choices. Most important, he would never tear her heart into pieces.
She and Aidan were not passionately in love, but they suited. They fit. They both appreciated the responsibilities of their position and accepted its obligations. They both knew this was the life they’d been born to live, a life built around their estates, their families, and the carrying on of traditions that were important and necessary.
“Your happiness is important to me, too,” she answered. “And I know it would grieve you to forsake your responsibilities in Parliament for a holiday. I would not ask you to do that.”
“Those words means a great deal to me.” He smiled. It was an Aidan smile, no more than a subtle curve of the lips, and it didn’t twist her heart all around or make her stomach dip or make her giddy with excitement, but that was quite all right with her. She’d had enough of that sort of thing to last a lifetime, and she was perfectly content with what she had now.
You long to jump off, but you just can’t work up the nerve, so you tell yourself you’re content to look at the view.
It was ridiculous, she told herself, ridiculous of Will to bring up that stupid story. She didn’t want to jump off cliffs. Or ride a horse fast enough to break her neck. And if she was content to be an armchair traveler, what business was it of his anyway?
“Beatrix?”
“Hmm?” She blinked, and Aidan’s face came back into focus. “I beg your pardon?”
“You are frowning all of a sudden. Did I say something to vex you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Of course not, I was woolgathering, darling. Forgive me.”
He returned his attention to the road, and she worked to force Will’s absurd observations out of her mind. Three days back after six years away, and he thought she was the same Beatrix he’d left behind. Well, she wasn’t.
She was no longer the scared little girl who couldn’t dive off Angel’s Head. And she wasn’t a lovesick fool, either, mooning over him and waiting for him.
It was just Will, stirring up old memories. Will, who couldn’t keep commitments, who refused to honor his responsibilities at home, who went off halfway around the world two weeks before his wedding day without a second thought. Well, she wasn’t made that way.
Her life might not be very exciting. It wasn’t like jumping off cliffs, or racing along the road to St. Ives in an automobile, or treasure-hunting for Tut’s tomb, but it was the life she’d always known she would be expected to lead. And it was the life she wanted.
She glanced behind her at Paul’s carriage, which was following Aidan’s back to Danbury, and watched Aunt Eugenia smile and wave at her. She smiled back, then she looked again at the man beside her, turning her hand in his to entwine their gloved fingers. Yes, she repeated firmly, this was the life she wanted.
With that, she resolved to put Will out of her mind, and during the days that followed, she was careful to avoid any possible accidental encounters with him—she stayed away from the village, avoided the lane to Sunderland Park, and even pleaded a headache to avoid seeing him at church.
Instead, she occupied her time working with Auntie to make preparations for her wedding, and for the trip to Pixy Cove. She also took long walks with Aidan in the groves and woods surrounding Danbury, and as she listened to him describe his own estates and talk about their future together, she was able to put her priorities back in order.
After a week had passed, Will’s return began to seem like little more than a bad dream, and by the time of Marlowe’s house party, Beatrix felt she had fully regained her equilibrium. Having managed to avoid him for a full week, and relieved that it would be at least another four before she ran the risk of encountering him again, by which time he might have returned to Egypt anyway, she happily boarded Sir George’s yacht, but she had barely stepped off the gangplank and onto
She and Aidan were not passionately in love, but they suited. They fit. They both appreciated the responsibilities of their position and accepted its obligations. They both knew this was the life they’d been born to live, a life built around their estates, their families, and the carrying on of traditions that were important and necessary.
“Your happiness is important to me, too,” she answered. “And I know it would grieve you to forsake your responsibilities in Parliament for a holiday. I would not ask you to do that.”
“Those words means a great deal to me.” He smiled. It was an Aidan smile, no more than a subtle curve of the lips, and it didn’t twist her heart all around or make her stomach dip or make her giddy with excitement, but that was quite all right with her. She’d had enough of that sort of thing to last a lifetime, and she was perfectly content with what she had now.
You long to jump off, but you just can’t work up the nerve, so you tell yourself you’re content to look at the view.
It was ridiculous, she told herself, ridiculous of Will to bring up that stupid story. She didn’t want to jump off cliffs. Or ride a horse fast enough to break her neck. And if she was content to be an armchair traveler, what business was it of his anyway?
“Beatrix?”
“Hmm?” She blinked, and Aidan’s face came back into focus. “I beg your pardon?”
“You are frowning all of a sudden. Did I say something to vex you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Of course not, I was woolgathering, darling. Forgive me.”
He returned his attention to the road, and she worked to force Will’s absurd observations out of her mind. Three days back after six years away, and he thought she was the same Beatrix he’d left behind. Well, she wasn’t.
She was no longer the scared little girl who couldn’t dive off Angel’s Head. And she wasn’t a lovesick fool, either, mooning over him and waiting for him.
It was just Will, stirring up old memories. Will, who couldn’t keep commitments, who refused to honor his responsibilities at home, who went off halfway around the world two weeks before his wedding day without a second thought. Well, she wasn’t made that way.
Her life might not be very exciting. It wasn’t like jumping off cliffs, or racing along the road to St. Ives in an automobile, or treasure-hunting for Tut’s tomb, but it was the life she’d always known she would be expected to lead. And it was the life she wanted.
She glanced behind her at Paul’s carriage, which was following Aidan’s back to Danbury, and watched Aunt Eugenia smile and wave at her. She smiled back, then she looked again at the man beside her, turning her hand in his to entwine their gloved fingers. Yes, she repeated firmly, this was the life she wanted.
With that, she resolved to put Will out of her mind, and during the days that followed, she was careful to avoid any possible accidental encounters with him—she stayed away from the village, avoided the lane to Sunderland Park, and even pleaded a headache to avoid seeing him at church.
Instead, she occupied her time working with Auntie to make preparations for her wedding, and for the trip to Pixy Cove. She also took long walks with Aidan in the groves and woods surrounding Danbury, and as she listened to him describe his own estates and talk about their future together, she was able to put her priorities back in order.
After a week had passed, Will’s return began to seem like little more than a bad dream, and by the time of Marlowe’s house party, Beatrix felt she had fully regained her equilibrium. Having managed to avoid him for a full week, and relieved that it would be at least another four before she ran the risk of encountering him again, by which time he might have returned to Egypt anyway, she happily boarded Sir George’s yacht, but she had barely stepped off the gangplank and onto
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