The Wraith and the Rose by C. J. Brightley

Author:C. J. Brightley [Brightley, C. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781005144920
Publisher: Spring Song Press

Chapter 21

The Wedding Night

Lily sat in the garden alone. The birdsong changed around her from afternoon to evening sounds, and the buzz of the insects singing in the trees around the garden grew louder.

The shadows grew longer.

Anselm brought her a lavish tray of pheasant breast stuffed with cheese and herbs, a rich roll, roasted carrots topped with sugar-crusted walnuts, a little salad of delicate greens she did not recognize and a tangy dressing, fat green and red grapes, and a glass of wine beside a tumbler of cool water.

“Sir Theodore and Lady Overton asked if you would allow them to join you out here for dinner,” he said.

She swallowed. She did not feel up to pretending to be optimistic at the moment, but she could not bear the thought of telling them they could not eat with her in their very own garden after such consistent generosity. “If they wish to, I would be glad to see them.”

The dinner was quiet and fully as awkward as Lily had feared. Lady Overton’s refusal to answer her question earlier had told her that she could expect no answers now. The lady made a valiant effort to lighten the mood by telling a humorous story from Theo’s childhood.

“He climbed that tree when he was only four years old. Can you imagine? I came outside to see his nurse weeping in fear at the foot of the tree, and him unable to hear he was so high!” Lady Overton pointed at the tree in question, an enormous oak on the other side of the pond. “It was terrifying! My husband and Anselm both ended up in the tree trying to convince him to come down.”

“Was he hurt?” Lily asked obligingly.

“Not him!” Lady Overton smiled fondly. “We always said he had the luck of—” she stopped. “Well, he had God’s own hand upon him, keeping him from harm.”

“What else did he do?”

“Well, he once tried to save a foal from drowning in the pond in the pasture,” Sir Theodore remarked. “He was only six, and the foal could swim better than he could, so that was a bit of an adventure. I consider it quite an accomplishment on our parts, and that of Anselm, that he made it to adulthood at all.” His kind hazel eyes were so like Theo’s that Lily was reassured, for a moment; how could someone with eyes like that leave her on her very wedding night? Theo must have had a very good reason indeed.

“Thank you. I feel a little better,” she said truthfully.

“Good.” Lady Overton smiled at her across the table. “I do hope you will sleep well tonight. I am sure that Theo would not want you to worry. Would you like me to show you your suite?”

Lily felt a twinge of panic. If she waited a little longer, surely Theo would come, and she could pretend that these hours since he had left had not even happened. If she went to her suite, then she accepted that the evening was nearly over.

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