Page 36 of Earl for the Summer
“No.” She clasped her hands together, notched her chin up. “We found our way here. We’ll find our way back.”
With that, she turned and headed for the drawing room door, stopping just as she reached the threshold. She didn’t look back, only murmured, “Goodbye, Cassian.”
And then she was gone.
It was right that she walked away. He reminded himself it was what he wanted.
So why did he feel so bloody shipwrecked? As if nothing inside him would ever feel whole again.
CHAPTER 8
Three days later
“You must help me design my bouquet,” Selina insisted as she sat with Daphne in the Edgerton House conservatory. “I know no one else as fond of and knowledgeable about flowers.”
“I’d be happy to.” Daphne forced a smile, reminding herself for the umpteenth time that it had been three days since Cassian Rourke’s departure from London, and she must put the man out of her mind.
“Hurrah.” Selina beamed and clapped her hands before scooping up her teacup and taking a sip. “Mama would choose flowers because of their colors without a thought to their true meaning.” She winked at Daphne. “You taught me that. That flowers have a language of their own.”
Daphne stood from the settee they were both seated on and went to a shelf where she and Ivy had placed books they’d brought along with them to London, or new ones they’d acquired since arriving. Bookshop visits were a weekly jaunt for the Bridewell sisters.
“Which flowers are all about love?” Selina asked as Daphne settled next to her again.
“Many of them have some meaning related to love.” Daphne opened the book so they both could leaf through the pages. “We should have baby’s breath for certain.”
Selina bent to look at where Daphne pointed on the page. “Everlasting love. Oh, goodness, yes. I want that.”
Daphne flipped a few more pages as Selina looked on.
“Oh, the camellias look promising,” she said as she ran her finger along the list of meanings of the various colors of camellia blooms.
Daphne tensed, more affected than she wanted to be. “Yes, camellias are wonderful flowers.”
“Pink for longing, red for the flame of your heart.” Selina smiled as she read. “I like both of those.”
Daphne felt tears well and tried to will them away. She reached up to swipe at one before it could fall.
“Will you tell me what’s troubling you?” Selina asked softly, still sifting through the illustrations of flowers and their meanings. “I know you’re trying to hide it, so I said nothing.” She finally lifted her eyes to Daphne’s. “But I want to help if I can.”
“You can’t help, but I appreciate how much you want to.” Daphne smiled, and this time it wasn’t an effort. She truly appreciated Selina’s friendship, and she wanted to be happy for her good fortune, rather than fixating on her own heartache over a man she barely knew.
Selina sipped her tea, watching Daphne over the rim of her cup.
“I’ll be fine. I promise,” Daphne told her.
“If it’s Moreland, I want you to allow me to enlist Matthew’s aid. He’s connected to powerful men and even has contacts in the Home Office.”
“Can we get Moreland exiled from England?” Daphne teased.
Selina grinned. “I’d be willing to ask Matthew to try.”
“It’s not Moreland who has me acting like a fool.”
“You’re not a fool,” Selina said firmly. “I won’t allow you to speak of yourself that way for what that deceiver did.”
Of course, Selina did not know she’d almost immediately set her heart on yet another deceiver. Maybe she wasn’t a fool, but it seemed her heart was.
Though she did agree with Ivy’s assessment. Moreland was vile, while Cassian had simply been blinded by loyalty, and she couldn’t hate him for that.
