Page 57 of Wicked By Design

Frustration gnawed at her. She could imagine the shape their lives could take so clearly and felt certain they could be happy together, if only he would allow it. She knew he wouldn’t. Not now. Not yet, but she wasn’t about to stop trying.

Though she could not see the future, she wished to trust in Dr Grantham’s judgement. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but he must have reasons for believing Damian would not inherit his mother’s malady. If only she could get Damian to listen to him, to open his mind to the possibility.

But she must tread with care. They had already come so far. She touched her fingers to the brooch he had bought her. It had been the hardest thing not to throw her arms around him and sob with happiness when he’d chosen it. He had been so gruff and cross, determined she understand it meant nothing to him, when his indignation at her tears only proved how much he cared. He didn’t want to care, he was fighting it at every turn, but he did all the same.

Why else would he speak to her grandmother for her?

“Have you made your choice, my lady?”

Cilly looked up as Mrs Fairway came to take their order. “I think so, but it’s very difficult. They are all so delicious. I believe I shall be dreadfully greedy and have the chocolate, the maple, and the coffee flavour.”

“An excellent combination, I’d say,” Mrs Fairway said with a smile.

Damian frowned. “Damn. I thought I’d decided, but now—devil take it. I’ll have the same. It sounds delicious.”

“Ah, there’s a rare sight one never grows tired of: a fellow admitting his wife knows better than he does,” Mrs Fairway said with a chuckle and bustled off to fetch their order.

Cilly let out a dramatic sigh. “If only that were true,” she lamented.

Damian smiled but said nothing and they waited in silence until the ices arrived.

“Oh, that’s delicious,” Cilly said with a happy sigh after devouring her first spoonful of chocolate. “I think I could eat five bowls of this and still have room for more.”

“You’d be sick,” Damian retorted.

“You do not yet understand my capacity for ices, my lord,” Cilly replied, wagging her spoon at him. “I would not underestimate me, if I were you.”

Damian snorted and so she retaliated by reaching over and stealing a large spoonful of his dessert, stuffing it in her mouth before he could stop her.

“Hey!” he protested.

Cilly laughed unrepentantly and then winced as pain seared her head. “Ow, ow, ow,” she muttered, pressing her fingers against the sudden throbbing.

“Celia? What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

Cilly looked up, touched and amused by his concern. “Yes, but it’s just punishment for my gluttony. It will pass in a moment.” It did, just as she had said, and she sighed, regarding his worried countenance with a smile. “Did you never get a headache eating ices before?”

He shook his head, looking sceptical. “No, but then I never ate an ice before coming here, I’ve clearly not had as much practice as you.”

“Well, then I give you fair warning. If you eat too much too quickly, it gives you a dreadful pain in the head. Not for long, but it hurts while it lasts.”

“And yet you persist,” he remarked with a laugh. “You are a daft creature.”

Cilly shrugged. “It’s entirely worth the risk. Besides, Hetty and I determined we should try every flavour before we left. Though I suppose she has longer to do so now.”

“We could stay longer too, if… if you wished. I know how close you are to Hetty and… well, we never decided where we ought to live.”

Her breath caught, and she held his gaze, but he looked away with a shrug.

“It’s entirely up to you. Seeing as you will be there most of the year, you ought to have the choice.”

Alone.

He didn’t say it, but she knew that was what he meant. You will be there most of the year, alone.

Don’t react, don’t react, she advised herself sternly, instead letting out a slow breath to steady herself.

“Since coming here, I have dreamed of living in a house where I might have a view of the sea. Hatherley House is so lovely, but more than anything I adore waking up in the morning and looking out of the window at the sea. I do not care if it is grey and thrashing with white horses, or blue and serene, it… it makes me happy. I think no matter how difficult a day I was having, that view would always make me feel calmer.”