Chapter 21 #2
Constantine’s lips parted as a smile drew up on the right side of his face. “You were able to determine that, were you?”
Elara clucked her tongue as she gave him an impish grin.
“It was quite easy to deduce,” she replied, “You had fire eaters and acrobats at your last soiree for heaven’s sake.”
Constantine let out a genuine laugh at her implied tone.
“I confess, you are right,” he then said with a dramatic sigh. “Without having Augustus to keep out of trouble, my life grew dull. So I replaced that excitement with rather wild parties. However, they quickly lost their appeal. People had loved them, though, so I still hosted them.”
“Yet I heard some people say that you rarely attended them.”
“Because after a while, the pleasures they offered grew tiresome,” he admitted, his tone quiet and matter-of-fact.
“There is only so much a man can indulge in before he realizes that none of it actually satisfies him.” His smile drew into a smirk as he flicked his eyes back to her.
“You should know that, though. You found me in my room the night we got reacquainted.”
He reveled in the way Elara blushed at his reminder.
“I did indeed,” she agreed softly.
“And you?” Constantine asked, enjoying the conversation. “What did you do to rebel against the monotony of your life?”
Elara’s blush faded as a proud smile spread across her lips, and she raised an amused brow.
“Caroline and I discovered we had a talent for making ourselves appear as young men. Even with Adrian’s guards following us when we snuck out, they always lost us as we went into a private room as ladies and came out as gentlemen.”
Constantine let out a burst of laughter as he heard this, and even Elara started to smile again.
“You?” he chuckled as he lay out their blanket. “I cannot imagine you as a gentleman.”
“Oh, I was quite handsome,” Elara said cheekily, only serving to make him laugh again.
“I will take your word for it,” he replied as he helped her settle down on the blanket.
“It was also the only way I could experience life,” Elara went on as he opened their bottle of wine from the picnic basket and poured it into the glasses.
“Not only was I sheltered away, but my debut was also postponed because of what happened with Evander. That all changed when Adrian met Bridget. She opened his eyes and his heart, and she helped my mama tremendously. This was the year I was to be officially debuted, but then…”
Her words tapered off as she accepted her glass of wine and ran her eyes up and down Constantine.
“Ah,” he said, connecting the dots. “I see. But then you got caught kissing me in your brother’s study.”
Elara tsked her tongue as she leaned away from him and raised a cocky brow.
“Pardon me, Your Grace, but it was you who kissed me,” she replied, then took a sip of her wine.
“True,” Constantine acknowledged. “But it was you who bit me.”
Elara coughed on her wine, and Constantine could not help but laugh as he quickly pulled out his kerchief and dabbed her chin.
“I suppose I did bite you, didn’t I?” she asked, a blush stealing over her cheeks as she gently cleaned away the wine.
“You did,” Constantine agreed, a slow smile forming on his lips. “I have never been so fond of an injury.”
Elara’s blush deepened, and she drew away from his kerchief to bite her own bottom lip. Constantine leaned forward, the request to do that for her lingering on his lips. Then the fireworks erupted, exploding a rainbow of light into the dark sky.
Elara and Constantine both turned their heads as those around them began applauding and voicing their approval.
After a moment, though, Constantine’s focus was drawn back to Elara’s face.
Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly agape with wonder at the sight.
Forgetting the display of lights in front of him, Constantine lost himself in studying the beauty of his wife.
Elara slowly drew her eyes from the once again darkened sky, and she looked at him.
“That was beautiful,” she whispered. “I had never gotten to see them so close before.”
Constantine watched her face for a moment longer, reluctant to look away even now that the display was over.
“We should go,” he said at last. “Mr. Merlot will not wait all evening.”
Elara nodded but did not immediately move to rise. Instead, she looked down at the blanket, trailing her finger along the edge of it.
“May I ask you something?” she said.
“You have never required my permission before,” he replied.
Her lips twitched. “That woman in Augustus’s study. Caitlyn.” She kept her eyes on the blanket. “Was she the only one? Or were there others like her?”
Constantine was quiet for a moment. He had wondered when this question would come, and he found now that it was here, he did not want to be anything other than honest with her.
“There were others before her,” he said simply.
“Not many, and none that meant anything beyond what they were. Temporary pleasure. Nothing more.” He paused.
“It ended badly with her because she wanted more than I was willing to give. I ended it before you and I were married, not because of the marriage, but because I had already grown tired of that particular emptiness.”
Elara was quiet, still looking at the blanket.
“I am not asking you to apologize for your life before me,” she said carefully. “I just wanted to know the truth of it.”
“And now that you do?” he asked.
She looked up at him then, and whatever she found in his face seemed to satisfy her, because the small tension around her eyes eased.
“Now I think I understand you a little better,” she said simply, and held out her hands for him to help her up. He took them, and as she rose to her feet and brushed the grass from her skirts, she gave him one more look.
“For what it is worth, I am glad none of it satisfied you.”
Constantine looked at her for a moment, then let out a low laugh that surprised even him.
“So am I,” he said, and offered her his arm.