Page 37 of The Girl Who Fell Through Time
Aunt Elizabeth gives her a knowing look. “You see what you’re dealing with, my dear?”
Selene is beginning to. “Has he always been so dedicated to his work?”
“He’s always been so foolhardy, that’s what he’s been.”
“It is entirely possible to say something nice about him, you do know,” says a cool voice from the shadows.
Selene squeaks. Soren. She’d quite forgotten he had a voice at all. Had he been standing there the entire time?
Aunt Elizabeth laughs. “Sit down, Soren, my boy, you’re clearly spooking the lady.”
Soren’s lips are thin as razor, and the glare in his eyes is just as sharp. Nevertheless, he does as Aunt Elizabeth asks, though he chooses a seat as far away from her—and Selene—as he can.
Aunt Elizabeth immediately begins by asking more about Selene. She’s keen to hear about her family, her life back in the city, how she’s finding the village and precisely how scandalised her parents were.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Selene confirms. “I left in the middle of the night.”
“Scandalous!” Aunt Elizabeth returns. “Good girl.”
The talk begins to feel less like an interrogation and more like a conversation, although Dorian seems very relievedwhen Rookwood and Ariella arrive with the lunch. He leaps up to help them set it down.
“Elizabeth!” Rookwood exclaims, opening his arms to envelope her in a big bear hug. “How lovely to see you!”
Elizabeth seems only too happy at the greeting, although Ariella purses her lips.
Everyone sits down, handing out plates, passing down the refreshments. It’s like a picnic indoors. Only Marta seems to see anything unusual with this mixing of servants and staff, hanging by the side of the room like she has no idea where to put herself. She and Selene exchange glances.
“Marta, do sit down,” says Dorian. “There’s no need to stand. Please, help yourself.”
Marta does so, but only after making up a plate for Selene. No one else stands on ceremony.
The pastries and cheese are delicious, as are the cakes, the apples and preserves. But it’s the company that Selene finds truly delicious. Everyone has abandoned all proprietary, but they’re all… happy. Rookwood has sunk deep into his chair, stretching out his leg. Aunt Elizabeth is cackling over some joke he’s made. Marta is smiling as she chats to Ariella, and even Soren seems less tense than he usually is, though he sits straight-backed in his chair, like he expects to be attacked at any moment.
Someone sits down beside her on the settee. “I hope you don’t mind this,” says a soft voice—Dorian. “I know it might feel a little… odd.”
“On the contrary, I think I rather like it,” Selene remarks, although she still feels a little out of place, not sure what to say. “Your aunt is very forthright.”
“I apologise for her bluntness—”
“I am starting to find that I don’t mind bluntness as much as I thought I did,” Selene tells him. “There’s something refreshing about it. I don’t like… I know we have to be careful about who we trust with the truth of our relationship, but… I don’t like lies.”
“I know.”
“Even concealing the truth feels like a lie sometimes,” she admits. Selene is concealing so many things, it’s a relief to be able to be honest, even if it’s just for a moment, just a little thing.
Dorian’s voice is quiet. “I understand that, too.”
“You two, newlyweds!” Aunt Elizabeth barks. “Do you wish to join us for a game of cards?”
Dorian looks less than keen, but he consents when Selene voices her enthusiasm, and the group move to the table closer to the window. Marta, Ariella and Soren disappear to deal with the dishes, but the remaining four members of the party settle in for a game ofWhist.Selene is paired with Dorian of course. She’s not a terrible player, and finds herself winning several tricks.
“Beauty and brains, I see,” Aunt Elizabeth remarks. “An impressive combination.”
No one has ever complimented Selene’s brains before. She’s been reliably informed on a number of occasions—largely by the Duke—that she wasn’t in possession of any. “That’s very kind, but it’s also untrue,” Selene tells her. “I’m just lucky.”
“No need to be modest around me, dear.” She leans across to Dorian. “Did you say you used to go to school with her? She’s not the one you had a crush on, is she?”
Dorian says nothing to this, and stares back at their cards.
