She Fled Her Wedding — Then Found the Duke Escaping on the Same Train
Chapter 18
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She began a sharp reply. Halfway through, she stopped. There was something deeply unpromising about accusing a man of failing to divine the objection she had concealed. She tore it up and wrote again: she wanted him to come; those dates were inconvenient; she had said they were agreeable because she had been afraid he might not be able to come at all if she made difficulties.His reply was waiting when they returned from their visit. He could come a week later. He was sorry he had presented the dates as though the rest of the world had been waiting for his calendar; he would have preferred to discover her annoyance before traveling across Europe to meet it.Annora laughed aloud over the last sentence. It was not a perfect exchange; it was, however, followed by a better visit.He came to Florence in November and stayed at a hotel near the rooms the Littons had taken. On the first afternoon, Annora found herself shy. She had constructed him out of handwriting for two months; the living man was taller, warmer, and considerably more distracting.They walked with Rowena until her sister announced that she had no intention of watching them attempt a third conversation about the weather."Lucius is in that shop," she said. "I shall rescue the proprietor. Do not wander beyond retrieval."Piers offered Annora his arm. "Have I disappointed you?" he asked when her sister had gone."No.""You are very quiet.""I am trying to remember how I used to speak to you."He stopped walking. "I have brought no proposal speech. That may help."She looked up at him, and the tension broke. When she laughed, he drew her briefly closer, his fingers pressing against the hand on his arm.By evening, they were themselves again—or more nearly themselves than they had ever been during the eight weeks of their first engagement. They disagreed about where to walk, became tired, admitted it, and returned earlier than planned without turning the decision into evidence that either had failed the other.On his last evening, they sat with Rowena and Lucius after supper. Piers attempted the coin trick for their entertainment. This time, the coin disappeared, remained absent, and reappeared beneath the edge of Lucius's plate.Lucius protested that he had been watching the wrong hand."That is rather the point," Piers said.Annora watched him smile. She had seen him tired now, irritable, occasionally foolish, stubborn about matters he later discovered were unimportant. She had also seen him come back to a difficult conversation after having had time to choose an easier one. The sum of those things was considerably more reassuring than his beautiful punctuation.Later, at the door, she put a hand against his coat. "I shall be home in January," she said."I know.""I should like you to ask me then."