He frowned, struggling to imagine the rooms and hallways of Ashbrook brimming with the sounds of giddiness and play and happiness.Hehad never heard such cheer within the walls of the manor, but the more he forced his mind, the more a vision began to emerge.
He could see them, children of his own running amok in that godforsaken manor, transforming it. New life to chase away any lingering ghosts.
“That is what you will miss,” Lizzy urged. “That is what you are denying yourself, Brother. You are not protecting anyone. You would just be giving Father’s memory a reason to keep existing, instead of being so bloody happy that you forget that Ashbrook was ever any other way.”
She was breathless when she finished, her face still bright red with anger, though tears welled up in her eyes.
“Idiot.” She hurled that final word at him as she turned sharply and walked off up the slope to the manor, her hand brushing those tears from her cheeks.
Philip released a slow breath, his mind still clinging to the vision that she had conjured in his head of what Ashbrook couldbe like if he just let go of his father’s ghost.
Selina is thinking of leaving.
A fear he had never felt before shivered through him. The fear of losing something that he actually wanted, that actually mattered to him, that he actually cared about.
His gaze flickered to Zachary, who had finally turned back to him.
“Don’t look at me,” his friend said with a shrug. “I could not agree more with your sister. I came here to see my friend get married, and I shall not be able to offer much sympathy if it does not come to pass.”
“Thatis your response?”
Zachary nodded. “I would appreciate it if youdidfinally get married, but either way, I must soon return to my daughter. So,you should probably find out if you are going to have a wife tomorrow or not.”
Philip’s eyes slid back in the direction of the manor, his gaze turned up to Selina’s window.
A curtain twitched… and he knew what he had to do, for he would not lose the only good thing that had happened to him in his thirty years of life, even if it meant admitting that his annoying little sister was right.
For goodness’ sake, Lizzy!
Selina supposed she should have known that Lizzy would go directly to her brother to berate him. She had not been able to hear what her friend had said to Philip, but the gesticulations and motions had been clear enough—Lizzy had gone against her wishes.
“Why would you do that?” Selina sighed, turning her back to the window.
Philip had looked up; she knew he had. But she didn’t think he had seen her looking back.
“You silly thing,” she muttered and padded over to the wardrobe, opening it wide to glance once more at the covered wedding dress.
She still didn’t know if she would ever wear it, though time was ticking away rather quickly. By tomorrow, the wedding day, she would need to make up her mind.
Closing the wardrobe doors on the dress, she walked to the nearest armchair and sank into it. She reached for the cold teapot and poured herself a cup, not bothering to summon anyone for a refreshed tray.
She had just taken her first sip when a knock sounded at the door.
Well, if you are expecting a warm welcome, Lizzy, you shan’t receive it. I asked you not to speak to him.
She was about to call out that very thing to her friend when a masculine voice spoke instead. “Selina?”
Nerves jangled in her veins as she sat bolt upright, almost upending the contents of her teacup.
Philip must have run rather quickly from the gardens to reach her door. What did that mean? Did it mean that Lizzy’s rebuke had worked, or had he perhaps come to chide her for speaking to his sister?
“Selina, may I speak to you?” Philip’s voice came again.
She gulped. “I am unchaperoned.”
The door opened anyway, as if he had just been waiting for her to respond, to know that she was in the room. After the nightmare with Lord Ramsbury, it was to be expected that he would check first.
Selina’s heart somersaulted at the sight of him right there in her chambers, slightly browned by the sun, his hair swept back, his eyes bright with feeling, somehow more handsome than he had been a moment ago when she had seen him in the gardens.
