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After he left, I heard his voice outside the door, too muffled to comprehend most of what was being said. I stood and tiptoed closer. I caught the end of something Dr. Hannigan was saying.
“…too much for her. This was a terrible mistake. You need to get her away from here immediately.”
Answering was Callum’s voice.
“What if…”
Their conversation lowered and I couldn’t hear the rest.
“I’ll be here, just in case,” Dr. Hannigan said, then the conversation ended and the door opened, nearly hitting me in the face. I couldn’t pretend that I hadn’t been listening.
Callum grinned at me.
“Listening through doors? You naughty girl.”
“What was all that about, Callum? You need to tell me right now.”
He seemed undisturbed by my having overheard, which calmed me.
“I’ll tell you, but not here. Let’s take a walk together, the gardens are greening.”
I bathed and dressed. The water washed away some of my stale fear, and I was more myself, the self that had arrived at Willowfield still ignorant of what nightmares and raptures awaited me.
I met Callum in the front hall, and he offered me his arm. It felt strange and beautiful, behaving as an honest couple going for a stroll. I leaned against him and took in the hazy green world that seemed to have sprung up overnight. He pointed to patches and trellises and talked to me of the things that would grow there, and what they could be used for.
The fresh air purged me further of my darker thoughts, but already I was thinking of having to return inside, to be swallowed up in the house where either ghosts or my own insanity lived. I tried to enjoy the moment, as I worried that it wouldn’t last.
“I’m afraid I have to travel again, this time for quite a while,” Callum said. “I’ve already turned over the opening of the house to Rodney. He’ll handle preparations while I’m gone. I want you to come, I’ve already arranged it all.”
I laughed a little. Spending nights together in a mostly empty house was a far cry from traveling together like a married couple.
“Don’t you think that would be improper?”
“Improper?” He stopped us walking and turned to me seeming to have taken the word at great offense. When I looked up into his face, questioning, I saw the mischief there.
“Should I show you what’s improper?” he asked and reached for me. I danced away, partially in fun and partially worried that he truly would take me here in the middle of the garden with all the men wandering around. He chased me about, pinching my bottom when he got close enough, then capturing me at last, kissing me soundly.
“I’m my best self with you, Millie,” he said when the kiss was done. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable withimproperbehavior such as traveling together as mere lovers.”
With an enchanting sleight of hand, he produced a ring, holding it between thumb and forefinger. Its center glinted green, emeralds sparkling in a setting of gold-work vines, interwoven to form an unbreakable knot.
I furrowed my brows, the world suddenly insubstantial, like a golden cloud.
“Marry me, Millicent Foxboro,” Callum said, his eyes shining.
“Marry,” I repeated dumbly.
“Will you?”
I threw my arms around his shoulders, nearly knocking him off-balance, and he returned the embrace, spinning me, my feet leaving the earth. I was flying through a haze of joy that flowered as beautifully as the world around us. A perfect mirror of the life Spring was bringing to Willowfield, Callum had brought life to me.
“Yes!” I cried. “Yes, I will.”
When he placed me on the ground again, another kiss was mine.
“We leave tonight,” he said, both of us breathless.
“Tonight?” I balked. “That’s so soon.”
