Page 13 of An Accidental Elopement

“Where are we going?” Cecilia asked as she looked at the brown fields and gray sky. She had no notion of how long or how far they had been driving. But the sun was low on the horizon and would be down in only a couple of hours. They were quite exposed in the open phaeton and the cold was starting to creep under the thick blanket Lord Archibald had draped over her knees.

“I don’t know,” Lord Archibald said, and then after a pause of a heartbeat or two: “Where would you like to go?”

Cecilia looked at the road ahead of them. It was a simple question, but it held such potential. As if the two of them could actually go anywhere. A feeling so large and overwhelming that it made her dizzy for a minute and unable to answer. Where did she want to go?

As if her stomach wanted a say in the matter, it growled loudly.

“Anywhere there’s food,” she told him and tried to smile, but found that her face was oddly stiff, and she was not certain that she actually managed it.

“Excellent choice,” Lord Archibald stated brightly, although there was a phony quality to his voice. Cecilia had no energy to analyze it though.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at an inn. Lord Archibald took care of everything while Cecilia hobbled after the innkeeper as he showed her to a private parlor. She immediately made her way to the roaring fire, hurrying as much as she could on the crutches. She tore off her woolen gloves and stretched her hands towards the heath. It only seemed to amplify how cold she was. Her skin prickled as the fire slowly unthawed her body.

She wished that her insides would remain frozen though. For the past... Cecilia had no notion of how many hours they had been driving, she had tried to come to terms with what she had seen. No matter what angle she attacked the situation from, the result would inevitably be that Flint would marry Lady Hester and Cecilia would be on her own again. She had not even been able to keep the attention of the most loyal and steadfast man of her acquaintance.

The door opened behind her, and she briefly glanced over her shoulder to see Lord Archibald enter, then turned towards the fire again. She could hear that he threw his hat on the table and tore his overcoat off with a slight grunt. He came to stand beside her and reached his hands toward the fire as well.

Cecilia imagined that she could feel the heat from his body even though they were standing with at least a foot between them. But that was utter nonsense given the many layers of clothes they were wearing. Despite this, it did seem to warm her insides.

They were silent for minutes. Cecilia felt that she should probably speak but now that they were away from Great Farleigh Hall, truly alone together for the first time, it felt as if she needed to become acquainted with him all over again.

Lord Archibald was the first to break the silence:

“I’ve ordered food for us. I expect that it will be here shortly.”

“Oh,” was all that Cecilia could answer. She could have done that. She had spoken to the innkeeper when he showed her into the room. It was just that she was so used to others taking care of such things for her. “Thank you,” she then hurried to say, not wanting him to think her ungrateful.

She turned more fully towards him, looking at his profile illuminated by the flames since he did not turn at once. He was almost sinfully handsome. There was no denying it. And was that not part of the problem? She had liked that he was willing to entertain her because he was so good-looking.

When he turned towards her, he studied her intently. She could practically feel his eyes roam over her face. She wondered what he saw. A destitute dependent girl supposedly. Yet they had developed a sort of friendship over the last week, she had to remind herself. Although she was not sure whether it was from boredom on his part or other ulterior motives.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, and she was surprised when he reached forward and untied the shawl that she had wrapped around her head and shoulders. He threw it on one of the chairs without taking his eyes off her.

Cecilia averted her gaze and shrugged. How did she feel? Besides the enormous task ahead of her of having to go through yet another season, some part of her also felt...lighter. As if she was a bird that had taken flight and had yet to figure out where to land.

“Better,” she settled on and dared to look at him again. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards. “Would you fault me if I say that some part of me feels relieved?”

She supported herself on the wall and chairs as she made her way to the table to avoid standing opposite him as she waited for his answer.

“I would never fault you for how you feel,” he told her with an uncanny seriousness.

Cecilia looked startled at him, and their eyes caught in a way that she had not experienced before. Lord Archibald’s blue eyes seemed to shimmer in the light from the fireplace and several emotions played over his face. But she was too preoccupied with the beauty of his eyes to analyze any of them. She was not certain that she would ever be able to tear her gaze away.

A small sigh escaped her when there was a knock at the door at that moment and Lord Archibald averted his gaze to it as he called:

“Enter.”

Their food was served, and they sat down opposite each other. The silence from the phaeton that had felt pleasant was now loaded and Cecilia desperately wanted to relieve the tension yet had no notion of what to say or do. The easy conversation that they had enjoyed in the salon seemed to have vanished the minute they left Great Farleigh Hall.

Her mind raced over the last couple of hours, stopping at him rushing into the salon where she had been resting and all but coaxing her to come with him. She had gone with him because being with him always held excitement for her and she wanted to be near him. She had been aware that he was putting on his charms for her and acting unnatural yet had not thought more of it. She had assumed that he wanted to show her a matter that was obscene or ridiculous. A matter that would make her laugh, not turn her entire world upside down. She had a vague memory of realizing at the time that this was what he had wanted to show her, but she needed him to acknowledge it.

“You knew he was in there,” she stated without thinking first. “What you wanted to show me was the two of them together...”

Lord Archibald did not look at her, but his utensils stilled on his plate and his shoulders went rigid. Cecilia stared at him trying to will him to look at her.

“Yes,” he finally agreed, and his fathomlessly blue eyes found hers with an expression she had not seen in them before. Remorse possibly, although it seemed improbable. “I’m sorry. I wanted you to see for yourself and not hear it from me.”

Cecilia opened her mouth to speak but no words came. She snapped her mouth shut as she tried to comprehend his reasoning.