Chapter 26
“Buttercup cannot ice skate,” Emily stated with the authority of someone who had clearly given the matter serious consideration.
She stood at the edge of the frozen pond in Hyde Park, wrapped in so many layers of wool she resembled a small, ambulatory snowball.
“Nonsense,” Lady Merrow adjusted the ribbons on what appeared to be four modified boots she had somehow bought for the dog. “With the proper equipment, anyone can skate. Even a great beast with more enthusiasm than sense.”
Louise watched the older woman attempt to secure the contraptions to Buttercup’s massive paws while the dog wagged his tail with enough force to clear snow from the surrounding area.
Around them, other members of the ton glided across the ice with varying degrees of grace, their laughter carrying on the crisp morning air.
“This will end in disaster.” Aaron appeared beside Louise, carrying two pairs of skates.
His breath formed clouds in the cold air, and she found herself distracted by the way frost had kissed his dark hair silver at the temples.
“Most of Lady Merrow’s ideas do,” Louise whispered as she accepted the skates he offered, their fingers brushing through their gloves. Even that small contact sent warmth spiraling through her. “Yet somehow we will all survive, I am sure.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m about to strap blades to my feet and trust frozen water to hold my weight.” He sat on the bench beside her, close enough that their shoulders touched. “This is how dukes meet horrible ends.”
Louise bit back a smile as she secured her own skates. “Are you afraid?”
“Terrified.” But his eyes held amusement as he watched her. “Though I suspect my aunt’s plan for Buttercup poses the greater threat to our collective dignity.”
A tremendous crash, followed by delighted shrieking, proved his point. Buttercup had managed exactly three steps onto the ice before his legs went in four different directions. He now lay splayed like a bear rug while Emily laughed so hard she had to sit down in the snow.
“Success!” Lady Merrow declared, although Buttercup’s expression suggested he disagreed with her.
“We should help.” Louise stood, testing her balance on the blades. She had skated often as a girl, before their father’s death, when winter still meant joy rather than worry about affording coal.
Aaron rose beside her, considerably less steady. His hand found her elbow, ostensibly for her support, although she suspected he needed the anchor more than she did. “I should mention that I haven’t done this since I was twelve.”
“Why did you stop?”
His jaw tightened slightly. “Father considered it undignified for a future duke to engage in such frivolous activities.”
Louise turned to face him fully, her heart aching for the boy who had been denied simple pleasures in the name of ducal dignity.
Without thinking, she took both his hands in hers. “Then we’ll have to make up for lost time.”
She stepped backward onto the ice, drawing him with her. His grip tightened as he found his balance, and she saw the moment his body remembered what his mind had forgotten. The tension in his shoulders eased as muscle memory took over.
“There.” She squeezed his hands before releasing one, keeping the other as she turned to skate beside him. “Not so terrifying after all.”
“That remains to be seen.” But he was smiling now, a real smile that transformed his face from aristocratic severity to something younger, lighter.
They glided together in comfortable silence, their hands linked as naturally as breathing. Other skaters moved around them, some nodding in acknowledgment, others pretending not to notice the Duke of Calborough actually enjoying himself in public.
“Incoming disaster,” Aaron murmured.
Louise looked up to see Lady Merrow attempting to coax Buttercup back onto the ice while Emily pushed from behind. The dog had apparently decided that ice was his mortal enemy and wanted no further part in this experiment.
“I’m certain she’ll get him skating before noon,” Louise said.
Aaron’s eyebrow arched. “That is only an assumption, Lady Louise.”
“I’d call it a prediction.” She released his hand to skate backward, facing him as she moved. “Besides, your aunt’s determination could move mountains.”
“Or at least one reluctant dog.” Aaron watched her with an expression that made her pulse quicken. “You’re very graceful.”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the cold. “Years of practice. Mother insisted that both George and I learn properly.”
The mention of her brother created a brief shadow between them.
They still had no word of his whereabouts, despite Howlett’s continued surveillance of Wigram.
But Louise pushed the worry aside. Today was for joy, for Emily’s laughter, for the unexpected pleasure of Aaron’s company without the weight of evening clothes and social expectations.
“Look out!”
The warning came too late. Buttercup had broken free from Lady Merrow’s grip and came careening across the ice, his modified boots providing just enough traction to build alarming speed but not enough to steer.
Louise tried to dodge, but the dog’s momentum was unstoppable.
She would have fallen hard if Aaron hadn’t caught her, spinning them both out of Buttercup’s path with surprising agility. They ended up pressed against the pond’s edge, Aaron’s arms around her, her hands clutching his coat.
“Are you hurt?” His voice came rough with concern.
