Justine was the first to burst into the clearing, her face red. Prudence was on her heels, also gasping for breath. They must have been racing. Ophelia glided in not long after, looking not as bedraggled.
“Taking it easy while the rest of us are working, then?” Justine said, bending at the waist to catch her breath.
“It’s fine,” Prudence said. “We all have to work on our weaker skills. She was brilliant with the pulley challenge, and frankly, the best one of us at the knots.”
“Physical conditioning takes time and patience,” Ophelia announced.
Hoping that none of them would be able to see in her face that she’d been enjoying Tristan’s company just momentsbefore, she turned to face her friends. “Thank you, Ophelia. I am trying my best.”
“Run back with us?” Ophelia asked. “I don’t need a break.”
Justine groaned. “Why are you like that?”
Prudence huffed out a laugh. “Because Ophelia knows that it isn’t a race.”
Justine rolled her eyes. “It’s the only way to make it interesting.”
“I’m ready if you are,” Eleanor said. How exhausting it must be to be Justine, making every moment into a competition.
Ophelia nodded, gesturing to the path in front of them, so Eleanor started down the trail. They weren’t far when Ophelia spoke.
“I know I shouldn’t ask, but my curiosity is killing me.”
Eleanor was not yet at a point where she could carry on an intelligent—or unintelligent—conversation while in hasty motion. She made a noise that she hoped sounded like she was giving Ophelia permission. But Ophelia was her superior in many ways, which made giving her permission to ask a question feel strange.
“Does my brother? Or rather, do you? What I mean to say is, are you both, or rather, will he?”
Eleanor looked at Ophelia, finally finding some joy while taking her exercise. Normally Ophelia was so calm and collected. Here she was sputtering just as much as Eleanor would. “Do you have a question?”
“Only, is he courting you?” Ophelia said, color showing in her cheeks. “Do you fancy him?”
Eleanor thought about it, his flirtatious comments, his solicitousness, the time they shared laughter over collecting the ropes, and then of course, his kisses. Those soft, wonderful, dream-inspiring kisses. But there had never been talk of intentions. And Eleanor didn’t make it to being an unmarriedtwenty-five-year-old without savvy regarding her status. “I... don’t know?”
Ophelia made a face. “Sounds about right for him.”
Heat flushed Eleanor’s system, and it had nothing to do with the quick pace. Was Tristan a scoundrel out for his own pleasure at the expense of her reputation? But the expedition was supposed to be above reproach, and here she was not only defying the rules, but being lured into sordidness by a fellow mountain climber. She felt so stupid. So ridiculous. But she couldn’t afford to look that way—she wanted to stay on the expedition. “What do you mean?”
“That Justine was right—the rules we must abide as women do not apply to him. And he brazenly disregards it, not caring about what it looks like for us.”
Did Ophelia know that Tristan had kissed her? “Oh.” What was she supposed to say to that? She couldn’t deny him doing anything improper, for that would give Ophelia the idea that somethinghadhappened.
“I do apologize on his behalf if he is too forward with you. He normally sticks to dancers and chorus girls and the like. He doesn’t know how to behave with respectable ladies.”
Eleanor felt suddenly very out of breath. At least the jogging would cover her discomfort. Did he currently support a mistress? Was she merely an available distraction when he couldn’t visit his woman in London? That made her physically ill to think about. She hadn’t wanted to be...entertainment.
Ophelia sighed—an activity Eleanor couldn’t have managed if she wanted to at this point, gasping for air as she was.
“I’ll speak to him,” Ophelia promised.
“No, don’t!” Eleanor managed. “Far too embarrassing. He’ll think I said something.”
Ophelia looked at her with pity, but acquiesced. “Then I won’t say a thing. But I will give him condescending looks.”
Eleanor huffed out a laugh. “Reasonable.”
The rest of the run sped by, and when they arrived back in camp, Eleanor felt surprisingly good. The emotional elevation she had been promised was finally present. She grinned. Just in time to leave this place.
*
