“You have described it as a burst, countless rays in all directions.” Aldric studied Adèle’s cherished purple flowers. “That must be very frustrating.”
“Except now it will make me think of your flowers. Love-in-a-mist. That seems almost a fitting name. Attempting to see by candlelight is a lot like looking through a mist.”
Adèle tried to force Roderick to smell her flowers. He refused but clearly attempted to do so without being entirely rude. What an interesting pair they made.
“What was it you said the flower was symbolic of?” Céleste remembered they’d discussed the topic during their flight from France, but she couldn’t remember the particulars.
“Contradiction,” he said. “That we don’t always know if something will save us or hurt us; uplift us or rend our souls.”
Heavens, that was terribly prescient, considering the topic she was about to introduce.
“I need to talk to your uncle for just a moment,” Céleste said to Roderick, speaking English as she didn’t know how significant his grasp of French was. “Could you play with Adèle while I do? I promise I will not keep him long.”
“Adèle won’t want to be away from him,” Roderick warned.
“I know. She loves her uncle Aldric.”
The sweet look Roderick gave Aldric testified that he loved his uncle too. She hoped Aldric saw it and recognized it for what it was.
Roderick took Adèle’s hand and told her he wanted to show her a hole in the stone wall that had an old bird’s nest in it. He also assured her they would come directly back. That seemed to convince Adèle, and she walked away with her new friend.
“What is it you need to talk to me about?” Aldric asked.
Céleste squared her shoulders and turned to face him. “I am going to ask you a question, Aldric, and I need you to answer truthfully.”
He nodded, but she wasn’t certain he understood how very in earnest she was.
“Whatever you say, I will assume it is the whole truth, that you haven’t demurred or held back, that you aren’t attempting to protect my feelings or yours, that I can take you at your word. Whatever you say, I will believe it to be theentiretruth for the rest of my life.”
At last, the gravity seemed to settle on him. This was her opportunity.
“The Beaumonts have written.” She held up their note. “I am on my way to call on them so we can make arrangements for me to remove to Eu Plate.”
The briefest show of sorrow flashed through his expression before he tucked it away. Oh, how she hoped his honesty, when she asked what she was about to, would reflectthatrather than the dismissal she’d received from him of late.
“If not for your brother having seized Norwood Manor, or if Niles and Penelope were here already, would you want me to stay?”
His gaze grew more intent and more focused. Her heart pounded. She didn’t dare even breathe. Was he weighing his response? Trying to find the courage to tell her whatever the truth actually was?
“I need to know,” she whispered. “Whatever the truth is, I need to hear it.”
He reached out and lightly touched her cheek. “If not for those things,mon ange, I would plead with you not to go.”
Mon ange.My angel.
“Then why do you keep pushing me away?” Her voice broke a little on the question.
“Because you deserve better.” He dropped his hand.
Lord Aldric feels he will or most likely already has disappointed you.Mrs. Sommers had hit at the heart of the matter, it seemed.
“I am going to walk to the Beaumonts’ now,” Céleste said. “I’ll return at some point this evening to gather my things and say goodbye to Adèle. And to you, if you’ll let me.”
Again, that flash of sorrow touched his expression. But he let it linger longer this time.
“But while I’m gone, Aldric, ponder this.” Where her courage was coming from, she couldn’t say, but she refused to push it down. “I have loved you for seven years. I think I deserve to finally be loved in return.”
His eyes pulled wide. She simply smiled and turned away. She waved to the children as she passed them and continued on her way in the direction of Eu Plate. Her confession had surprised even herself. And Aldric would have time enough to ponder it as well. He would have an answer for her when she returned later. Whatever that answer might be, she would be ready to hear it.
