believe it is Cecily’s turn.”
Cecily looked at the watch, then the flower, then back at the watch again.
Elijah’s heart beat rapidly, as it all depended on this moment, on this decision. He caught Joanna’s eyes across the table, and saw the nervous anticipation within them.
“I…” Cecily said, biting her lip, “I think I should like… the flower.”
It took everything Elijah had within him not to grin triumphantly.
They continued the game until they were each sitting with a gift, and all relatively happy, he thought — although he couldn’t help but notice that Joanna was eyeing the flower with a great deal of interest, and he realized then that she was a romantic at heart.
Dinner was sumptuous, of course, as it always was. His parents were proud of the Christmas feast they put on every year, and this occasion seemed to be no different. He wondered at how there could be a war raging just across the ocean, with so many of England’s own taking part, and yet people here continued on as they always had.
He heard Joanna’s laughter, and he leaned back in this chair in order to see just what — or who — she was laughing at. Alex. Damnit. His brother wasn’t actually interested in her, was he? He leaned back farther, to try to hear what exactly Alex was saying that was so entertaining her.
But then he leaned back a little too far and his chair went crashing to the ground.
Conversation came to a halt all around him, as he looked up to see the holly, ivy, and evergreen pines hanging from high above seemingly staring down at him, laughing at his misfortune.
“Eli?” Caroline and Alex were peering over him. “Are you all right?” his sister asked.
He quirked a smile. “Just fine.”
They helped him up, and he tried to grin at the table surrounding him, although his mother, father, and Baxter were all regarding him disapprovingly.
“My apologies,” he said with a nod, before waving to the feast spread in front of them, “continue, please.”
They were all staring at him with expressions that were a mixture of horror, amusement, and — in Joanna’s case — laughter. She was laughing at him. When he met her gaze and crooked an eyebrow at her, she winked at him — a copy of his usual gesture, and he couldn’t help but return her mirth.
This had all started as a game, yes, which he was sure she was well aware of. But he enjoyed Joanna Merryton far more than he ever had another.
He only hoped that he had been able to prove it to her sufficiently.
For he was falling for the woman.
Chapter 12
It took all evening, but Joanna was finally able to capture Elijah for a moment alone.
Which was crazy in and of itself, as she had been trying to escape him but a few nights ago.
She had to thank him, however, and to ask him if there was any truth to his story. The words had resonated with her, striking her deep in her soul as she wondered if this young woman still loved and what had happened to her.
When he slipped out of the room late that evening as everyone was beginning to retire, she tried to wait a few minutes so as not to be noticed before she quietly excused herself. She caught a glimpse of him retreating into the library, and she followed, quickly surveying the room to ensure that no one else was within.
“Eli?” she called, and he whirled around from the sideboard to face her.
“Joanna,” he said with some surprise, “what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to speak to you.”
He held his arms out to the side. “Speak away.”
She was suddenly shy, hesitant, now that it was just the two of them. While it wasn’t the first time they had been alone, it was the first time since she had started to think that perhaps he was not quite so bad as she had initially made him out to be.
Then there was also the fact that she was taken back to the first night she had arrived, when the two of them had found one another in this room. That night, she had wanted nothing to do with him — and had run from his embrace as fast as she could.
Tonight, she wanted nothing more than for him to try to kiss her underneath the mistletoe again. This time, she knew she wouldn’t push him away. And she most certainly wouldn’t try to escape.
She craved his