"It is not unheard of."
"But it is so soon after the wedding. Are we not expected to hide away for a while?"
"It will be observed and remarked upon if we do not attend. I had agreed to attend, and I dislike breaking my promises."
Eleanor considered that, her gaze drifting briefly ahead before returning to him.
"Then we shall go. You have made promises to me that I would not like you to break, and so we ought to be the same with others."
"Very well," he said. "You shall enjoy it, believe me. They are a good family, and they will like you a great deal."
"Will Lily be with us?"
Julian tensed slightly. He had not yet told his sister what was to happen, as she was excited to go, but Lily would understand.
"She will not," he explained. "On any other occasion, she would have, but as we have arranged for two of us to be present, I thought it best that you came instead."
Eleanor looked at him in surprise then, and Julian did not blame her for that. He had never put anyone before his sister, and he hated doing it, but it was how it had to be.
They continued walking, the path widening slightly as it led them back toward the more maintained part of the grounds.
She had agreed. That, ultimately, was what mattered. Beside him, Eleanor walked on, giving no indication that anything had been unsettled at all.
"You did not seem to want to answer my question about Lily," she sighed after a while. "She does not know, does she?"
"No, but she will understand. There will be changes now, but she knows that it is all for the best."
"I know, but that does not mean that I wish to upset her. She seems to trust me, and I would hate for her to resent me."
"She will not. You said yourself that she is intelligent and needs to learn how to take difficulties in her stride, after all. This will be good for her, if anything."
In spite of the circumstances, that actually drew a smile from her. She rolled her eyes slightly, shaking her head in a way that made her curls bounce softly.
"Very well," she giggled. "I look forward to it all. I will need to find a gown for it, though."
"That is in hand. I arranged for some to be made to your measurements weeks ago. They are in your rooms– did you not see them?"
She looked at him in bewilderment.
"I have not looked. I have been preoccupied with… with everything."
With immersing herself in her new life, Julian realized. She was impulsive, but there was no real harm in her. She was simply happy to be there, and was trying to gain all that she could from it. She possessed a contentment that he never had.
And he envied her for that.
CHAPTER 9
Eleanor’s rooms were quieter than the rest of the house.
The late afternoon light had begun to fade, leaving the space lit by a small cluster of candles placed carefully along the dressing table. The maid moved with quiet efficiency behind her, arranging fabric, fastening, and adjusting, the process steady and unhurried.
Eleanor sat before the mirror, her posture relaxed, her attention half on the reflection, half elsewhere.
A soft knock sounded at the door. It was tentative, not the firm, certain rhythm of a servant. Eleanor glanced toward it.
"Yes?"
The door opened just slightly, no more than a few inches, and Lily appeared in the gap. She did not step in immediately. Sheremained where she was, her hand still on the door, as though waiting to be told whether she ought to proceed.