Page 53 of A Shadow Amongst the Roses

“Good.”

The word warmed her more than she expected. She felt it low beneath her ribs again, that unfamiliar lightness that no longer startled her quite as sharply as it had the morning before. She told herself it was relief. It was easier to leave it at that.

“You didn’t ask who from,” she said.

“I don’t need to,” he replied. “You know how to manage those rooms.”

“I do.”

He hesitated, his gaze dropping briefly to the path before returning to her. “And you won’t forget yourself in them.”

Something shifted then. Not sharply. Just enough that she became aware of her breath again.

“No,” she said. “I won’t.”

They walked a short distance together. Their steps matched without effort. She noticed that too.

“I may be away overnight,” Eliza said. “Possibly two.”

Thomas nodded once. “The estate will manage.”

“I know.”

“And you’ll come back,” he added, lightly. Surely.

“Yes,” she said. “I will.”

They stopped where the garden dipped, the house rising behind them in pale stone and long shadow. For a moment neither spoke.

“This feels different,” Thomas said.

“Yes,” Eliza agreed. “It does.”

“Not fragile,” he clarified. “Just visible.”

She met his gaze. Her chest felt oddly full. Steady. Aware. “Joy usually is.”

His smile came slowly. Not surprised. Not tentative. As though he understood precisely what was being held between them and had no intention of disturbing it.

“I’ll see you this evening,” he said.

“Yes.”

She left him there and returned toward the house, aware of the invitation in her drawer, aware of the path beneath her feet, aware of herself in a way she had not been before.

Joy did not need guarding.

But it did ask to be acknowledged.

And Hartleigh, watchful and quietly indulgent, was allowing her that grace.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lady Harcourt’s dining room was warm with candlelight and conversation when Eliza arrived.

The house sat just beyond the village proper, near enough to feel familiar and distant enough to feel deliberate. The gathering was modest, no more than a dozen guests, but chosen with care. Neighbors with influence. Acquaintances who noticed things.

Eliza entered without hesitation.