Elinor hesitated, then slowly returned to her seat. “My mother was my best friend. It didn’t start off that way. When I was younger, I thought she was the fun killer, but I have since learned that it was her way of protecting me.”
“Fun killer?” Alden asked, his lips twitching.
A smile played on Elinor’s lips. “Yes, someone that kills all the fun. You must understand that I was rather adventurouswhen I was a child and spent most of my time in the woodlands.”
Alden laughed. “That does not surprise me in the least.”
“When I was younger, I started riding my horse without a saddle,” Elinor admitted. “My mother was mortified and forbid me from doing so.”
“You must have been quite the handful,” Alden quipped.
Elinor nodded. “I was, considering I wore men’s clothing and rode astride.”
Alden’s smile widened. “That does not surprise me at all.”
A smile tugged at Elinor’s lips as she remembered. “My mother just wanted to keep me safe, even when I was determined to be reckless,” she said. “But what I miss the most about her is how she looked at me. Her eyes always told me that she loved me, even when her words did not.”
Settling back in his seat, Alden asked, “And what of your father?”
Her smile grew even more. “My father was the reason I was so reckless. He convinced me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it. He was my greatest supporter, and I loved our rides together.”
In a gentle voice, Alden asked, “How did they die?”
Her face fell. “Consumption.”
“I’m sorry,” Alden said.
“There is nothing worse than watching your parents waste away until they take their last breaths,” Elinor said, her voice trembling as she fought back the tears. “My father was the first to go.”
Alden leaned forward in his seat, his eyes filled with compassion. “I know it is not the same, but my grandmother died from consumption. I held her hand until the very end.”
“Were you close to your grandmother?” Elinor asked.
“I was,” Alden confirmed. “She didn’t look at me like the spare. She loved me for who I was, and not my position at birth.”
Elinor nodded in understanding. “My parents never made me feel less since I wasn’t born a male.”
“I’m glad,” Alden said.
“Just so you know, I am glad that we are friends,” Elinor responded. “I don’t have very many of those, at least not anymore. Most of my friends abandoned me when I refused to marry the duke.”
“That was wrong of them.”
Elinor shook her head. “I don’t blame them. I was a walking scandal and that is the last thing a woman in thetonwishes to be around.”
“How is it that you escaped my notice when you debuted?” Alden asked.
She shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know, but I did not spend much time with rakes.”
“I am not a rake,” he defended.
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
Elinor laughed. “I believe you, but you were rather cocky when we first met, irritatingly so.”
“And now?”
