Say Yes to the Princess by Charis Michaels

Author:Charis Michaels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Elise sat on the foot of the bed in the guest room and stared out the window at the starless night. The rain that had threatened all day never came.

A metaphorical storm, however, had drenched the dining room tonight. One moment they’d been praising the young earl for his proficiency with French, and the next Elise was revealing the most painful moments of her life.

Elise couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked so much—and not simply spoken words, but described things. True things. Terrifying things. Her own experiences and their lingering effects.

All of the talking had churned up a maelstrom of feelings—heartache and desperation and loneliness—and Elise had left the dinner with a torrent inside her.

Lady Dunlock and the aunts had invited her to repair to the sitting room for warm sipping chocolate, but Elise had declined. She’d drifted to her room instead, shivering and wrung out. A maid had been waiting to attend her, and she allowed the girl only to unpin her from the borrowed gown and snuff the lamps.

When the girl had gone, Elise shrugged into a borrowed night rail and sat on the end of her bed, allowing the memories to drip from her like rain.

The rear of the manor house boasted a second garden, as beautiful as the front. Nightfall had reduced it to a dark green, shadowy void. Even darker was what lay beyond: a deep, dense forest. Most English stately homes were situated in the center of vast parkland, but Killian said that Paxton Dale had once been a royal hunting lodge; as such, it was nestled on the edge of an ancient wood. The forest, no doubt, teemed with deer and boar, pheasant and fox. Doubtless it contained people, too.

Perhaps her brother lived in such a wood. Perhaps he lived in this wood. He could, Elise knew, be anywhere in the world. He could be dead. The Road to Land’s End was the only logical place to begin searching, but there were no guarantees. She must remember this as she searched for him. No guarantees.

And also no regrets. Wasn’t that what Killian had told her when he ended their very strange conversation about the potential of a kiss? But what did that mean?

I should have tried harder to find Gabriel, she told herself. I should’ve taken action sooner.

If nothing else, she didn’t regret tonight—not her refusal to return to Hampton, not agreeing to pass the night here, not her revelations at the dinner. Killian’s family were strangers, but they were well-meaning strangers with no hidden aspirations.

And wasn’t Killian’s nephew a delightful surprise? Sweet and smart and without guile. Even so, most men would’ve resented all Killian had lost to the boy. But Killian had freely given the title and the land and the house to the nephew he’d only just met.

Lightning pulsed beneath the clouds, and Elise allowed her eyes to blur, taking in the spectacle.

How deep is the forest? she wondered, placing a hand on the cool pane.

Would she have learned that Killian was in possession of this lovely family if she’d not come here?

No regrets.

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