Louise looked up at him, acutely aware of every point where their bodies touched. “No. You seem to be making a habit of saving me, Your Grace.”
His lip twitched. His arms hadn’t loosened their hold. If anything, he pulled her closer, and she could feel his heart racing against her palm.
“Louise!” Emily skated over with more enthusiasm than skill. “Did you see Buttercup? He went so fast! Like a big hairy cannonball!”
Aaron released her, but his hand remained at her elbow as they turned to watch Lady Merrow chase Buttercup around the pond. The dog had apparently decided that if he must be on ice, he would make the most of it. He bounded and slid in equal measure, sending other skaters scattering.
“We should probably intervene,” Aaron said.
“We absolutely should not.” Louise watched Lady Merrow’s hat fall off as she pursued her pet. “This is the most entertainment Hyde Park has seen all winter.”
They spent another hour on the ice, taking turns steadying Emily as she learned, laughing when Buttercup discovered that lying flat and letting people push him was actually quite pleasant. Lady Merrow declared the outing a complete success despite losing two hat pins and most of her dignity.
As they sat on benches removing their skates, Louise studied Aaron’s profile. He was explaining something to Emily about the science of ice formation, his expression animated in a way she rarely saw. The careful control he usually maintained had slipped, revealing someone younger, less burdened.
“You’re staring,” Lady Merrow said quietly beside her.
Louise flushed and looked away. “I was just thinking how different he seems today.”
“Happy, you mean?” The older woman’s voice held gentle understanding. “He used to be like this more often. Seeing glimpses of that boy again gives me hope.”
“Hope for what?”
Lady Merrow patted her hand. “That love might accomplish what years of my nagging couldn’t. Healing.”
Before Louise could respond, Emily bounded over, her cheeks bright red from cold and exertion. “Can we come back tomorrow? Please? Buttercup wants to try again.”
Buttercup, currently sprawled in the snow and refusing to move, seemed to disagree.
Aaron surprised them all by nodding. “If the weather holds, why not?”
Emily squealed and threw her arms around his waist. Aaron’s expression softened as he patted her head awkwardly, still uncertain how to handle such open affection but no longer pulling away from it.
They walked back to Calborough House as a group, Emily chattering about everything she had seen, Lady Merrow providing colorful commentary on the skating abilities of various society members, and Buttercup periodically attempting to eat snowbanks.
Louise walked beside Aaron, their arms not quite touching but close enough that she felt his warmth. Every few steps, their hands would brush, accidental contact that sent sparks through her gloves.
“Thank you,” she said quietly as they approached the house.
Aaron glanced down at her. “For what?”
“For today. For giving Emily this memory. For …” She gestured vaguely at the scene before them—Emily and Lady Merrow arguing about whether Buttercup could learn to do figures on ice. “All of it.”
“I should thank you.” He paused at the door, letting the others go ahead. “I’d forgotten what it felt like.”
“What?”
“To be happy without feeling guilty about it.” His fingers found hers, a brief squeeze that was over before anyone could notice. “You remind me that joy doesn’t always come with a price.”
He disappeared inside before Louise could respond, leaving her standing in the doorway with her heart racing and her hand tingling where he had touched it.
“Louise!” Emily’s voice carried from inside. “Buttercup tracked snow all through the entrance hall, and Mr. Thornton looks like he might faint!”
Louise hurried inside to find the butler indeed looking rather pale as he surveyed the trail of muddy paw prints across his previously pristine floor. Buttercup sat in the middle of the chaos, tail wagging, clearly proud of his contribution to the household’s decoration.
“I’ll help clean up,” Louise offered.
“Nonsense.” Lady Merrow waved her away. “We need to warm up with hot chocolate and plan tomorrow’s expedition. I’m thinking sledding.”
“Absolutely not,” Aaron said from the stairs.
“Oh, come now. You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself today.”
“I enjoyed not dying. Sledding seems designed to challenge that achievement.”
But he was smiling as he said it, and when his eyes met Louise’s across the entrance hall, she saw promise there. More days like this. More laughter. More moments when the weight of their circumstances lifted and they could simply be.
Tomorrow they would return to worrying about George, about debts and dangers and the impossibility of their situation. But today had been perfect in its simplicity. A gift Louise hadn’t known she needed until she held it.
She watched Aaron climb the stairs, Emily bouncing beside him, still chattering about Buttercup’s skating potential. Lady Merrow stood in the middle of the chaos she had created, supremely satisfied with the day’s accomplishments.
And Louise felt something she hadn’t experienced in so long she had almost forgotten its name.
Contentment.
Pure, uncomplicated contentment, warm as summer despite the winter cold.