15. A Visit and a Journey
T he next day, whilst Selene was out in town with Marta, Aunt Elizabeth came to visit. Dorian was honestly surprised she hadn’t marched up to the estate the day he took Selene into town. She must have heard the news.
Elizabeth Everfrost was more than Dorian’s aunt.
She had raised him since his mother’s death, and whilst she was a lot stricter than he dimly remembered his mother to be, she was no less his.
She was a woman in her early sixties with dark red hair streaked with grey who looked a lot like her daughter, if a grand deal more imposing.
She was well-dressed and well-educated and had opinions forged in steel and a stare to match.
“Dorian Ambrose Nightbloom,” she said, meeting him in the parlour, “What’s this I hear about you taking a wife?”
Dorian cringed. He knew Aunt Elizabeth would never hit him, but her words were as hard as blows. “I was wondering when you would visit.” He closed the door, but not before catching Ariella scuttling out of sight, casting him a look of you are on your own.
I hate you, Dorian mouthed.
Ariella grinned.
“I’ve been hoping that you would,” Aunt Elizabeth snipped. “Along with an explanation. Now, who is this girl, where is she, and why wasn’t I invited to the wedding?”
“Her name is Selene Duskbriar,” Dorian informed her. “She’s currently in the village. And as for the reason why you weren’t invited… no one was. We, er, eloped.”
Aunt Elizabeth stared at him incredulously. “No,” she said finally.
“No?”
“No, you didn’t elope. You’ve never so much as bet on a horse race. You don’t do anything without considering all the possible consequences, so there is absolutely no way you ran off with a woman you just met.”
Dorian clenched his jaw. He’d only told Aunt Elizabeth the truth about his time-travelling escapades in one timeline that he was sure he was restarting.
She’d thought he was mad. He wasn’t in any mood to repeat that experience, and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to tell her the palatable part of the truth—that Selene needed a hasty marriage to protect her from a bad man.
He loved his aunt, but she did have a tendency to gossip.
“I didn’t just meet her,” he told her. “We went to school together. She came to Father’s funeral in town. Brought him wildflowers.”
Aunt Elizabeth’s face softened. “That was kind of her.”
“She is kind,” Dorian went on. “I’ve… I’ve admired her from a distance for a long time. She—”
Footsteps crunched along the gravel, and Dorian was saved from any further interrogation by the arrival of Selene herself.
She stepped into the parlour with a bright, sunny smile and no idea of what awaited her.
Ariella and Marta hovered behind her. Dorian was certain she would need the reinforcements .
Aunt Elizabeth took her in. Her mouth quirked in the smallest of smiles. She raised her eyebrow a fraction, almost imperceptibly, and glanced sidewards at Dorian.
“So, you’re the new wife, are you?” she said. “Far too pretty for him.”
Heat crept up Dorian’s ears. “Yes, thank you so much, Aunt Elizabeth, for pointing that out.”
Selene blinked, completely at a loss for what to say. Dorian couldn’t blame her. He wanted to melt into the floor.
“How on Haverland’s great green fields did he convince you to marry him?”
“Oh, um, well—” Selene hesitated, clearly uncertain whether honesty was safe. “Dorian has many fine qualities—” she began, as if determined to counter whatever assumptions Aunt Elizabeth was making.
“Oh yes? What are they?”
Selene opened her mouth, then faltered. Her pause struck Dorian in the chest. Luna would not have paused, but then he could hardly fault Selene for having little to say on his behalf. She didn’t know him.
“That’s what I thought,” Aunt Elizabeth said.
Selene recovered quickly, reaching for the tea set that Ariella had brought up. “I was merely considering which of his virtues to highlight first,” she said, a touch archly. “You see, I am spoiled for choice.”
Aunt Elizabeth snorted. “Oh, a diplomat. You’ll do well enough.” Then she turned to Dorian. “What do you have to say for yourself? This poor girl can’t even name a single thing she likes about you.”
Dorian met Selene’s gaze across the room, just for a moment. He dropped it just as quickly. “It’s early days yet,” he said. “She’ll find something eventually.”
Something flickered in Selene’s expression, but he couldn’t name it. Aunt Elizabeth only hummed in response and reached for a scone .
Ariella rose. “Shall I bring up something more substantial for luncheon, or will you be taking your leave soon, Mama?” The question carried more warning than warmth.
Selene spoke up. “Actually, I brought something for lunch, if Dorian has the time to join us.”
Aunt Elizabeth’s gaze sharpened. “You have to remind him to eat, do you? That does sound about right.”
