Page 44 of The Sea Siren of Broadwater Bottom
“Elissa,” he said urgently, “I don’t know what she said to you the other day. But—” He struggled to find the words to explain how he felt, how awful the past three days had been. “Don’t go. Stay with me.”
She didn’t have time to answer, because that was the moment Miss Grenwood came barreling around the corner, stopping short in front of the gap. “Lord Fauconbridge,thereyou are. Would you believe it, your mother told us the wrong time for the outing! We came down a full hour late. I must confess, I was very cross, and I did not hesitate to say as much to the countess. Then they said you had gone up here. Goodness, I had not expected it to be this grimy.” She wrinkled her nose. “You would think that Lord Redditch would have had it properly scrubbed, knowing we were all coming. And it is in a shocking state of disrepair.” She gave him an expectant look. “Well? Aren’t you going to show me around?”
Edward sighed. It would appear that his idyll with Elissa was at an end.
CHAPTER18
It happened that Miss Grenwood was unwilling to jump the gap. Edward informed her that they would be a few minutes, then led a silently giggling Elissa back to the haunted tower. This afforded him a bit more time in her company, albeit interrupted at frequent intervals by Miss Grenwood shouting across the bailey to ask if they were finished yet.
Eventually they were, and he and Elissa re-jumped the gap (Edward made a great show of catching her about the waist). He finished the castle tour with Elissa on one arm and Miss Grenwood on the other.
Back on the lawn, a picnic luncheon was being served. Miss Grenwood plainly intended to join Edward and Elissa on their blanket, in spite of her mother’s embarrassed entreaty for her daughter to come and sit with her.
It was Graverley who saved him. “Miss Grenwood,” he said, giving a tight smile, “I believe there is more room over here.”
Araminta Grenwood was not about to pass up an invitation to sit next to the richest future duke in England, and the alacrity with which she abandoned Edward was almost embarrassing. Edward shot his friend a look of gratitude, which Graverley returned with an expression that said,You owe me.
As Edward settled down upon a blanket to spend the afternoon with Elissa, he silently agreed.
* * *
In his room that night,Edward reflected that it had been the best day he’d had in a very long time. Just being near Elissa made him so happy. She had such an open, easy manner. He wasn’t one to drop his guard, but in her presence, the knots he tied himself up in seemed to loosen of their own accord, and it felt… good. He could get used to it.
He was, in fact, going to get used to it.
Because Edward had decided he was going to marry Elissa St. Cyr.
His decision would come as a shock to everyone who knew him. Well, perhaps not everyone. Judging by their rather unsubtle efforts to help him get Elissa on her own, his siblings had perceived his feelings and approved of his choice.
His parents would be another matter entirely. He knew what was expected of him, had known it almost from birth: to find a wife with position, propriety, and wealth. Elissa had none of them.
But Edward found that he didn’t give a damn whether his parents approved or not. Which was entirely unlike him. But he just… needed this. He neededher. His life with Elissa in it was immeasurably better. That had been made clear to him these past few days.
He’d always tried so hard to do what was expected of him. He’d scarcely ever set a toe out of line. Could he not have just this one thing, Elissa as his wife, when she made him so happy?
He tossed his cravat onto his dressing table and crossed to the window, staring out into the night as shrugged out of his waistcoat. Of course, he was making an assumption—that Elissa would accept him. But perhaps he could be forgiven for getting ahead of himself after this afternoon.The man of her dreamswas how she had described him, after all.
He noticed a flash of white out on the lawn. He leaned closer to the window to peer into the darkness.
There she was, as if he had conjured her. The night was cloudless and there was a full moon, so he could make out the red of her plait against a grey dressing gown.
What on earth was she doing outside, alone, in her dressing gown, at this time of night? She was headed southwest. There was nothing in that direction. Nothing except—
The folly. The folly which became a moonlight-drenched paradise precisely at midnight, as Edward had told her earlier today.
Surely it was fate that he had spotted her. He didn’t bother with a cravat or waistcoat. He just threw his greatcoat on over his open-necked shirt and followed her out into the night.
* * *
Elissa knew it was foolish,being alone outside in the middle of the night. But she was too full of nervous energy to sleep.
The morning had been incredible. Edward Astley had kissed her.Edward Astley. It was like something out of one of her fantasies, one so impossible she would never admit to it, not even to Cassandra. She still couldn’t believe it had actually happened.
But when they’d returned to the house, a letter from her mother had been waiting. Her father had collapsed again, this time in the middle of his classroom. With his past spells, he had roused himself quickly, but this time he had been too weak to rise from the floor, and they’d had to solicit help from the neighbors to carry him to bed. He had been up again the following day, but he remained weak, and her mother’s anxiety was palpable. Her father’s condition was worsening, and there was nothing the physician could do.
Her mother did not request that she and Cassandra return home to tend to their father. Having the two of them eating the Astley’s food for another week was a welcome development in terms of the family budget, and besides, her parents were not the sort to have tender feelings that would be comforted by their daughters’ presence.
Supper had provided a welcome distraction. But now that Elissa was alone in her room, she found herself pacing the floor. With her father’s health failing, it was more important than ever that she win the contest, which would take place in just three days. She had been so distracted during her time at Harrington Hall, she had done nothing to prepare.
