Ellie hadn’t the first idea what the appropriate thing to do was. Newton felt it acceptable for him to step into the room, but was it truly? She wanted him to stay but didn’t wish to undo the work they’d done to uphold her reputation.
“Show him in,” Artemis said. “We will all three remain in this room.”
Ellie stood rooted to the spot, hardly breathing. What had brought Newton back so soon? When he’d left that afternoon, she’d thought he’d meant to make for London at his earliest opportunity.
He stepped inside. Newton’s gaze settled immediately on her. There was something urgent in his expression. Almost panicked.
“What has happened?” she asked. “You were in such good spirits when last I saw you.”
“I was a fool when last I saw you.” He stopped directly in front of her. “A fool and a coward.”
Ellie had felt rather like a coward herself, something she’d hoped to rectify.
“Artemis,” Newton tossed over his shoulder, “take pity on me and occupy your attention elsewhere, will you?”
“Not a chance of it,” Artemis said. “This is the most excitement we’ve had in this house all evening.”
With a sigh of resignation, he turned back to Ellie.
She smiled empathetically. “Artemis certainly likes to tease, doesn’t she?” Choosing to be brave, as she’d told her friend she would be, Ellie reached out and brushed a hand gently along Newton’s stubbled cheek. “What has upset you, Newton?”
He set his hand on hers, weaving their fingers, then moved their entwined hands to his lips and brushed the softest of kisses there. “I’ve been a fool.”
“You said that already,” Artemis tossed out.
“Stop it,” Ellie warned with a laugh.
Apparently, having satisfied her need for mischief, Artemis turned her back to them and took up her fashion plates.
“What makes you think you’ve been a fool?” Ellie asked quietly.
“I told you of my future plans, as they pertain to my profession, my lodging, my parents’ acceptance of it all. But I stopped short of saying what I most wanted to say, mostneededto say.”
She forced a breath in and out. “And what was that?”
Newton closed the small gap between them and slowly set his free arm around her. “I love you, Ellie. I can’t tell you when it started or how it began. We were pretending and putting on a show, and somehow, in the midst of it all, the feelings became real and genuine.”
“Oh, Newton,” she whispered.
“I wanted to tell you all of this, but I know perfectly well what my next years will hold. Jason Jonquil was quite clear about it: long days, an overwhelming workload, little time for friends and family, let alone courtship and love.”
She held her breath. How afraid she’d been that he would not return her regard, when all the while, he already did.
“I told myself,” he continued, “that I would do best not to say anything. Should you, somehow, not give your heart elsewhere before I was able to at last be the suitor you deserved, I promised myself I would then make my suit in earnest. But, my darling Ellie, I cannot bear the thought of you going to Shropshire without telling you how I feel. My heart would simply wither and die while we were apart.”
Ellie held ever tighter to his hand, overwhelmed at the sincerity she saw in his face.
“I expect no return of my regard, and I most certainly don’t expect you to set yourself on a shelf to wait for me, but I—”
She set her other hand against his heart. “I’m not going to Shropshire.”
Her answer clearly caught him unawares. He didn’t have a ready response.
“Artemis has invited me to join her at Falstone Castle until the spring comes. Then we are both going to London for the Season.”
“You are?” Hope flooded his voice.
“And I want nothing more during that Season than to see you, as often as you are able.”
