Cecilia raised an eyebrow, folding her arms. “Ah, so does that makes it perfectly acceptable to do so?”
Abigail shook her head against the pillow. “No… it doesn’t.”
“Why do you think so?”
Abigail squirmed under the covers. “Well, because…even if someone’s not nice or if I don’t like them yet, it’s still not nice to push them.”
“That is a very good answer, Abigail,” Cecilia said with a bright smile on her face. “Good job. Now, enough lessons. Go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Abigail yawned and nodded, eyes already half-closed. “Goodnight, Goody Cecilia.”
With a quiet laugh, Cecilia rose and crossed to the door. She glanced back one last time, her heart inexplicably full at the sight of Abigail curled into sleep. Then, without another sound, she slipped from the room, closing the door gently behind her.
“If you constantly feed Abigail with the notion that kindness solves every problem, she’ll grow up utterly unprepared for the world she’s meant to inherit, you know.”
Cecilia gasped and whirled around, her hand flying to her chest. Valentine stood just beyond the reach of the lamplight, leaning against the wall as though he had been there for some time.
“I – good heavens, you startled me,” she managed, her voice breathless, heart thudding.
Valentine pushed away from the wall with an almost lazy grace, stepping into the glow of the corridor sconce. His expression was unreadable, but his gaze never left hers.
“My apologies,” he said coolly. “I didn’t realize I’d become something to be feared and also avoided like a plague.”
Cecilia straightened, instinctively smoothing the folds of her night robe. “You are not...” She hesitated, aware of how very poorly her day of avoidance now reflected on her. “I simply wasn’t expecting you, Your Grace.”
“No,” he said mildly. “You’ve made a rather dedicated effort to ensure that.”
Her cheeks flushed as she looked away. “I thought you were unwell.”
He stepped a little closer, folding his arms, with the corner of his mouth twitching. “Hm, and is the usual response to such a discovery to vanish entirely from the person in question?”
Cecilia’s spine stiffened. “I did not vanish.”
“You most certainly did.” He said with a faint smile on his face that confused her. “Breakfast? Missed. Luncheon? Fled. The east corridor? Avoided with military precision. I did not see you cross those hallways once today. At one point, I passed your maid carrying your lunch to the conservatory. The conservatory, Duchess. You ate in the conservatory.”
She glanced at him then, flustered. “I...” She was able to come up with another excuse, but stopped herself, noting that it was nouse. “It’s all a misunderstanding, Your Grace. I assure you. Last night, I did not–”
“I know.”
The simplicity and directness of the words made her pause. She looked up at him, startled, only to find his expression unusually open, absent of all the cool detachment he usually wore like armor.
“I remember,” he said, his voice low. “Not everything, mind you. But enough. I remember that I reached for your hand. I remember drawing you down beside me. I must’ve still been half-asleep because I can’t even say why I did it. Only that I did.”
Cecilia didn’t speak. She wasn’t sure she could. It was odd seeing Valentine admit something.
He shifted slightly, running a hand through his hair, eyes dropping for a moment. “I’ve been looking for you all day. Not to confront you, but because I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
His statement made her blink.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he continued. “It was never intentional. I realize it must have been odd. If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize. Truly.”
For a moment, there was only the hush of the hallway between them. Then, without even thinking about her response, Cecilia let out a breath of soft laughter.
“You’re apologizing?”
Valentine arched his eyebrows. “Why do you seem so shocked by that?”
A smile curled at her lips. “It’s extremely shocking, Your Grace. I wasn’t expecting it. The only reason that I have been avoiding you all day is because I thought you would find a way to blame me for finding me in your bed. You don’t strike me as the sort of man who ever apologizes.”
