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The carriage carrying Hugh and Irene away disappeared down the street and most of the guests began calling for their own carriages. As the weather was rather mild, some of the younger set chose to saunter down the street, ostensibly headed for Hyde Park which was only two blocks away. Eleanor watched them all rather enviously; unfortunately she was not able to leave until her husband chose to.
Her husband who was obviously not entirely happy with her at the moment.
If asked, she couldn't have explained why she’d spent most of the morning avoiding him. They hadn't been seated near each other at the meal, as it was their duty to help host the brunch, and after that she had found herself playing a game of cat and mouse with him. Part of her wanted to see how long he would follow. Part of her wanted to watch him interact with other women while she wasn't standing by his side. And part of her just wanted to run.
Eventually her father had caught up with her, sat her down in a chair and told her not to move because she was making him dizzy with her constant rotations round the room. Edwin, seeing the exchange, had grinned triumphantly at her (and that burned as badly as when he’d bested her during their childhood) and then allowed himself to be drawn into conversation with his friends while she sat in her
chair and sulked.
Considering that she'd finally been given strict orders to stay in one place she had thought that he would finally, definitively, catch up with her, not ignore her! It rankled and made her even more out of temper with him.
Once she'd returned to the festivities, after helping a rather nervous Irene change into her traveling gown, Edwin had re-appeared at her side and she hadn't been able to get away since. Her hand was tucked into his elbow, his other hand covering hers to keep her securely connected to him. A few experimental tugs had produced nothing more than a scowl in her direction before he'd pulled her even closer to him, pressing her hand between his arm and side.
“What a lovely wedding,” her mother sighed, as Edwin and Eleanor approached. She was standing next to Eleanor’s father, who was chatting with Wesley. Lady Harrington was practically glowing with happiness despite the almost translucent quality to her skin and the bags and dark circles under her eyes. Edwin wondered if she was quite well, and then remembered that planning this wedding had probably taken a bit of a toll on her. “I can’t believe we managed to get both of you married off, to such wonderful matches, all in one Season.” Beaming at Edwin, Eleanor’s mother looked practically blissful. Inwardly Eleanor sighed, but she didn’t have it in her heart to dampen her mother’s spirits by making any tart remarks about her own marriage. Besides which, she was under the distinct impression that Edwin was at the end of his patience with her for the day.
“Which means that you’ll be able to return to Bath soon,” Lord Harrington said, joining the conversation and smiling down gently as his wife as he took her hand and looped it around her arm.
Edwin could feel his own wife stiffen at his side and he looked down at her, wondering at the reaction, but her face was completely void of expression. Very blank in fact, which was rather unusual for her.
“Will you join me there soon?” Lady Harrington asked rather wistfully.
“For a bit, my dear,” Lord Harrington replied, patting her hand. “I’ve completed most of my business in town for the moment.” The smile that spread across Lady Harrington’s face was nothing short of brilliant, quite similar to the genuine smiles that would flash across Eleanor’s when the situation warranted it.
Not that it had today. Edwin was eager to get his wife home where he could question her as to her odd behavior, but it wouldn’t do to be rude and leave too hastily. After all there were still a few guests mingling in the foray as they awaited their carriages, but he kept her firmly planted at his side as they circulated. He’d had quite enough chasing her around during the previous hours.
She looked beautiful today, in a dark rose colored gown that displayed her splendid bosom to advantage without being overly revealing. Apparently that lesson had been well learned – forcibly planted into her bottom really. The wisps of honey blonde hair that had escaped her pins curled and caressed the delicate length of her neck and it was all Edwin could do not to wrap the strands around his fingers. Eleanor entranced him, enchanted him… that is when she wasn’t driving him completely mad. As she was wont to do.
