Chapter 14
Anton made the circuit through the corridors and back to the library several times throughout the day but to no avail. Elena kept to her room. It would not be proper to try to seek her there, but he could not exactly coax her out either. He needed a middleman. He needed Mary.
He found Mary sketching a picture in her bedroom. “What are you doing here? It isn’t like you to miss a chance to visit with company.”
Mary put her sketchbook aside. “Blake hasn’t come to see me today.”
“It’s pouring rain,” Anton said. “Will you begrudge him for caring for his health?”
“No,” she sighed. “But Elena is acting strange, and I am very put off with her family for ruining our plans. I need Blake to make me feel better.”
“He does all that for you?”
“Yes. He listens and holds my hand. Can’t he sense that I need him?”
Anton wondered if he could sense Elena’s needs. Right now, he could only think of his own. He had a powerful need to speak with Elena.
“I need your help with something important.”
“Please don’t ask me to entertain Bianca. Sophia already warned me about her, and I am not in the mood to be pleasant.”
Anton folded his arms across his chest. “I heard from Terrance that Miss Bianca Muffet did not care for Miss Bliss at the house party. Is that what you mean?”
Mary shrugged. “She just said Bianca could be very demanding and sulky if she did not get her way. I know how much you want us to help with yours and Mama’s hosting responsibilities, but can’t we just leave them to themselves?”
Anton shook his head. “It’s about Elena.”
“Elena?” Mary’s eyebrows shot up. “Since when do you call her by her given name?”
Anton hadn’t noticed his slip. “Never mind that. I need you to speak with her and arrange a way for the two of us to meet.”
Mary’s brows remained arched in surprise. “Anton, do you care for Elena?”
The question did not rattle him as he thought it would. “If you expect me to tell you the intimate workings of my heart before I tell Elena, you are wrong. Will you do it or not?”
Mary’s lips curled upward. “I commend your choice, dear brother. She will be an excellent match for you.”
Anton didn’t have time for this. “Come, Mary. Will you help me? She won’t leave her room, and time is ticking.”
Jumping to her feet, Mary put her hands on either side of Anton’s arms. “Leave it to me. And look, I am no longer melancholy!” She practically skipped out of the room.
Anton squeezed his eyes shut and slumped onto the edge of her bed.
He didn’t know how long he would have to wait.
A woman rarely did anything fast if it involved talking.
A soft knock sounded on her door before it opened a crack. Mary stuck her head through the opening.
“May I come in?”
Elena sat up in her bed. “I . . . I’m not feeling well.”
“Oh, no. Should I have some headache powders sent up?”
Elena needed to get rid of Mary before Bianca found them together. There was no way she would let Bianca bring harm to any of her dear friends. “I’m well enough. I need rest is all.”
“Anton hopes to meet you in the library. It’s very important. Are you up for it?”
Elena shook her head quickly. “I . . . I couldn’t.”
Instead of looking sympathetic though, Mary smiled. “It won’t take long, and then you can rest.” Mary slipped inside the room and closed the door behind her. “You should wear your blue dress. I know we wanted to save it for the wedding, but since you are leaving, you should wear it now.”
“But I’m sick.”
Mary nodded. “I know, but you’ll have plenty of time to recover. What he has to say will not take long.” She pulled out the gown of choice and gushed over it anew. “This turned out so well.”
Elena sputtered. “Really, Mary. This is too much. I’m not wearing the dress, and I don’t want you in here. You need to leave.” Mary froze, likely from the harsh sound of Elena’s voice. Elena repeated, “You need to leave.”
“I don’t understand.” Mary’s confused expression pierced through Elena’s resolve, and she almost relented. She only had to think of past experiences of Bianca’s wrath to fortify herself once more.
“Please, Mary.”
Mary set the dress down and reluctantly left. The moisture in Elena’s throat stung as she resisted the tears. She hated herself. Elena fell back in her bed and begged for sleep to overcome her.
“Well?” Anton asked, when Mary returned.
Mary shook her head. If she was depressed before, now she was nearly despondent.
“What happened?” He climbed off the bed and moved to Mary’s side.
“I don’t know. She was sharp with me. I cannot understand it. What did I do to offend her?”
“I cannot imagine Elena acting that way.” Maybe Anton didn’t know her like he thought he did.
“Have I lost a good friend?” Mary asked.
