“Shame on you for wearing her out.”
“My fault, is it?” She quirked an eyebrow, knowingly irking him like sisters tend to do. “Very well. I had better ring for some coffee.”
Before Elias could tell his sister exactly what he thought of her, Hannah’s fingers tightened on the ornate bell, and its tongue lapped at its silver sides. At once, May stiffened in his grasp. The very next instant, she jumped up from the divan with a cry.
“Coming!”
Elias and May exchanged a stunned look.
Silence hung heavily in the air as May rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
“What did I just say?” she whispered, the blush creeping into her face. “Did you hear?”
Hannah moved first. “You were dreaming, dear May. Sit down and rest.”
“A dream…?”
“You must have thought we’d rung the dinner bell already,” suggested Elias, after fumbling for a reasonable explanation.“That must be why you said you were coming.” Curse his twisted mind for thinking of anything else.
“I am so sorry. I do not know what came over me.”
“That is quite all right, dear Cousin.” Hannah smiled. “Would you mind giving us a moment? I’d like to talk to my brother.”
“Of course.”
“Before you go,” Elias stood up, “would you spare me a moment later today?”
She nodded. “I will send word.”
Hannah waited until Lady May was long out of earshot before speaking. “How close of a cousin is she exactly?”
Elias crossed his arms. “Distant. Very distant.” He knew precisely what was coming—despite their age difference, his sister never had trouble reading him. For years, he’d kept up his facade quite successfully, but it was little surprise that she’d be the first to recognize the cracks.
“Oh, Elias. You better be very sure of what you are doing. If this is some meaningless flirting, or worse, a way to consolidate assets for our father’s legacy…”
“No. I’m done with Father’s legacy. This is about what and who I want. Seven hells, if she were poor, I’d want her all the same.”
“Truly? Brother, are you in love?”
He could not attempt to be indifferent any longer. The smile on his face was as real as they came. “I’ve made up my mind to ask Lady May to marry me.”
He’d expected a hug or a gasp, but his sister just flew out of the room instead, leaving him puzzled until she returned with a small jewelry box.
“You will need this, then.”
He lifted the velvet lid. “This ring…”
“It was our mother’s.”
“You should keep it, then. She left it for you.”
“No, she didn’t. Here, this came with it.” Hannah handed him an envelope, and Elias’s breath nearly stopped at the achingly familiar sight of his mother’s cursive.
Elias read it quietly. When he was done, he folded it with a smile.
My open-hearted boy,
I delight in watching you fall in love with the world. I wish you could stay like this forever, but I know there might come a day when its harshness draws a gate around your heart, as it did mine. It is for such a day that I write to you: do not be afraid to risk it again.
