Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
“Helena!”
Dahlia rushed to her friend as Helena descended from their carriage and hurried to her too.
“Oh, Dahlia, I have missed you so!”
“And I you!”
“Look at us, crying as if it has been years when really, it has only been little more than a sennight.”
“Well, it seems like years!” Dahlia wiped her eyes.
“Perhaps we should ask our guests inside, Dahlia?”
Peter stood a short distance, an amused smile on his face as he watched the two friends’ heartfelt reunion.
“Oh, what am I thinking!”
“Your Grace.” Helena dropped into a curtsy. She signaled for the young lady beside her to do the same.
Charity, Helena’s sister, was eighteen and was to enter her first season. She curtsied to Peter as well.
Peter bowed.
“Welcome to Icedale Castle, Lady Helena, Lady Chastity. I hope your stay with us will be a pleasant one.”
“I’m sure it shall be.”
“Come let us get you inside and out of this cold. Dinner is waiting for you.”
They walked inside, Dahlia and Helena arm in arm.
As they walked, Dahlia greeted Charity with more composure.
“Hello, Charity. How was your trip? I hope it was tolerable for you?”
“How far from London you now live, Dahlia?” Looking at what she could see of the castle in the dark, she exclaimed, “But I must say, how beautiful it is!”
“It is rather beautiful, is it not?”
Waiting for them inside were Mary and Claire. Upon seeing the newly arrived visitors, the twins stepped forward and curtsied as introductions were made.
“Let me show you your rooms.” Dahlia took Helena’s hand.
“And we shall show you yours, Chastity.” Mary smiled at their visitor.
“I shall leave you to it, ladies.” Peter bowed.
“Peter,” Dahlia stopped him. “Was not Matteo due to arrive this afternoon? Did I mistake the time?”
“No, indeed, you are not mistaken.”
“The Duke of Valen? Dahlia mentioned in the express she sent me that he would also be staying as a guest, Your Grace,” Helena said.
“Indeed, My Lady.”
“Is he travelling from London? Ours was a relatively uneventful trip.”
“Yes, he travels from London.”
“I hope he has not encountered any difficulties in getting here.”
“I hope the same.”
“Should we be worried?” Dahlia asked Peter.
“I would not; Matteo has never been one for punctuality.” Peter grinned. “But I shall stop there, lest I paint a bad picture of my friend.”
Once shown their chambers, Dahlia left her guests to rest and freshen up.
She went to look for Mrs. Baker, giving her instructions for the guests’ meals.
After that she spent some time with Mary and Claire in the sitting room—Peter was noticeably absent—before excusing herself to check on their visitors again.
Dinner was brought up to Helena and Charity’s respective rooms.
Dahlia kept her friend company only long enough for her to finish her meal. Helena was giving her updates on Celine’s confinement when her eyes started to droop. Biting her lips to stop a laugh, Dahlia gently tapped her friend’s arm.
“I think I shall bid you a good night, Helena.”
“What? No, there is still so much we must talk about!”
“Helena, you are falling asleep.” Dahlia giggled. “Your words are slurred, my dearest friend.”
After their good night greetings, Dahlia went to her own chambers to change for bed.
When Biddy had left her, she looked at her door.
For the past few days, she had been meeting with Peter in the sitting room every night after the twins had retired.
It had been an unspoken arrangement; they just knew to be there.
Dahlia wondered if their having guests would change that. Wrapping herself in her warm garments, she picked up her candle and headed to the sitting room.
Peter had not wanted to worry Dahlia, so he feigned unconcern for Matteo’s delay in arriving. In truth, he had started to worry. And so, he was much relieved when his friend’s carriage pulled up in the driveway.
“You do know that you are half a day late, don’t you, Duke?” Peter shook his head as he watched his friend exit the carriage.
“A duke is never late.”
Laughing, the two men, shook hands and patted each other’s backs.
“I am only sorry that I shall not be able to greet Dahlia. Has she retired?” Matteo asked as they walked inside the castle.
“She is with her friend. The other guest I wrote to you about.”
“What other guest?”
“Guests,” Peter emphasized the plural.“Were you perhaps in your cups when you read my letter?”
Matteo gave him an insulted look.
“Please. I was in my cup. It was but one drink.”
“You are still a rascal.”
“So, is this to be a house party then? How many other guests are there?”
“Just the two, Dahlia’s closest friend, Lady Helena Ayles, the eldest daughter of the Earl of Huntington, and her younger sister, Lady Chastity.”
Matteo sighed heavily.
“I presume that you need me in my best behavior then?”
“You presume correctly.”