Anton put his hand gently on her arm. “She is likely upset that she has to return home so soon. There are things about her even I don’t know.”
Mary lifted her eyes to meet his. “You are probably right, but I have failed you. She will not meet you.”
Acute disappointment twisted his stomach in knots.
He nodded and left the room. He had just told Mary not to take Elena’s behavior personally, but now he was acting sensitive.
His case was hopeless. That night, Elena did not come down for dinner.
Anton barely slept, and he was up by dawn.
The family was still abed the next morning when Anton found himself in the courtyard facing the Banbury Stone.
“You know why I am here, don’t you?” He couldn’t help talking to the rock.
He’d done it since he was a child. “I finally made up my mind. It isn’t to grow taller than my younger brother, or to resurrect my father, or a hundred other wishes in my heart.
I think I know what would make me happy.
I want a wife and children. I want to grow old in these walls and see my posterity thrive.
I want . . . I want Miss Elena Muffet to be my bride. ”
He bent down and put his hand on the rock, and though the wish passed through his mind, he was no longer concentrating on the rock. He was communing with God, praying for a blessing that he could not give himself. She needed to return his love, and he needed to deserve it.
“Father in Heaven, thou knowest the desire of my heart. Help me.”
“I wish you could stay for the wedding,” Mary said at breakfast.
Elena wished for the same. She hated to say goodbye to Mary, but she had been grateful for one last moment without Bianca to smooth things over before they left.
“Please forgive me for yesterday. I was not myself.”
Mary nodded. “Of course.”
Bianca strode into the room and sat down opposite them. Elena swallowed and forced herself to say in a brusk tone, “I didn’t really care to attend the wedding. I would much prefer to return home.”
“Are you sure?” Mary blinked, hurt and confusion clouding her eyes.
“Yes, I am quite sure. There isn’t a single reason for me to stay.” The words felt like bile on her tongue, burning and hateful.
She caught movement at the door and saw Anton standing there.
His face paled, and he looked as if he had been slapped.
She hated herself so much in that moment that she couldn’t remain seated.
Jumping to her feet, she darted past Anton.
She dashed down the corridors and up the stairs to her bedchamber.
Throwing open the door, she froze in the threshold.
There on her bed was her new blue gown with deep slashes through the fabric.
No!. A sharp pain pierced her chest, and she clutched her racing heart. No, no, no!
She felt someone come up behind her. She turned and saw the same stunned face on Sophia. Her friend was taller and could easily see the damage over Elena’s head.
“Why would you do such a thing?” Mortification lanced across Sophia’s beautiful face.
“I . . . I . . .” Her only friends thought the worst of her.
Her lost joy was replaced with sheer agony.
She pushed past Sophia and hurried back down the stairs.
She barely registered Anton’s and Mary’s forms in the corridor as she flew past them.
Before she knew it, she was outside in the rain and running past the garden toward the orchard.
“Elena! Elena, stop!”
She knew Anton’s voice, but she would not stop even to hear him call her by her given name again.
Her life was ruined. She had tasted happiness, and she could not ever return to her former life.
She would keep running until she was far, far away.
She had no plans, just to escape and start new somewhere else.
The splotched spectacles blinded her, so she ripped them from her face and pushed herself to run faster.
The rain soaked her gown through, and it clung to her legs as she ran.
Her feet slid a few times, but she righted herself and pushed on.
She was sure she had lost Anton but did not dare look behind her.
Past the meadow, she turned into a copse of trees, not knowing what was beyond them.
Her panic launched anew when Patches began barking, the noise growing ever closer.
She stopped for a moment and leaned against the rough bark of a tree to catch her breath. Patches caught up with her.
“Go away! Please, go away!”
“Elena!”
She turned and saw Anton drawing closer. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and she bolted again, but she was not fast enough. After a few strides, he caught her arm and pulled her to a stop. She bent her head and turned away from him. He put his other hand on her arm so he was holding both her shoulders.
“I saw your sister when you were speaking to Mary. I don’t know what’s happened, but I know you are acting the way you are because of her. I don’t believe you want to leave here. Please, tell me I am right. Tell me the truth!”
Elena shook her head.
“Elena, I am not going to let you be anywhere near your sister until I know you are safe.” His gaze caught hers.
“Why do you care? Why can’t you leave me be?”
“Because . . . Because I love you.”