Page 31 of The Lord who Captured Her Innocent Heart
“No, no,” Peter stuttered, feeling as though the air around them had shifted. “It’s nothing like that.”
On cue, Ella took her second shot with the mallet and cast herself back with bright laughter, her face changing, glowing. She beamed at Frederick, and Peter was struck with a jolt of jealousy. He glanced back towards Tatiana, who continued to look at him, her left eyebrow arched.
“To be frank,” Peter continued, surprised that he uttered such words, “it really has been a unique pleasure getting to know your sister better. I can only say that. There’s very little more to report.”
Tatiana gave him a knowing look, in the way that women so often did: as though they contained the secrets of the universe. He frowned a bit, wanting to put her in her place. But truly, there wasn’t a place to put her, nor a thing to say. He stepped back towards the croquet set, knowing it was his turn. He would table the discussion for another time.
Chapter 14
The hedge maze was the crowning achievement on the exterior of the Braxton gardens, nearly an acre of two-storey hedges in which they’d spent hours getting lost in as children. As the afternoon wore towards evening, casting that strange, delicious orange across the moors, Tatiana suggested that the four of them roam through the hedges. “I dare say I haven’t been within the walls of it in years,” she said, her voice edged with excitement. “Don’t you remember that day I was lost, Ella? I screamed for you to come and find me. It took you ages.”
Ella remembered the day. She’d been perhaps twelve, maybe thirteen, and her stomach had clenched with anxiety, knowing her sister lurked somewhere behind the hedge walls. She’d gripped Frederick’s hand (had Peter been amongst them? she couldn’t quite recall) and all-but screeched, “We have to find her!” as though it was some sort of adventure-thriller novel, and she was the heroine.
At the time, already her affection for Frederick had been brewing. She wondered, now, as they’d hunted for Tatiana within the hedges, if Frederick’s affection had been growing for Tatiana, already.
“I remember the day well.” Ella sighed, walking alongside Tatiana. The four of them moved towards the hedges, embarking away from the hubbub of the garden party. Already, the sound of conversation scattered, became vague. “Frederick, do you remember it? Already, did you know about your feelings for Tatiana?”
Frederick’s cheeks yet again grew enflamed, telling Ella everything she needed to know. Her heart dipped a bit in her chest. How foolish she’d been, thinking that she and Frederick had been building something together. All the while, it had been Tatiana and Frederick.
Again, she felt a stab of recognition: she and Peter couldn’t carry on with their mission. It simply wasn’t right to rip such happiness from beneath her sister’s nose.
“Look at that adorable blush,” Tatiana shrieked, drawing back to slip her arm through Frederick’s.
This cast Peter forward, to walk alongside Ella. This time, it was Ella’s turn to show her apprehension. She pressed her lips together, feeling her thoughts fizz out. What on earth could she possibly say?
Luckily, Peter seemed to have decided this was a worthy opportunity to continue forth with their “plot,” if it even existed any longer.
“Regarding the upcoming Parliament session,” he began, clearing his throat.
Ella thought he sounded like a much older man, now, and the back of her mind quaked with excitement. He seemed three feet taller than normal, almost animalistic and strong. She forced herself not to grin, not wanting to reveal this sudden feeling.
“I know you have very strict opinions about it, dear Frederick,” Peter continued.
Tatiana chuckled, tugging on Frederick’s hand. “Oh, he thought he had strict opinions,” she chirped. “But you know, my Frederick is a bit softer than he used to be. That long, what was it, ten-page letter you sent me, Freddy? About your politics? I wrote back explaining that I think compassion should come before anything else. I told him that I wouldn’t read the entire letter until he considered the people, the people lurking beneath the laws. And what did you say, Freddy?”
Ella hadn’t known Frederick to ever have much consideration for those in need. Rather, he thought that the laws were there for a reason, and should be upheld over everything. She felt her eyebrows rising in surprise, watching as Frederick shrugged his shoulders, saying, “She forced me to reconsider. And it’s been a very long time since I did something like that.”
“I have never known you to change your mind,” Peter said, seeming genuinely aghast.
“And there you have it. She’s reconstructed the innermost chaos of my mind,” Frederick said, beaming.
“Frederick, I hadn’t imagined you’d ever grow out of your pessimism,” Ella said, giggling. “You’re almost child-like in your politics now. What will we ever do with you?”
The flirtation that Ella evoked brimmed with electricity. She could feel it, sizzling from her tongue. She could feel Peter’s eyes as she twirled back, allowing her red hair to flounce behind her. Her heart surged with something — was it attraction? Peter seemed to flounder, seeming to hunt for something to say. Suddenly, it felt very much as though Ella and Peter had a similar mindset, whilst Frederick and Tatiana were working on their own timeline.
Peter sidled closer to Ella within the hedges. Tatiana and Frederick had begun to speak in subtle words, falling into their own conversation. Ella hadn’t the ear to listen. The words were too intimate, not meant for her, nor for Peter. They moved a bit further into the maze, with Tatiana and Frederick just a few paces behind. A few other members of the party lurked around them, gasping with laughter. The sun couldn’t quite reach them, and the haze of shadow was lovely, making everything feel lost in a daydream.
“I never imagined Frederick to speak in such a manner about politics,” Ella whispered, her eyebrows high. “It’s as though he’s founded a new portion of his personality. I wonder if it was always there, lurking beneath the surface.”
“Isn’t it a funny thing, what people can reveal within you?” Peter asked, his words almost philosophical in nature. “As though alone, we’re only one-dimensional beings.”
“I suppose I never imagined that to be a facet of courting,” Ella said. She swept her hand to the side, allowing her fingers to graze along the leaves of the hedges. They were smooth, almost oily in nature. “I always assumed you were meant to match with whoever was closest in kind to you. But now that I think of it, my own mother and father are far different people. It’s difficult to imagine them apart. They’re like two halves of a whole.”
Ella’s other hand slipped alongside Peter’s. Her fingers sizzled with electricity. She yearned to slip her entire hand along his, to hold onto it. She imagined them walking together, tightly together. Perhaps Peter might press his hand against her lower back, turn his nose into her neck, inhale her scent.
No. These were inappropriate thoughts. She shoved them away, then spun her head round, watching as Tatiana and Frederick grew tighter against one another. Their lips were mere inches away from each other, seemingly poised for a perfect kiss. She knew they wouldn’t do it, not out here, not like this. But the image almost pained her, and she spun back. How she craved the sort of match they seemed to have.
Her stomach clenched with guilt, remembering once more what she and Peter were up to. She drew her hand across his upper arm, pulling him to the side. Using her softest, most child-like tone, she murmured, “Peter, I really do think we should end our operation.”
