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Caitlyn just knew she was going to get lost in this place. She couldn’t have found her way back to the anteroom where they’d entered if she’d tried.
Five minutes may have passed before Heloise brought Caitlyn to a suite with ornate doors that opened into a small chamber with a velvet upholstered bench that could seat two people. The bench faced a large mirror with a gold-plated frame, and over the bench hung a painting of a young woman dipping her bare toe into a spring.
“Is this…?” Caitlyn looked around curiously.
Heloise opened a second set of doors. “Lord Emrys shouldn’t be coming in without waiting in your antechamber first,” she explained.
“Okay.” Caitlyn walked through the second set of doors to find an enormous bedroom with an equally enormous bed piled high with a mountain of pillows and a sprawling bedspread in a lovely rose damask. The walls were the color of sea foam, with three-tiered black marble crown molding around the edges.
Caitlyn brought a hand to her mouth just as Heloise drew her attention to the intercom by the bed. She gave Caitlyn instructions on how to use the stereo, accessible on the other side of the bed, and the fireplace of the same black marble across the room. The walk-in closet, where a selection of new dresses hung, was practically the size of a Manhattan apartment. She was beside herself, taking it all in, until Heloise directed her to the study. The rich, cherry desk was something Caitlyn could have only dreamed of supplying her home office with. And the window seat in the corner of the study looked so comfortable that she probably could have curled up there for her nap and slept better than she had in her own bed back in Cincinnati.
“This is incredible!” Caitlyn managed finally.
Heloise gave a slight bow. “If I may show you to the bath, Miss?”
Caitlyn shook her head and followed Heloise to a decently sized bathroom with an excessively large tub. A large cabinet stood by the tub, and Heloise opened it to reveal a collection of huge, fluffy towels and an array of bath salts and oils.
“If you would care to freshen up, Miss. I must go now, but if you need anything, do call. Your luggage will be delivered shortly. I will come to wake you in time to ready yourself for the afternoon meal.”
“Thank you so, so much,” Caitlyn gushed.
“It is nothing, Miss. I am here to serve you.” Heloise bowed her head once more, leaving Caitlyn to her own devices.
The first thing she did was wander around the room once more. It was too much. Too grand, too rich, too perfect. She almost wanted to roll around on the plush rug beneath her. Instead, she took her shoes off and kneaded it with her toes as she tried to wrap her mind around these rooms.
The responsible thing to do would be to quickly check her email and then take a short nap.
Instead, she stripped off her clothes and went into the bathroom. She stood in front of the cabinet, naked, as she sniffed her way through the salts and oils and chose a heady lavender to scent her bath.
She held onto an ornate bar fixed above the tub as she eased herself into the steaming water. She loved a good, hot bath. Stretching out, feeling the fragrant water seeping into her skin, she let out a sigh and smiled widely.
***
It would have been terribly inappropriate for Emrys to go to Caitlin’s room, but that was exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted that so much more than he wanted to go to greet his mother in the tea room.
He tried to brush the wrinkles out of his outfit. It would have been acceptable to go change first, but he knew that his mother would be put out if he waited to greet her.
There she was, in all her imperious glory: Eliana Sébire. Her hair, dark auburn delicately streaked with silver, looked as it had been recently done. Not a hair was out of place, and it hung just below her ears. She pursed her lips, reading through a tablet on which, no doubt, she was making meticulous plans for upcoming events.
“Good morning, Mother,” Emrys said.
“Em?” Eliana lifted her head. “Well, come here. Let me look at you. I swear, I haven’t laid eyes on you in the flesh for two years.”
“I haven’t been away for that long,” Emrys protested. But he sat beside her anyway.
“You’ve been gone long enough. This career of yours,” she scoffed. “You’re looking well. I’ll give you that. I take it the business is proceeding at an acceptable pace.”
“It is,” he said simply, taking his mother’s hand.
“Well, it’s good that you’ve come back. I was wondering if you’d make it.” Eliana lifted her chin and looked out the window.
“I promised I would be home, didn’t I?” Emrys shook his head. “Mother, I do my best to please you.”
“I would’ve been pleased if you’d married Miranda,” she said a bit shortly.
“You’ll have to get used to disappointment on that account. Miranda wasn’t willing. What was I to do about that?”
“You could have fought for her!” Eliana tsk-ed. “You could have convinced her. Aren’t you the actor?”
