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“A more expedient approach would be to make your wife jealous. A woman does not want a man unlessanotherwoman wants him.”
Everett frowned at her. “No, that is never the way, Simon.Do not be overcome by evil. But overcome evil with good.Is that not what Christ teaches us?”
“You are too good for your own good, Everett,” Lady Genevieve teased. “Mark my words, Lord Simon. The quickest way to win your wife’s heart is to show her what she is missing.”
“Go on with you,” Everett scolded. Lady Genevieve walked away, laughing softly. She kept her gaze glued to Simon, and he felt a wave of discomfort at how she looked at him. He shook his head.
“I will heed your words, Everett. Now, I will take my leave. Mayhap the jeweller will be open by the time I arrive in the village,” he said with a wink.
“Ahh, good choice. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It stands to reason that a way to a woman’s heart is through diamonds.”
Simon laughed and mounted his horse, holding up his hand in farewell as he rode off toward town. By late morning, he had picked out a present for his bride and arrived home just before luncheon was to be served. He headed upstairs to go in search of his mother to help him find a way to wrap the gift.
However, when he passed his bedroom door on the way to his mother’s suite of rooms, he saw that it stood ajar, and several voices could be heard floating out into the hall.
He stopped and went back, frowning as he opened the door wide. Three maids were packing trunks and carrying hat boxes to the adjoining room. He stepped inside, reminding himself to remain calm. “What is going on?” he asked.
One of the maids jumped and turned around, nearly tippling to hat boxes from her arms. “Oh, my lord. We did not expect you. We will leave immediately.”
“No, please. Pray tell, what is happening? Where are you taking Lady Ellen’s trunks?”
The three maids exchanged embarrassed looks. “Lady Ellen ordered that all her things be packed up and moved to the room next door, my lord.”
Simon nodded, at once disappointed and relieved. At least he would not have to sleep on the settee again. But he was annoyed that Ellen had not spoken with him about moving her things. How would it look to the servants? Surely tongues would be wagging belowstairs this evening. He looked up at the maids and realised he had been brooding for several seconds. He nodded and gave them a tight smile.
“Thank you,” he said curtly and strode from the room.
Chapter 15
Ellen flipped the page in her book with such force that it echoed through the spacious library. She shifted on the window seat and pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. Thankfully the rain had let up almost as soon as it had begun that morning.
A heavy mist had settled over the landscape, and she paused her reading to look out the window. The fog had long since disappeared. Now the brilliant array of coloured leaves was visible from her perch, and she could not help the smile that now touched her lips. At least her new home was beautiful.
She turned her attention back to her book and tried to read. However, approaching footsteps set her on the alert. She put her finger in the middle of the pages and closed the book, tucking herself further into the wall to try to hide. She masked her breathing, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Ellen had been hiding from Simon all morning, trying to avoid him at all costs. Her feelings had confused her that morning. She had been so determined to set her heart against him that the tiny crack in her resolve unnerved her. He would not win her over with his charm only to trick her again.
A face appeared at the end of the bookshelf in front of her, and she uttered a soft gasp. Simon came around the bookshelf and approached her with his hands in his jacket pockets. “There you are. I have been looking all over for you.”
She sat up straighter, feeling guilty for hiding from him. “Here I am,” she said with a small smile.
He inched closer, hanging his head. “I just returned from my ride,” he said. She nodded. The conversation felt stunted and awkward. He shuffled his feet for a moment and took another step closer to her.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
She held up the book as if seeing for the first time that she was holding it. “Oh, this? It isThe Castle of Otranto.”
“Ah, Horace Wadpole. A very interesting story, if not a little fantastical for my tastes,” he replied.
“You have read it?” she asked, shocked by his admission.
“I have,” he said, raising a brow at her outburst. “Do you think me so uncultured as to be illiterate?”
Ellen hung her head, feeling guilty once again. “That is not what I meant. I thought most men thought such Gothic novels were beneath them.”
Simon came over and sat down on the little window seat beside her. Instantly her heart began to beat faster at his nearness. He sighed. “I did not say it was my favourite book, but it was entertaining. Are you enjoying it?”
She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I have not read very far in it, yet. I only came down here to—” She halted. She had come to escape him, and he had found her still. Had he been up to his room and seen that she had moved her things out? Or had the servants even begun to carry out her wishes?
