He shook his head. “You’ve been ill.Youneed rest more than either of us.”
“I don’t though.”
“Dr. Mercier specifically said that you needed rest, and you have been afforded precious little of it.”
If she was to convince him to see to his own welfare, then she was going to have to confess to the deception she’d been enacting. She would have to admit she’d lied to him. She didn’t want him to be angry with her or disappointed. But she also couldn’t bear the thought of him exhausting himself unnecessarily.
“Jean-François is determined to see me married to someone who helps him further line his pockets and secure his place in Paris Society. He is also determined to wield every bit of power over me that he can, especially if doing so makes me at least a little miserable.”
Aldric didn’t argue with that assessment.
Here was the point when continuing her explanation would change how he saw her and what he thought of her. She took a quick breath and swallowed down her nervousness. “He was unlikely to leave Paris, which meant the best and safest place for me was somewhere away from Paris. Simply asking him to allow me to go to Fleur-de-la-Forêt would have all but guaranteed I would be permanently forbidden from doing so.”
His gaze was on the road, but she could tell he was listening intently.
“I’ve spent the past few months laying the groundwork for the argument that my health required me to leave Paris. I had to be subtle and slow about it so he and Marguerite wouldn’t grow suspicious. And I had to make certain I was seen in a somewhat weakened state at soirees and balls and such things so my brother and sister-in-law would also have to worry about how they would be perceived if they pushed me beyond my endurance.” She pulled in another fast breath. “But I was never actually ill. It was all a strategy to rescue myself from Jean-François.”
Aldric’s mouth turned down in a fierce frown. “But when I brought Dr. Mercier to your brother’s house, he confirmed that you were ill and needed to go to the country for your health.”
She really was going to have to confess everything. “Dr. Mercier’s sister married a man with one foot positioned precariously in Society who had hopes of improving his standing. I agreed to make some helpful introductions if Dr. Mercier would agree to make and occasionally confirm a helpful diagnosis.”
“Then I unknowingly played a part in furthering your ruse?”
She kept her posture stiff, though she felt like sinking into herself and disappearing as much as possible. “Yes.”
In the silence that followed, she hardly breathed. A painful stinging started behind her eyes, the emotion underlying it causing an ache in her heart. She’d been deceiving him ever since his arrival in Paris.
Aldric laughed.
She turned, wide-eyed, toward him at the unexpected sound. He looked over at her as well, then laughed harder.
“You aren’t angry with me?” she asked, baffled.
“Angry?” The word was punctuated with further laughter. “I am meant to be the master tactician in this group, and you fully out-strategized me.”
He wasn’t merelynotangry; he was impressed. She didn’t quite know what to make of that.
Aldric kept laughing now and then without warning as they continued down the road. And every time he did, she smiled a little more broadly.
While she knew it was likely foolish to be falling so wholly in love with him again, she knew in that moment she couldn’t have stopped herself.
Chapter Twenty-Three
For a moment after waking,Aldric wasn’t certain where he was. But the sway of the cart quickly reminded him. Céleste had convinced him to trade driving duties, and though he’d fought valiantly against the pull of fatigue, he’d obviously lost the battle.
He blinked off the lingering sleep. “How long have I been asleep?”
“About two minutes longer than Adèle.”
Aldric looked down at Adèle, awake in his arms. “Did you sleep well,ma petite douce?”
Her brow pulled, and she hooked her tiny finger, clearly motioning for him to bend closer. He did, and she whispered to him.
“I need—I have to—” She squirmed a little, her expression growing increasingly miserable.
“Ah.” He smiled at his little shadow. “Do you think, Adèle, that now would be a good time to break our journey? We could have a bit to eat, stretch our legs, and see to ... whatever else needs seeing to.”
She nodded urgently. Poor thing.