It seemed to take hours, although it couldn’t have been more than forty five minutes, before they were able to take their leave from her parents. The carriage ride back to their home a few streets away was quiet as Edwin gathered his thoughts, knowing that his silence was unnerving Eleanor. She pretended to be engrossed in staring out the window but she kept darting little glances his way, her cheeks alternatively blushing and paling. Edwin just stared straight ahead, which meant that he was looking slightly over her head. Not quite at her.
When the carriage stopped he exited first and waved the footman off. He would help his wife down herself.
Nell nibbled at her plump lower lip when she saw him standing there waiting with one hand outstretched, but she delicately placed hers in it and stepped down. Unwilling to look at him, she kept her eyes downcast, pretending to be adjusting her skirts as he curled her hand around his arm again, and led her towards the house. There was just the slightest amount of resistance from her, as if she wanted to pull away but didn't dare to.
Good. At least she wasn't so willfully stupid as to make a scene in the street. It had been bad enough wondering whether or not anyone other than Hugh, Wesley and her father had noticed him pursuing her around her parents' house this morning. His friends had because he'd been complaining of her odd behavior to them before the ceremony and so they'd been watching afterwards. Otherwise he might have escaped the embarrassment of providing them with some entertainment.
The tugging of her hand to get away from his grip increased once they stepped through the front door of course. Edwin nodded at Banks before turning his head to speak low into Eleanor's ear.
"Let's go to the library, I'd like to speak with you."
Chapter 3
Although Edwin’s words had the sound of a request, Eleanor knew that they were an order and she felt both more anxious and slightly calmer. At least it wasn't his study, with that awful chair that seemed like it had been made to bend her over for discipline. It was far too like the one that she’d grown up bending over in her father’s study. Not that she'd done anything that truly merited a punishment this morning, although she was sure Edwin was quite frustrated with how elusive she'd been during the wedding celebrations.
Reluctantly she nodded and allowed him to lead her to the library. She swept in, ignoring the chairs in favor of freedom of movement, standing as far away from him as she could get as he closed the heavy doors behind them. They stood across the room from each other, he by the doors studying her, and her by the windows facing to the side so that she could see out of the window while still keeping an eye on him.
He crossed over to the desk, which was behind her, forcing her to turn to face him if she wanted to keep him within her line of vision. Despite the fact that he was several meters away, she felt rather crowded just by the sheer force of his presence. It struck her again what an incredibly attractively dangerous man her husband was, and she could feel herself weakening towards him, wanting to touch him, kiss him, be with him. And yet she couldn’t allow herself to do that. Be like her mother? Who was already being exiled to Bath now that Hugh’s wedding was over?
Who knew when her father would let his wife return to London once he had her safely ensconced away from the capital; yet her mother would accept it, make the best of it and pretend to be happy even as she was sighing with longing for her husband. It didn’t matter that her father was going to accompany her now, eventually he would leave her mother there and, without Eleanor, she’d be lonelier than ever.
Well Eleanor would never find herself in that trap. If Edwin didn’t have the same feelings for her as she did for him, then she would wall her own feelings away and never let them see the light of day.
Yet part of her still hoped that perhaps there was something more to his emotions than just absent minded affection or the care a man might have for a woman he’d grown up with. More than the passion that flared up between them on a regular basis.
“Would you like to explain your behavior this morning?” Edwin asked, his voice deceptively calm. She could feel every one of her muscles tense, the skin on the back of her neck crawling. A casual observer, one who had not grown up with Edwin, wouldn’t have heard the danger in that tone. Wouldn’t see the stubborn set of his shoulders, the authoritative tilt of his head. It was the same voice she’d heard him use when he was twelve and had confronted the son of one of his father’s tenants about putting a frog down the back of Eleanor’s dress.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said airily as she swept to the other side of the room, keeping the desk between them and lengthening the amount of space. Part of her knew that she shouldn’t needle him like this, that she should at least acknowledge that she’d been making him chase her all around Hugh and Irene’s wedding brunch. At the very least she should ask him what he was talking about, but no, she had to phrase it in such a way that made it clear she was avoiding the issue. That she was baiting him.
