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“I hope you don’t make me regret this, North,” she said quietly.
“I will make sure you never regret this. I promise.” Derrick took her hand and kissed her fingers. “You can hold me to that.”
He knew he would never be able to break it. Not when it came to Ellie Drummond.
#
“Oh, for goodness sake!” Regina grumbled as she grabbed onto her bonnet before it decided to take flight. “I tie this thing up and it still won’t stay still.”
“The wind is quite strong today,” Dorothea commented as she eased Regina to a stop and tied the ribbon into a bow under her sister’s chin. “There. That should do it.”
“It’s going to take my head off with the next gust of wind if you tie it up like that,” Regina complained.
Ellie groaned and rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Regina, you’re complaining so much today. What’s wrong with you?”
“I just don’t want to look like a fool, that’s all!”
“You don’t need to worry about that. You look absolutely fine.”
Regina snorted. “You didn’t hear Aunt Diane earlier. She was making comments that I should consider myself lucky that I can turn anyone’s head when I look like this.” She gestured at herself. “I have no idea what she’s talking about, but the words are stuck and driving me mad.”
Ellie could imagine. The old lady was very good at sneering at them when she wanted to. Emma had said they should just ignore her, but that was easier said than done: Aunt Diane’s comments were enough to cut deep.
Why was it the mean ones ended up living longer? It was as if being mean was a requirement for everlasting life. Ellie could never understand that.
When North had suggested a picnic between themselves, Ellie’s sisters, and his friend, Ellie had accepted eagerly. She did always enjoy going on picnics; they were fun and the food their cook had made when she and her sisters had them back home were just delicious.
That was one of the bright points of living on their estate—the scenery was gorgeous. They would sit at the top of a hill and see so much greenery spread out around them. On a bright day, Ellie didn’t want to go anywhere else.
It had been a long time since they had done that. Mostly because Ellie was always looking after her father, and whenever she did leave the house she was worried about him. Of course, he did have his own caretaker, but Ellie wanted to be the one to nurse her father back to health. It made her feel useful. Picnics could be done at any time. Her father…
Ellie sighed and pushed away these thoughts. She couldn’t think about sad things. She had something important to focus on; her upcoming wedding. Their father would be happy that one of them was getting married. And he would be relieved that it was Ellie. While he hadn’t said it out loud, Ellie knew their father was concerned about her not finding a husband.
Now she had, so that had to make things better for him.
“Where’s Emma?” Dorothea asked, looking behind her. “I thought she was coming along as well. She was right behind us a moment ago.”
“She said she would help Paxton bring the picnic basket.” Ellie kept walking. “Apparently, it’s quite heavy.”
“And the earl isn’t going to provide the food?” Regina muttered with a scowl.
“He and Mr Copelton are going to bring their own things. We have more people, so it’s only fair that we provide our food.” Ellie raised an eyebrow at her sister. “What is wrong with you, Regina? You’re really grumpy, and it’s not just because of Aunt Diane.”
Regina sighed. “It is. And now you’ve gotten yourself engaged… I feel like I need to emulate it, and it’s not going as well as it did for you. I mean, you barely did anything and got a proposal. I’ve had flirtations, flowers, and propositions, but no proposal. And I was working for it.”
Ellie could understand that. She slowed her pace a little and slipped her arm through her sister’s.
“You don’t need to work so hard for it. I wasn’t looking for it. This just… happened. Maybe you should do the same. Don’t work so hard, and it’ll just fall into your lap.”
“I hope so.” Regina sighed. “Forgive me, Ellie, I didn’t mean to be so despondent. You deserve this, and I shouldn’t be so horrible about it.”
“You don’t need to apologise. I understand how you feel. Besides,” Ellie leaned over and kissed her sister’s cheek, “you make it look so easy. I would never be able to do that.”
Regina gave her a small smile. Then Dorothea appeared on her other side and took Regina’s other arm.
“Come on, I thought we were going to meet Lord Northampton and his friend. We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up.”
They all cried out and laughed as another gust of wind almost knocked them back a step.
