Page 40 of A Sense of Paradise
‘Call me Flora, please.’
‘Oh, thank you, I shall. And I am Eloise.’
‘Good, that’s settled. I do so dislike formality. Anyway, what was it you were about to say?’
Eloise opened her mouth but then closed it again without any words emerging. She had wanted to ask Flora about the precise nature of her relationship with Archie, but she knew that it would sound presumptuous. Flora seemed to think there was nothing remarkable about her, but she was the daughter of a clergyman, which at least afforded her respect. She maintained a household of her own and was exceedingly discreet if the rent was paid by a lover. Eloise would have heard gossip at the tavern if Miss Latimer was a kept woman. Instead, upon making enquiries following their meeting at Felsham Hall, she found that no one had a bad word to say for her. It seemed that she spent the majority of her time helping others, with no expectation of reward—other, presumably, than the satisfaction it brought her.
Eloise, by contrast, was the daughter of a vineyard manager, a glorified servant. In this class-conscious country, she was by far the lesser of the two and should remember her place. She could not instigate a personal interrogation and adjured herself to exercise patience.
‘M. Foucher seems very fond of you,’ Flora remarked. ‘Have you known him for long?’
Eloise smiled, glad that Flora had found a subject that didn’t embarrass her, even though it did, to a degree. ‘I cannot think of a time when I did not know him. He is my closest friend and confidante.’
‘He would like to be a little more than that, I think,’ Flora replied with a capricious smile, ‘unless I mistake the matter.’
Eloise offered an expression of polite enquiry. ‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘Why, it’s obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that he is desperately in love with you.’
‘Good heavens, is he really?’
Flora looked at her askance. ‘You did not know?’
‘Non.’Eloise stopped walking and stared at Flora without actually seeing her. ‘I had absolutely no idea. I…I had not thought, do not think of him in that way. My heart…well, Louis knows that it belongs to another.’
‘Archie?’
‘Oui.I wish it were not so but I have not been able to stop thinking about him since he left France. He did not make me any promises, it is true, but what we had for all those years…I thought, I hoped…’
‘You hoped that seeing you again would reignite the spark.’
‘It was foolish of me.’ Eloise lowered her head. ‘He has changed. Everything changes.’
‘He has returned home to assume his responsibilities, which are myriad.’
‘Myriad? What is this myriad?’
Flora smiled. ‘I am sorry. Your English is so good that it’s easy to forget it is not your first language. Myriad means many and varied.’
‘Ah, thank you. My English was very poor when Archie first came. We spoke in French but I asked him to help me improve my English, so we helped one another to sharpen our linguistic skills. It distracted Archie from his pain, or so he insisted at the time.’
‘I am sure it did, and that he will always owe you a debt of gratitude.’
Damn it, Eloise didn’t want his gratitude! She made a non-committal sound. Flora’s expression had now turned unreadable and Eloise wondered if she had done something to offend her.
‘Anyway, with regard to Archie,’ Flora said into the ensuing silence, ‘everyone wants something from such a powerful and influential man. His father’s death came as a severe blow and he feels guilty because he wasn’t here for as long as he would have liked to be during the latter stages of his life.’
‘He tells you these things?’
Flora lifted one shoulder. ‘I have come to know him well.’
‘I should not be so frank in my expression,’ Eloise said, tamping down the flare of jealousy that gripped her. In all those years, Archie had never expressed his personal feelings to her. He had talked of England and how much he missed his home, how much he regretted the irresponsibility that had resulted in his crippling injuries, but he could never be persuaded to talk as openly to her as he obviously did to Flora. ‘I apologise if I have made you uncomfortable but you are so easy to talk to that I forget we are near strangers, brought together by our friendship with Archie. It is like I have known you for years.’
‘Archie will help to find your brother, which has to be your primary purpose.’ Flora paused to probe Eloise’s features with a sapient gaze. Eloise averted her eyes, worried that Flora would disapprove of what she saw there. ‘Doesn’t it?’
‘Of course. I would not have you think that I am making excuses…although, perhaps I am. It was impossible not to want to know how he would react to seeing me again.’
‘Let us concentrate upon your brother’s situation. His dilemma could be my fault, so I feel partially responsible for it.’
