Page 74 of The Masked Baron
“I can’t pretend to know how you feel, but I hope those feelings will soon pass.”
Eliana sighed. “I do as well. I don’t think I could convince you now, but I am not generally such a bitter person.”
“I don’t think Miss Dubois would be as close to you if you were.”
“I tried to replace my brother with Miss Dubois, but family ties are permanent. No matter how much I try to hide from my past, I cannot sever such an important relationship. Not without us both suffering. I have missed him, and I want to heal the rift.”
Andalin put her hand on Eliana’s arm once again. “I know Ellison would appreciate knowing you do not despise him.”
Eliana wiped at her eyes one more time. “Yes, I owe him that. Thank you.”
“Shall we return to the others before they start to worry?” Andalin linked her arm with Eliana’s, and the two left the dark room. Eliana stopped her before they rejoined the others. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I hope we can be friends.”
“It is one of my greatest wishes.” Andalin hugged Eliana before Eliana returned to the sitting room but found she could not rejoin the others just yet. Instead she made her way to the kitchen.
“What are ye doing down here? Ye should be up visiting with the others!” Matilda said after Andalin claimed her stool.
“I can’t bring myself to return,” Andalin said, relieved the other servants were busy with their duties so she could speak freely. The heaviness of Eliana’s emotions seemed to now rest on Andalin’s shoulders.
“Oh? Why not?”
“I’m not one of them. I can’t explain it, but I am not sure I have a place here any longer.”
“Remember our plan?” Matilda asked.
“The plan you never told me about?” Andalin answered.
Matilda came and took a stool by her. “Yewere the plan, sweet.”
“Me?”
“Yes, Miss Durante. And it worked splendidly. Have ye never wondered why ye were put in Miss Eliana’s room? We had hopes from the beginning it would help his lordship put his past behind him. The three of us womenfolk stayed up several nights to sew dresses that would flatter ye. But I’m still repenting for encouraging the foolish idea for ye to go traipsing through the forest.”
Andalin could not believe her ears. But Matilda was not done.
“There were more subtle things too. We prepared his lordship’s favorite foods when he dined with ye and stayed out of sight whenever there was a chance ye two might cross paths. Mrs. Lewis even urged Lord Cadogen to invite Lady Kerrigan and her daughter to visit to remind his lordship of better times. It might not sound like much, but we did the best we could with the resources we had. But truly, our plan never would have succeeded without yer goodness.”
Andalin did not agree. It was notsplendid, as Matilda had called it, if Andalin was simply a convenient tool to fix other’s problems at her own expense. She had needs of her own. “On second thought, I might return to the others after all.”
Matilda’s eyes blinked rapidly. “Well, ye were easier to convince than I thought ye would be.”
Andalin put her arms around Matilda. “At least I shall always know you love me.”
Instead of returning like Andalin had said she would, she fetched her cloak and slipped out the front door. It wasn’t Eliana who did not belong. It was Andalin. She would speak with Ellison, but right now she needed space to breathe and think. She went straight to the stables to visit Ginger and the dogs. But she never made it. A hand snaked over her mouth, and her world went dark.
Chapter 27
“So what is the news?Is Thornton Way’s tailor still hiding out at his neighbor’s?” Kerrigan joked.
Ellis rolled his eyes and shut his study door behind them. “No doubt he fled to Scotland. Good riddance. The town is ever as it was. They loathe me and likely will even without my mask.”
Kerrigan eyed him. “You could have told me this in the other room. What do you really want to talk to me about?”
Ellis folded his arms across his chest. “Your love life.”
Kerrigan smirked. “This should be entertaining.” Kerrigan took a seat across from Ellis’s large desk and propped his feet up on the wood. “The social reprobate has come to counsel me on my modes of wooing a lady. You might not like poetry, but most women do.”
Ellis shook his head. “Not how to woo but whom to woo.”
