Page 27 of The Lord who Captured Her Innocent Heart
Peter’s heart ramped up. Tatiana. Tatiana Chesterton. The woman of his dreams.
Right?
Immediately, however, Ella Chesterton stepped from the carriage behind her sister. She wasn’t as regal in her step — rather, the moment her foot touched the ground, she nearly tumbled to the side. Her ankle wavered beneath her. Her father said something stern to her, something that cast her eyes towards the ground. Peter wondered what it was. Perhaps it was rather difficult to grow up in the shadow of a sister like Tatiana. Perhaps it was akin to always getting second place.
And now, with Tatiana engaged to Ella’s greatest love…
It must have been such a wretched thing, learning this. For the first time, Peter felt awash with empathy for Ella. Surely, she didn’t deserve such mistreatment.
Frederick burst from where he and Peter stood, reaching for Tatiana’s mother in an initial greeting. He then shook Tatiana’s father’s hand, before greeting Tatiana with a warmth Peter could hardly comprehend. He looked a bit like a bumbling fool, Frederick did, but in a remarkably pure way.
Ella’s eyes turned towards Peter. She bowed her head in a semi-secret greeting. Around Peter, the party had begun to swarm: people sipping wine, popping champagne, gossiping. Not a single soul knew of the nature of his relationship with little Ella, and he liked it that way. It was perhaps the purest experience he’d had in a long time, certainly in his adult life.
Peter hadn’t noticed that Frederick had bolted from the Chestertons and now had suddenly latched himself to Peter’s side. He muttered in his ear, “The girls have suggested that you join us on our blanket for the picnic. If it suits you, of course.” HIs eyes glowed with fear. “I absolutely abhor being with the parents alone. Won’t you?”
Peter knew this was a part of the plan: he and Ella had discussed it via letter correspondence. They would take full charge of the conversation, flicking it to ensure both Tatiana and Frederick noted that the other wasn’t a perfect match.
“Of course,” Peter said, grinning madly, his heart thumping. He marched alongside Frederick, drawing towards the Chesterton married couple, along with Tatiana and Ella. Again, he and Ella shared a long gaze. Frederick stumbled onto the blanket beside Lady Chesterton, across from Tatiana, whilst Ella took up residence alongside her sister. Peter filled in the gap across from Ella, tearing his eyes away. Suddenly, the gaze had grown too intense.
“It’s so lovely to gather together like this, isn’t it?” Tatiana asked, batting her eyelashes towards Frederick.
Peter was surprised to feel not a single note of jealousy in his gut. He waited for it, almost like watching for the storm. Not a single cloud gave way to rain.
“It really is,” Frederick echoed.
Peter felt the strain in his voice. He turned to Ella, who beamed back at him. At this, his stomach clenched.
“Wouldn’t it be marvellous to sit in the fields like this, painting all the clouds moving past?” Peter said, switching his eyes back towards Tatiana. “I’ve only just found my painting palette in my wardrobe yesterday evening. It’s as though it was waiting for me to stumble into it all these months. And now, with the weather fully stretching itself out for us…”
“Oh, that’s such spectacular news!” Tatiana cried, sounding child-like. “I’ve found mine, as well. I was just writing Frederick about painting. He said — and, I can hardly believe this — that he’s never tried his hand at it. Can you imagine? Never truly trying to paint?”
“I dare say he had much better things to do,” Ella offered. She sipped her wine, her motions almost cartoonish, attempting to be ladylike. She crept her pinky out. “Than simply sit in a field, smearing colours across a pad of paper.”
“You speak with such sincerity, Sister,” Tatiana said, rolling her eyes. “Frederick, is this so? Better things to do?”
Frederick tittered, his cheeks glowing bright pink. “Now that I look back on it, I can’t really imagine what on earth I was doing all those days. I wish I could draw up the information I learned, or recite to you the verses I wrote. But I cannot. And truly, you must have more blissful memories, stretched out beneath the sun.”
Tatiana beamed at him. “Then you absolutely must join us this summer. Perhaps the four of us could go! Peter, you must show Ella just how beautiful the experience can be. She simply won’t listen to me.”
“Ella has never listened to a soul,” Lord Chesterton echoed from the far end of the picnic blanket. “I dare say it’s been a difficult task, taking on the role of being her father.”
“Try being her mother,” Lady Chesterton affirmed.
The pair of them laughed. Lady Chesterton dabbed her gleaming neck with a scarf, seemingly conscious of the streaming sunlight. Sweat glistened beneath Peter’s ear.
“I assume that would be a fate almost worse than death,” Lord Chesterton said.
Ella looked a bit deflated. She bit her bottom lip, casting her eyes again towards Peter. She gave him a light shrug. It seemed that Tatiana hadn’t taken the bait, yet again.
“I assume Ella will have a great deal on her plate this summer,” Peter said, trying to reroute the conversation. “Ella, you were just talking to me about your studies of Spanish and Italian. She plans to be fluent by autumn. Imagine it. At that point, you’ll have four languages. Five, perhaps, counting Latin.”
“And don’t forget the year she decided to learn the Greek alphabet,” Frederick said, beaming at Ella.
Ah! Perhaps they’d drawn the conversation in the proper direction. Ella gave Frederick a nervous smile before returning her eyes to Peter, as though he were her safety net. He inched a bit closer to her on the picnic blanket, unsure precisely why. Perhaps he just felt a kinship towards her, knowing her innermost secret.
“The Greek alphabet?” Peter asked, genuinely ecstatic. “I haven’t known many women to even attempt it. Even Frederick here hasn’t a real grip–”
“That doesn’t mean I haven’t tried,” Frederick blurted. “I’ve spent hours and hours before the symbols, trying to memorise them. Make sense of them. And Ella here skirts into the library, speaking almost perfect Ancient Greek. It absolutely tore me in two. If I didn’t respect her so dearly, then I might destroy her.”