After making sure that he was attended to, Peter left Matteo and went to his own chambers.
He rang for his valet, Evans, and prepared for the night.
It was close to two in the morning. Peter sat still in his contemplations. Perhaps it was because he now considered it a routine or perhaps it was due to something else that he was still unwilling to acknowledge entirely, either way he picked up a candle and opened his bedroom door.
The castle was, as expected, silent. The light of his candle moved with him in the dark, casting shadows on the walls.
He opened the door to the sitting room, and like a vision, he saw Dahlia sitting by her usual place near the fireplace.
He was stunned at the intensity of the happiness he felt at seeing her there. Stunned and alarmed.
Walking closer to her, he realized that she had fallen asleep. Her profile, outlined by the orange light of the fire, was perfect. He watched her as she slept, her chest rising and falling in the rhythm of sleep. He had never been able to observe her as freely as he did now.
Beautiful.
Tonight, her hair was not arranged in a braid as it usually was. It fell in waves around her face and over her shoulders.
Fire.
Was she the goddess Hestia, bringing her warmth into his home, or was she Sekhmet, the goddess of fire, created by Ra to punish him? He could hardly decide. Perhaps she was both.
He placed the candle on the table and sat on the armchair opposite hers.
Should I wake her? No.
But as if to upset his plans—as she had done since the first day he saw her—she opened her eyes.
“Peter.”
“I did not wish to disturb you.”
“I did not even know that I fell asleep. Did you wait long?”
“Hardly.”
“Are you still waiting for Matteo to arrive?”
“No, actually. He arrived about an hour ago.”
“I am sorry that I was not there to welcome him.”
“He sends his regrets for not being able to greet you as well.”
“No matter, I shall see him in the morning.”
“Indeed.”
Looking at Dahlia in concern, Peter continued, “Perhaps you would like to retire to your chambers? You seem quite tired.”
“No, that small nap was quite refreshing.” Dahlia smiled almost shyly, as if embarrassed to be caught sleeping.
“It has been quite a day.”
“It has.”
“Peter?”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad that you are here now.”
“So am I.”
Dahlia had to admit that her new winter clothes were considerably warmer than her old ones. Walking to the haberdashery in Stilton together with Helena and Chastity, she thanked Peter silently for insisting on the new garments.
“And we thought it was cold in London,” Helena complained.
“You really did not need to come with me,” Dahlia said again.
When she had told her friend that she was going to the village to replenish her embroidery supplies and to purchase another set of gloves, Helena had insisted on coming with her. That meant, of course, that Chastity would be coming too.
“She really tries my patience, Dahlia, the mischief that she gets into! If I leave Chastity by herself, there is no saying what trouble she will soon get into,” her friend sighed.
“She is coming out in society soon; I thought she would have grown into a proper young lady by now, but no! Indeed, she is as wild as ever!”
And so, the three of them had piled into the carriage and arrived at Stilton with a bracing wind to welcome them.
“I am glad I came,” Chastity said. “I love seeing new places!”
“Even if they are as cold as this?” Dahlia teased her.
“Yes, I don’t mind it at all!”
Helena, who was swathed with scarves until only her eyes showed, grumbled in reply.
With one errand completed, Dahlia asked the two ladies if they would like to see the rest of the village.
Helena, who was predicting her sister’s answer, was taken by surprise by her actual answer.
“As my older sister, I shall follow your lead, Helena.”
Helena looked at her friend with no little surprise. Dahlia bit her lips and smiled.
“Let us visit the confectionery shop.”
“As you wish, Helena.” Chastity curtsied.
Dahlia pointed to the location of the confectionary shop, and Chastity walked ahead, leading the way.
Pulling the scarf down from her face, Helena implored her friend.
“Dahlia, tell me what your cook puts in the food at Icedale Castle? I will bring the magic spice with me!”
Dahlia laughed. She was aware that Helena took an extremely long time in confectionery shops; her sweet tooth demanded it. She sighed, accepting the fact that she would not be able to complete all her errands that day.
“You know how I adore confectioneries, Dahlia. Oh, this one smells particularly lovely.”
They surveyed the display of cakes, biscuits, jams, and preserves lining the shelves. Dahlia’s sentiments proved true; almost half an hour passed before Helena and Chastity decided on their purchases.
Outside, the sky quickly darkened, alerting Dahlia that they must head back.
“But what about the milliners?” Helena asked when her friend said that they should head back to Icedale Castle.
“Oh, do not worry about that; I shall just come back another day,” Dahlia reassured her with a smile. “I can make do with the two pairs of gloves that I have.”