Chapter 27
The city was louderthan Iris remembered. After being secluded in the countryside for a while, she had forgotten what it was like to be surrounded by so much noise. It almost hurt her brain to be back among it all. How did people live like this, and why would they want to? It had actually woken her up, it was such a loudplace.
As Iris stared out the window, the tall buildings and the sheer number of people took her aback. She did not think that she could ever come back here and feel comfortable, which shocked her since she’d spent a lot longer living nearer to the city than in thecountryside.
All she really wanted was to be back in the peace and quiet of the Oakley household. She couldn’t wait to get back there...ifshe made it back, of course. Iris still knew that there was a chance she wouldn’t. There was no point in planning for that because she would rather imagine that things would turn out as she wanted them too. Iris hoped that a positive outlook would help her to gofar.
Iris had never been to Elizabeth’s home after she married, so she had no idea what to expect. Her sister had described the tall, red bricked building to her, but Iris knew that it was going to be different to see it for real. She stared out the window and waited for it toappear...
Once Iris’s eye set upon a building that pierced the skyline with it’s pointed rooftops. The gorgeous red bricks were beautiful, as were the balconies that jutted out proudly. The home was just as lovely as Elizabeth had described, it was just a shame that she was not happythere.
Ewan came to greet Iris on the road by her carriage, and as she stepped down to join him, he held out his hand to help her. Iris automatically took the help as it assisted her descent in a more dignified way, but as soon as their skin connected, Iris realized that it was the first time that they’d touched since the ball at her household. Feeling his hand simply made her feel all those wonderful sensations once more, and judging by the bright expression on Ewan’s face, he could feel ittoo.
Iris stumbled, just a little bit, and she almost fell into Ewan’s arms. Luckily she managed to regain her footing at the very last second which saved them both. If Ewan had embraced her, and their lips found themselves near to one another, Iris might have lost complete control of herself. She may have allowed him to kissher.
“Will you be alright from here?” Ewan asked her softly. “Do you need any help fromme?”
“I will be fine.” Iris’s voice was breathy as she replied. “Thank you verymuch.”
“I will return for you once my business is complete to see how things are with you. Would you like me to meet you here, or at yourhome?”
“Here will be fine,” Iris replied a little too quickly. “Thankyou.”
She knew that it was suspicious and that Ewan was likely to question her increasingly thin theory, but in the end, it turned out that she had braced herself for nothing. Either Ewan was very distracted by his business, or he trusted her much too readily. Either way, he asked her nothing. He simply took Iris at herword.
“Right, of course.” Ewan stepped backwards, leaving Iris cold and feeling alone. “I shall see you soonthen.”
“Yes, I look forward to seeing youagain.”
Iris watched as Ewan stepped back into his carriage and he drove away from her before she twisted her body around to face the music. Before taking those brave steps to her sister’s front door, she sucked in a few deep, calming breaths just to steady hernerves.
Then shemoved.
It wasn’t easy, Iris had to really force one foot in front of the other, but she just about made it down the garden path. Her heart raced and her fingers trembled, but she would see Elizabeth as soon as she knocked on that door which helped her to continuemoving.
Knock,knock.
While she waited for someone to answer the door, Iris shifted her body weight from foot to foot while the nerves threatened to consume her. Now she was thinking that maybe she should have planned out exactly how she was going to present this plan because going in unprepared left her with the possibility of messing things upcompletely.
After only a few moments, the door opened a crack, and Iris found herself looking into a very dark pair ofeyes.
“Good afternoon, the Steward household, how may I helpyou?”
“I need to speak with the lady of the house,” Iris told the butler. “Is she available,please?”
“Who, may I ask, is calling forher?”
Iris was not sure what to say. If she told the truth, she risked letting far too many people in on the secret, but if she didn’t, there was a chance that Elizabeth might not see her. This was Iris’s only chance, she needed to be letin.
“I am hersister.”
There, that was clear enough without being too specific. She could be either Olivia or Iris, there was no telling. It was unlikely that Olivia visited often, so the butler probably did not know what she lookedlike.
“I am sorry; I did not know.” The butler opened the door wider and he stepped aside to let her in. “Please, come inside and wait in the reception area. I will call Mrs. Steward to come and speak withyou.”
As Iris stepped inside, she marvelled at how modern and classy Elizabeth had her home. When they were children she had often commented that their parents kept their home stuck in the dark ages, so this shouldn’t have been a surprise, but strangely it was. Iris guessed that she always thought every home was like her own, but that was because she spent so much timeindoors.
She strolled around the reception area and took it all in, while she waited for Elizabeth to come for her. There were plenty of comfortable-looking seats that she could have waited in, but she was much too wired to rest. Plus, Iris had been sitting in the carriage for hours, it felt really good to stretch herlegs.
