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She stood up suddenly, her breakfast forgotten, and rang for her maid. A few minutes later, Ambers appeared. “Yes, my lady?” she asked as she entered the room.
Ellen turned from where she had been standing before the hearth. “There you are, Ambers. Have my things packed and moved to the other room.”
Chapter 14
Simon rode out over the frosted landscape, relishing the feel of the wind whipping at his hair and his mighty steed’s hooves eating up the ground. Out here, he felt free. His life had taken a most unpleasant turn, and he was unsure how to proceed from here.
Ellen was a confusing woman, to be sure. After he had ordered her breakfast, she had almost seemed to open up to him, to be human in some way. But he could not forget her words from the night before.
“As long as there is peace between us, I will be perfectly happy to be left alone.”
He had imagined marriage being so much different when he was a boy. He had always imagined Ellen would be the woman by his side, but the picture he had conjured in his mind of what it might be like was the furthest thing from his present reality.
Simon urged the horse up a slight incline and then turned him around. In the distance was the estate mansion, rising above a thin layer of mist as if from a storybook. He did love this land and gave a sigh of contentment that he was finished at university. Now, he could focus on helping his father with the estate, something he was much more inclined to work on than endlessly having his nose in books.
His peaceful moment was shattered when he heard hoofbeats thudding on the muddy ground behind him. “Simon? Is that you?”
Simon turned around to see Everett and Lady Genevieve riding toward him. He twisted in the saddle and flashed them both a brilliant smile. “Yes, it is. What are you two doing out so early?”
Everett eyed him with worry. “I could ask you the same question.”
They dismounted as they came closer, and Simon followed their lead. They allowed the horses to graze nearby. “I can see that you two have a lot to discuss, so I shall just stroll along the hillside,” Lady Genevieve said.
“You need not go,” Simon said, feeling guilty for interrupting their ride.
“Nonsense. I have known you both long enough to know when I am not wanted. Please, I shall enjoy exploring the Grant estate a little.”
Everett held out his hand to her as she started to walk away. “Do not go too far,” he warned.
“Yes,Papa,” she teased with a mischievous grin. She then walked away, and Simon breathed a sigh of relief.
“She is right, you know. You could not have come at a better time, really.”
Simon and Everett stayed near the horses, looking out over the landscape, which was quickly brightening as the sun rose higher in the sky. He rubbed his hands together and then cupped them over his mouth, breathing into them to help warm his fingertips. His breath came out in great white clouds, denoting the crisp autumn air that would soon give way to winter.
“What happened, Simon?” Everett asked softly.
Simon took his hands away from his mouth, shaking his head. “I fear I might have made the worst mistake of my life, Everett. She hates me.”
“What happened last night?”
“Before or after I told her I am sick of trying to win her over?” Simon asked, wincing at the memory. She had made him angry, and he had lashed out at her, something he had promised himself he would not do when he had first returned. She was playing the victim and had no right to do so.
“You said that?” Everett asked in surprise.
“Not in so many words, but that was the general gist of things. Why should I try to win her heart if I am to be constantly rejected? Perhaps it would be better if we just continued to lead our separate lives? The house is big enough that we would only have to see each other during meals and the like.”
“Is that really what you want?” Everett motioned for him to follow Lady Genevieve’s path, and they began to walk along the hillside.
“Of course not. I do not have to tell you how I feel about her, but it seems hopeless now.”
“Well, you must try to win her over nonetheless.”
“How am I to do that?” Simon asked, frustrated. “Do you know she called herself a shrew this morning? I did not want to seem rude, but she is not far from the truth.”
“Listen, Saint Nicholas Day is in a fortnight. Why do you not find her a small, meaningful gift? That will show her that you do not mean her any ill and that you want to try to make your marriage work. Perhaps you will not end ‘madly in love’ as the girls are brought up to believe with the novels they read. But a congenial understanding would be preferable to this open hostility.”
Simon thought over Everett’s words and only realised that Lady Genevieve was almost upon them when he heard her lilting voice.
