“You do not wish it.” He staggered back. “Apologies, I—”
“No.” She turned his way, eyes fierce in the moonlight. “It is that I cannot afford a mistake. The cost is much too high.”
“I.... understand.”
He understood nothing.
“I apologize for misleading you.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and his heart squeezed painfully at the sight. “The fault is entirely mine.”
“Absolutely not.” His tone was flint. “I will not hear it.”
“I’ll find my own way back.”
She slipped out of his room through the door before he could protest, and as Elias slumped against the door frame, the room fell silent. The moonlight bled out of the room with the passing clouds, and the star of hope dimmed in his chest, when he’d scarcely even known it was there at all.
CHAPTER FIVE
Three days had passed since May’s foray into the tunnels. Three days since she’d lost herself in Elias’s eyes.
Now, they avoided each other masterfully. May’s growing restlessness drove her to Lord Spencer’s side as she tried her best to draw him out, even as she knew the pointlessness of the task. This was what she had been hired for; this was what she had been meant to do.
That, and nothing more.
No matter how much she wanted to.
She exchanged no words with her employer, beyond their short greetings and goodbyes, but even those got under her skin. When he bid her a good day, his husky, commanding tone echoed in her mind, promising to bring her endless pleasure.
What would have happened if she hadn’t left?
Three weeks left until Lady Hannah’s nuptials.
Just get through it.
“There you are, Cousin!”
Lady Hannah found May wandering the hallways, and at once seized her arm with a warm squeeze. “I need your help. My brother’s surly nature has finally crossed all limits.”
“What do you mean?” May resisted in vain as Lady Hannah led her to the observatory. There was no ignoring the steely silence that filled the room they stepped into. Elias sat opposite Lord Spencer, their eyes locked, as if they were trapped in an invisible battle neither wished to lose.
“Help me,” whispered Lady Hannah.
As if she could help anyone. Elias didn’t notice her immediately, but when he did, her insides nearly turned to jelly. He blinked, surprised, and the air shifted to a different silence. It was no less charged.
“Good afternoon.” She would have continued to stand awkwardly, but Lady Hannah nearly thrust her into the seat next to the duke before taking a seat herself.
“Good afternoon, Lady May. Are you well?” Elias’s attention did not stray from her. May nibbled at her lower lip. He did not call her “Cousin” this time. What did that mean?
“I am very well, thank you. And you? Are you well?”
What an asinine response. But she waited hungrily for his answer, as if a couple of words could uncover his state of mind. He must have been vexed with her, and she could not blame him.
“I am perfectly well.”
The odd exchange earned them a mystified look from Lady Hannah. It would have gotten worse had she not rung for tea. It arrived most promptly, and once the cups were poured, May leaned in to take hers from the table. Before she could do so, the duke dropped two spoons of sugar in her cup.
Her stunned look caused him to pause.
“Is that not right?”
