Page 72 of A Torn Allegiance
He laughed again. “I know I should not be surprised, but once again, you have shocked me in conversation.”
“All right, I know it would make everyone unhappy. But it does sound fun, you have to admit.”
“A bit. But in this case, the reality outweighs the fun.” He nudged her. “Let’s see if we can’t make life fun without running away to Scotland.”
“Agreed.”
Their ride back through the park was pleasant and filled with a long stream of conversation about nothing. She had never loved such conversation more, and when they at last arrived in front of her town house door, she was not ready to go inside, for she was hearing a detailed account of a great prank the brothers had all once played on their father.
With tears of laughter still filling her eyes, she allowed Hayes to lift her down off her horse. Her laughter abated, and she said, “Thank you for today.”
Timson opened the door. “Welcome back, Lady Elsie, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Timson. Is Father here?”
“He is not. I do believe he might be gone until dinner this evening.”
“Excellent,” Hayes said. He bowed and kissed her hand. “Until this evening, then.”
“Yes.”
She watched his retreating form as the servants tended to the horses, and then she stepped inside beside a patient butler.
He took her bonnet, her gloves. “Your ride in the park.”
“Yes?” She smiled inside at his curious expression. Oh, the roles were reversed now. “Was there something you wished to know?” She laughed, watching him.
“Forgive me. Welcome home, my lady.”
Her grin grew. “Oh, Timson, he is perfectly wonderful, and that is all I will say on the matter.”
“I would expect nothing more.”
She stepped closer to him and placed a quick kiss on his cheek before hurrying off down the corridor. What a dear man.
Her humming filled the passage as she went in search of her mother. At last she was found in her private library with a book in hand; she seemed to be in perfect repose on the sofa.
“Mother.”
She lifted her eyes, and they filled with happiness. “Elsie, come. How was your ride?”
Elsie sat beside her mother and changed the subject. “How is it that you manage such perfect poise in all you do?”
“Oh, my dear, I am far from perfect. But I might say the same of you. You present yourself in a way that conceals your pain, do you not?”
“I suppose so.” She looked closer at her mother. “Are you concealing pain?”
She started to shake her head but then paused. “I do not have pain, no, but I do miss my sisters, and my parents are not long on this earth. I feel their lack in my life from time to time. Your father is often gone—your brother as well—and now you, with Prince Hayes... a mother feels such an array of emotion all at once. I am happy, of course. And sad and joyful and anxious and tired and... well, you can imagine all of the emotions in my heart at one point or another. And yet, I sit in peace.”
Elsie nodded. “One day, I hope I shall be as you are.”
“Or... you can be asyouare and let a little of your passion show in important moments.” She smiled. “Now, come. Tell me all.”
Retelling the wonder of her time with Prince Hayes to her mother was another wonder all of its own. And when Elsie was finished, her mother wiped at her tears. “I’ve always known he was the one for you.”
“Even when Father was demanding I watch him as a potential threat to England?” She scoffed. She hoped all unanswered questions would be answered even to her father’s satisfaction.
“Yes, even then. When I met him, there was such a familiarity about him. I knew he would be one of us, but oh, Elsie, how can I bear it?” Her face wrinkled in such despair that Elsie threw her arms around her neck. “What, Mother? What is it?”