Dorian sighed, though he couldn’t quite stop the faint quirk of his lips. “I do occasionally remember on my own, Aunt.”
“Hmm. And yet I recall the time I found you half-fainting in the library because you’d forgotten for two days straight.”
Selene raised an eyebrow, and despite himself, Dorian caught the amusement in her eyes. “Two days?”
He sighed again, this time with more put-upon patience. “I was very focused.”
Aunt Elizabeth turned to Selene, as if they were already allies. “You see what you’re dealing with, my dear?”
Selene, to her credit, did not look entirely dismayed. “Has he always been so dedicated to his work?”
“He’s always been so foolhardy, that’s what he’s been.”
“It is entirely possible to say something nice about him, you do know,” came a cool voice from the shadows.
Selene squeaked. Dorian nearly smiled. No one appeared to have noticed Soren.
Aunt Elizabeth only laughed. “Sit down, Soren, my boy, you’re clearly spooking the lady.”
Soren’s lips were thin as a razor, and the glare in his eyes just as sharp. Still, he did as Aunt Elizabeth asked, though he took a seat as far from her—and from Selene—as he could.
Elizabeth wasted no time in directing the conversation toward Selene. She wanted to know everything—her family, her life in the city, how she was finding the village, and most importantly, just how shocked her parents had been at the abruptness of the marriage.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Selene admitted. “I left in the middle of the night. ”
“Scandalous!” Elizabeth declared, entirely approving. “Good girl.”
Dorian relaxed slightly as the conversation lost its edge, becoming less of an interrogation and more of an exchange. Still, he couldn’t deny his relief when Rookwood and Ariella arrived with the lunch, providing an easy distraction. He leapt up to help them set it down.
“Elizabeth!” Rookwood exclaimed, opening his arms to pull her into one of his bear-like embraces. “How lovely to see you!”
Elizabeth accepted the greeting, though Ariella pursed her lips.
Everyone sat down, passing out plates and refreshments.
It was like a picnic indoors, an informality that might have seemed strange anywhere else.
Only Marta appeared unsettled by the easy mixing of staff and family, standing hesitantly by the side of the room as though she wasn’t sure where she belonged. She and Selene exchanged glances.
“Marta, do sit down,” Dorian said. “There’s no need to stand. Please, help yourself.”
She hesitated, but finally took a seat—though not before making up a plate for Selene. Dorian privately wished he thought of doing such a task.
The food was excellent—the pastries crisp and buttery, the cheese sharp, the apples sweet with preserves—but Dorian had the distinct sense that Selene was more captivated by the company than by the meal. There was a lightness to her he hadn’t seen since her arrival.
Dorian lowered himself onto the settee beside Selene. “I hope you don’t mind this,” he murmured. “I know it might feel a little… odd.”
“On the contrary, I think I rather like it,” she said, though her tone held a note of uncertainty. “Your aunt is very forthright.”
“I apologise for her bluntness—”
“I’m starting to find that I don’t mind bluntness as much as I thought I did,” Selene admitted. “There’s something refreshing about it. I don’t like… I know we have to be careful about who we trust with the truth of our relationship, but… I don’t like lies. ”
“I know.”
“Even concealing the truth feels like a lie sometimes,” she added, her voice quieter.
Dorian understood that feeling all too well. “I understand that, too.”
Before he could say more, Elizabeth barked across the room, “You two, newlyweds! Do you wish to join us for a game of cards?”
Dorian would have preferred to sit this one out, but when Selene voiced her enthusiasm, he found himself consenting.
The group moved to the table near the window, while Marta, Ariella, and Soren cleared the dishes.
The remaining four settled in for a game of Whist, and—predictably—he was paired with Selene.
To everyone else’s surprise, but not his, she was a capable player, winning several tricks with ease.
“Beauty and brains, I see,” Elizabeth remarked. “An impressive combination.”
Selene blinked at that, looking almost as though she wasn’t sure she had heard correctly. Dorian’s jaw tightened. He hated anyone who had ever made her feel less.
“That’s very kind, but it’s also untrue,” she said. “I’m just lucky.”
“No need to be modest around me, dear.” Elizabeth smirked, then turned to Dorian. “Did you say you used to go to school with her? She’s not the one you had a crush on, is she?”
Dorian said nothing. His fingers tightened slightly on his cards, and he stared at them as if willing them to change. No one, thankfully, prompted him for an answer.
Aunt Elizabeth’s visit went on for most of the afternoon, and Dorian was thoroughly spent by the time she retired. Selene saw her to the door while he stretched out on one of the chaises, his hands covering his face.
“Is she gone?” he asked when Selene returned.