Michael paused for a second so brief, she thought she might have been mistaken. He didn’t respond immediately and Elaine straightened, blinking back the tears of shame. But then she heard, “It would appear so.”
He resumed eating without sparing her a glance. Elaine’s heart sank. He might have answered her but he clearly did it to be polite.
“I hope she is not making you uncomfortable,” Elaine spoke again, bracing herself for the inevitable rejection.
Michael’s movements did not falter this time. But his response came far quicker. “I am used to this kind of banter. It does not bother me.”
“That’s good. My aunt—”
“You should eat, Elaine.”
He may as well tell her he wanted nothing more to do with her. A lump formed in her throat. She forced beans into her mouth and struggled to swallow, struggling to hold back the tears.
Stilted conversation hung over the dining table throughout all three courses, led mainly by Lorna. Clarissa tried her best not to make things too awkward but Michael’s obvious reluctance to take part in the conversation did not help things. Elaine couldn’t care less about the conversation. She put all her energy into keeping her tears at bay.
After a seemingly endless dinner, Lorna suggested that they retire to the drawing room, much to Elaine’s dismay. She wanted this night to be over. She wanted to get the wedding over with. She wanted to wallow without the man who caused her pain lingering around her.
But she dragged herself to the drawing room all the same, knowing that she had little choice in the matter. She began counting the seconds, hoping that it would make the time pass quicker. Lorna settled into the middle of the drawing room withLord and Lady Belington, speaking quietly to each other, clearly about the wedding judging by their looks of concern and the furtive glances they sent Elaine’s way. Elaine was too focused on Michael, watching as he slipped out onto the balcony. After a few minutes, Clarissa followed behind him.
“You are oddly quiet.”
Elaine nearly jumped at James’ voice by her side. He watched her steadily.
“That is because I do not have anything to say,” she explained calmly. From the way James looked at her, she doubted her words would ring true.
“Is that why you have been looking at the duke so longingly?”
“I have not!” she protested heatedly, cheeks growing warm.
“I watched you two over dinner,” James continued. “And at first, what I saw infuriated me. To think he compromised you then had the gall to look put out by the fact that he has to marry you to make things right. I had half a mind to draw him across the table and give him a piece of my mind.”
“Thank goodness you thought better of it,” she mumbled.
“Only because I began to realise that perhaps the duke’s trouble does not lay in the fact that he has to marry you.”
Elaine frowned up at him. James wore an oddly thoughtful expression. “What do you mean?”
“You two seemed uncomfortable with each other during dinner, that is for certain. But I noticed something in the duke’s eyes when he looked at you.”
Elaine hadn’t realised Michael had looked at her at all. “What is that?”
“Yearning.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “For me?”
“I do not know what for. I hope that is the case. And I suppose you cannot find out until you ask.”
She couldn’t ask Michael that. She couldn’t run the risk of his standoffish coldness again. It would shatter what was left of her self-esteem.
But that persistent hope began to bloom once more. If James could see something between them, then perhaps all was not lost after all.
Elaine caught James’ eyes and felt a glimmer of surprise when he tilted his head towards the balcony doors as if telling her to go to speak with him. Her heart began to race at the thought but she willed herself to move all the same. If James didn’t think it a bad idea, then maybe there was some hope after all.
She stepped silently past Lorna and the others, quite aware of the fact that they were watching her go by. Her heart pounded in her ears as she stopped at the door and took a deep breath.
“You cannot go through with this wedding, Michael.”
Elaine sucked in a quiet breath. That was Clarissa. Had she been against this wedding this entire time?
