, every corner, channeling her inner Mrs Minton. It was impossibly clean, even if she felt it lacked character. Maybe she should organise a bouquet?
She picked up the discarded laundry basket, left the room, and bumped straight into Dimitri.
“Oh!”
“Afternoon,” he said, grinning.
“What are you doing here?”
“This is my house…”
“Yes, but younevercome here.”
“That’s because you’re not usually in it.”
Adeline’s collar felt distinctly hot, and this time, she knew she couldn’t blame the exercise.
Stop it, stop it, stop it.
Dimitri put out his hands to tug the basket from her. “Let me.”
“No.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“It’s not appropriate.”
“It is a laundry basket, and no one is watching.”
“With the amount of people rushing around right now, there is no way we can go walking about with you carrying it and not have anyone notice.”
“Hmm, I see your point. Perhaps I better don a disguise and pretend to be a servant for the day.” He tugged his wolfish ear. “Do you think anyone would notice?”
Despite herself, Adeline found herself laughing.
“Come on,” he continued. “We’ll use the back stairs. We’ll hear anyone coming up and flee back to the top, lest they dare discover us in the passionate throes oflaundry making.”
