Page 24 of To Bed the Bride
What a strange and shocking thought.
No more shocking than what Logan did next. He drew even closer, reached out with one hand and placed it on the back of her neck. Without warning, he bent and kissed her.
It was a sweet, affectionate kiss, holding hints of more. When he pulled back he was still smiling, the puppy curled into the crook of his arm.
She turned, feeling her face flame as she left the cottage. He didn’t call after her or try to stop her from leaving. Not one word passed between them, neither explanation nor apology. Or, on her side, a condemnation for the unwelcome kiss.
By the time she reached Maud she was nearly running. She didn’t know who she was fleeing: him or herself.
Chapter Ten
Eleanor had hoped to get an early start riding the next morning. Unfortunately, one thing or another took precedence, including her aunt’s letter. Deborah must have posted it a day after Eleanor had left.
Her aunt giddily explained that she and Michael had set Eleanor’s wedding date.
Eleanor read and re-read that sentence before putting the letter down on her father’s desk.
Michael had said something about next spring as a wedding date, but nothing firm had been decided. Evidently, Michael and her aunt had chosen a date in May. In addition, he’d given Deborah approval to begin wedding preparations.
How very odd that she hadn’t been consulted.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t see one of the maids standing in the doorway with her morning tea.
“Miss Eleanor, is something wrong?” Norma asked.
Eleanor shook her head. “Thank you, Norma, I’m fine.”
Norma entered the library and placed the tray on the corner of the desk.
“Can I bring you anything else, miss?”
“No, nothing. Thank you, Norma.”
What she needed or wanted, Norma couldn’t provide. A little respect, perhaps. A little consideration.
When the maid left, Eleanor picked up the letter again, and read it once more.
Deborah and Michael had set a date. She didn’t have anything to do with the decision. Nor, did it appear from her aunt’s comments, was she going to have much input about the ceremony.
It wasn’t the first time Michael’s actions had disconcerted her. He was an earl and, as Deborah repeatedly said, given to a certain autocracy of manner.
“He’s of the peerage, my dear. You mustn’t expect him to act like other people.”
Did being an earl mean that he didn’t have to consult anyone else? She wasn’t a piece of statuary to be moved from the mantel to an occasional table.
Does no one ever talk to you?
Logan’s words came back to her. How had he known? She pushed thoughts of him from her mind. The very worst thing she could do now was think abouthim.
He might not be a shepherd, but she didn’t know who he was. A friend of the duke’s. He could be anyone. A former soldier, except he hadn’t claimed to have been in the military. No, the man was an enigma and the sooner she forgot him, the better.
That was easier said than done.
She had thought about the kiss all night. At first she told herself it was a guilty conscience that kept her awake. Then, after she recalled their entire conversation, word for word, she realized it was something far more dangerous. She remembered the glint of laughter in his eyes and his soft smile. Perhaps he had ridiculed her, but it didn’t feel that way. Instead it was as if he coaxed her to be herself.
Reveal yourself, Eleanor. Show the world who you are. Don’t hide yourself from anyone, however much you might fear their words.
He truly had no right to say such things to her. Yet they were true, weren’t they? The letter proved that. Was she a nonentity to her family? Some gray, amorphous creature who occupied a place at the table, who walked through the corridors, who occasionally spoke?
