“Merci—thank you, Mrs. Sommers.” She took the note, keeping it in her hand with the intention of reading it once she was alone again. “And thank you for accompanying us these past few days. We would have been in difficult straits otherwise.”
“It seems you are in difficult straits anyway.” Mrs. Sommers smiled a little apologetically. “I have debated whether to be unforgivably bold. It is not my place to offer my thoughts, but I have on occasion been known to ‘forget’ my place.”
Mrs. Sommers had proven herself to have a very subtle wit. She had, during their journey, made quiet and unexpected comments that made Céleste smile, as she did then.
“Lord Aldric is in love with you.”
And that wiped Céleste’s smile away immediately.
“I have seen the way he looks at you when you aren’t aware of his gaze. He loves you, and it is breaking his heart.”
“You have your evaluation reversed, I am afraid.Heis breakingmyheart.” Why she was confessing as much, she didn’t know. “He is breaking it over and over again.”
“Which is why I decided to say something. I get the impression that Lord Aldric feels he will or most likely already has disappointed you, and so he has pulled back. But his pulling back is a disappointment to you, fulfilling his suspicions. I don’t feel myself in a position to talk to him about this. But I am hopeful that ifyouknow, there might be some chance of stopping this painful round.”
“What if he simply rejects me further?”
“I do not think he will.” Her expression was reassuring and compassionate. “Turn a little toward him. Just a little. And I suspect you will discover there is reason not to turn away again.”
Mrs. Sommers left on that bit of encouragement.
Céleste lowered herself onto a nearby bench, pondering, considering. She had turned to Aldric repeatedly these past weeks, and he had embraced her. Sometimes he hadliterallyembraced her. Could this current distance between them truly be not so much a rejection but, rather, Aldric feeling like a disappointment to her?
His most pointed pulling back had come after Adèle was nearly kidnapped. Céleste didn’t doubt he blamed himself for that. It was not difficult to believe that he would think she blamed him as well.
He’d grown more distant again after not having money enough for their passage across the Channel. Then again upon arriving at Norwood Manor and facing the humiliation of his brother’s power over him.
Lord Aldric feels he will or most likely already has disappointed you.
Could he possibly believe that? He was wonderful and remarkable. She was disappointed that he might not love her in return, but that was different than being disappointedin him.
She was still holding the note Mrs. Sommers had brought her, and her gaze dropped to it. For a fraction of a moment, she worried it would be thesame handwriting as the note from Adèle’s book. She’d spent so much time studying it that she suspected she would never fully clear her thoughts of that worry.
This note proved to be from the Beaumonts.
Dearest Mlle Fortier,
How pleased we are that you are nearby once more. We would be honored and delighted to have you at Eu Plate for as long as you wish to remain with us. Please call on us as soon as you are able so we can discuss the arrangements.
Yours, etc.
M. and Mme Beaumont
She had a place to stay as long as needed. Though she felt a little relieved, the weight on her heart didn’t lift.
Turn a little toward him. Just a little.
As if fate meant to force her to make this decision before escaping to Eu Plate, Aldric passed nearby in that moment, walking down the path edging the garden, with Roderick and Adèle each holding one of his hands.
The time had come to be brave.
Céleste rose and made her way toward them. Aldric spotted her as she approached. He seemed happy to see her, which gave her further courage.
“We have visited the conservatory and are now off to see the outdoor flowers,” he said.
“Look, tante Céleste.” Adèle held a sprig of purple flowers up for her inspection. “Love-in-a-mist.” She looked to Aldric and received a quick nod. “Love-in-a-mist,” she repeated the English name with confidence. “It looks like a star, just as tonton Aldric said it would.”
“It is the same shape as candlelight at night,” Céleste said to Aldric. “Although I suspect it only looks that way to me.”
