Devoted to You

“I will get the carriage brought round,” Rollo declared before he left the room.

“We had better sort out your outfit,” Jerry sighed, clapping his brother on the shoulder. “Do you have rings?”

Aidan nodded. “I have grandmama’s downstairs in the safe.”

“Then I will go and get them,” Jerry said and hurried out of the room.

“I will go and see the vicar then,” Leonard announced awkwardly.

“I will go and see Petal,” Aidan announced.

Still clutching his hat in a tight fist, Leonard nodded woodenly and followed everybody out of the house. It wasn’t until he was driving his cart back down the driveway that he realised that everyone had taken their allotted roles with unchecked enthusiasm. All of them seemed determined that if this was what the master wanted, this was what the master got.

However, he had to wonder who had stopped to consider what Petal wanted.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Petal batted at her nose. When it continued to tickle, she swatted at it again, reluctant to release the comforting drowsiness that eased her tears and worries. She snuggled deeper under the covers and heaved a sigh of contentment, but it was a state that didn’t last for long. The reality of the world suddenly crashed in on her and brought with it all the pain, worry, and heartbreak she had tried so desperately to ignore.

When the rustle of clothing broke the silence, and she hadn’t moved to make the noise, her eyes popped wide. They widened further when her gaze landed on the one person she thought she would never see again.

“What are you doing here?” She gasped.

She stared at him from beneath the thick blankets, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment that he should see her so dishevelled.

Rather than answer, he tucked several long strands of her hair carefully behind the delicate shell of her ear as his loving gaze roved freely over her face. She looked utterly adorable all tucked up in bed like that with her hair a cascading halo of golden curls.

“I came to see you,” Aidan murmured.

Before she could demand why he braced an arm on the pillow above her head and leaned over her.

Petal looked up into his beautiful eyes, her heart suspended in her chest. She had expected him to be angry that she had walked out of her job. Instead, he looked almost bemused.

“What is it?” she asked, trying to appear blaze.

There were so many things she wanted to say to him that she wasn’t sure where to start.

“Why are you here?” he asked, trailing one fingertip down the soft curve of her cheek.

“I live here,” she replied. “I got cold, so I came to bed to warm up. I must have fallen asleep.”

“That isn’t what I meant, Petal,” he chided softly, eyeing the tell-tale tear marks on her cheeks.

His legs began to protest at the uncomfortable angle he was sitting. To ease the discomfort he settled down beside her and braced his head on his hand so he could continue to look at her.

“Why are you here in your dad’s farmhouse rather than at Wenland?”

“I don’t work for you anymore,” she replied without stopping to think. “I believe that it is best if I remain here.”

“You have to work your notice,” he replied. “It is one of the conditions of your employment; you must work a period of two weeks’ notice.”

“I don’t think it is appropriate now, do you?”

She tried to be brave, but her voice wobbled alarmingly. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about what they had shared; not after his behaviour yesterday, and the scene she had witnessed this morning.

“Well, no, not really,” he admitted. No wife of his was going to spend her days sweeping carpets and running up and down the servants’ stairs.

She stared at him, horrified that he could be audacious enough to admit it so brazenly without a care in the world, and dismiss what they had shared so casually.