"What do you mean Elijah was here?"

I became aware that I was yelling when Emily emerged at the door to her room and shushed me, holding a finger up to her lips and widening her eyes as if to ask me why I was being so loud. I ignored her though, staring down my mother who had delivered the news as if it hardly mattered.

"Did he leave? Is he coming back?" I asked, surprised myself at how much I'd already missed my brother. The thought that he had come to visit and no one had come to tell Madison or I while we were sitting alone in the drawing room working on our embroidery and discussing other matters was one I could hardly believe.

"Yes, yes," my mother answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "He will be back. He asked where Benthem and the Duke were and I told him the gentlemen's club so he's gone to meet them there. I imagine they'll return by dinner."

I calmed down at that, nodding as I processed the information. My brother was here, come all the way to Northumberland to visit us. I was thrilled that he'd managed to pull himself away from his business and whatever was so pressing in town most recently to come and see us here. I'd been dying to talk to him about the estate ever since I'd seen it. But it seemed I was going to have to wait even longer.

"Do you want to go back to the drawing room, Ella?" Madison cooed from behind me. "We could talk more about that... special project you've been working on."

"Ah, yes," I replied, turning away from my mother and sister who had already lost interest and were engaged in examining fabric swatches that had come in the mail from Madame Francis today.

I followed Madison back to the drawing room where she promptly shut the door and nearly locked it behind us. I'd just managed to tell her about Victor asking to court me when we'd been interrupted by Lady Winterbourne swinging by on her way to prepare a room for "another guest" who, she had let slip when pressed, was my brother, Elijah.

"Tell me everything," Madison was hissing now as she pulled me onto the sofa beside her.

"There isn't much more to tell," I answered, having recounted much of my conversation with the Duke already. "Just that we're keeping it a secret for now but we need chaperones and we were hoping you and Benthem would be up for the task?"

"Oh, of course," she answered with a wave of her hand as if the request were nothing at all. "I've already been hinting that this was a possibility, the two of you. He's not blind. I know he's seen how you look at each other."

Heat rushed to my cheeks and I lowered my head as I blushed.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed," Madison told me with a smile. "It happens to the best of us and we're quite lucky when it does. So, I suppose just let us know when you're wanting to spend some time together and I'm sure one of us will be able to clear our schedule enough to oversee. From a distance, of course. Oh, Ella! How thrilling! To be honest, what I miss most when I'm in the city is you but if this goes well, you'll be moving here too! We can see each other every day!"

I nodded at her eagerness but a few more pieces of the puzzle that I hadn't yet had time to consider were falling into place at her words. Move here, to Northumberland. Yes, I supposed that would be the expectation if things between the Duke and I were to progress to marriage. And then I'd live here, in this estate. I'd be a Duchess.

Suddenly, the room felt very hot. I stood abruptly to my feet before thinking better of it.

"I'll be right back," I blurted, already heading toward the door without a plan in place. "I've forgotten something. In my rooms."

I wrenched open the door and headed purposefully into the hallway. I hadn't the slightest idea where I was going. This place was a maze on the best of days and I certainly wasn't in the right state of mind at present to be navigating it. Somehow I ended up in the foyer at the precise moment that my brother was entering, right behind Benthem and Victor.

"Elijah," I breathed and rushed forward, throwing my arms around him in a warm embrace. How strange that I'd missed him so much in just over a week. How badly would I miss him when I never went home?

"Ella," he greeted cheerily as we separated. "I was hoping you'd be here to receive me. Where are mother and Emily?"

"Upstairs," I answered. "I've missed you so. Have you come on an errand?"

"No. Just that I missed you all as well. Of course, father wants me to ascertain your well-being so I suppose I've seen enough to satisfy my duty. I'll just be heading back-"

He turned away in jest, marching for the door.

"No!" I yelped, sprinting around him and putting myself between him and his exit. He chuckled. Benthem and Victor smiled at the scene though, I noticed, they stood very far apart and not even glancing at one another as they usually did. That was odd.

"Will you be staying for a few days?" Victor asked kindly. I looked over to him just as Elijah did.

"If you'll have me, Your Grace," Elijah answered, making a joke of the title, but Victor only smiled.

"You're always welcome here. Besides, it'll give the local women a new available gentleman to pester," the Duke said and Elijah raised a brow. "There's a ball in the city in two days time. I've already spoken to your mother and she thinks it's a wonderful idea that I introduce you all to the influential members of Northumberland society."

"Wonderful," Elijah replied with a tone that made it sound anything but. Victor chuckled as Benthem took a step forward.

"Let's get you settled in then-" Benthem started.

"I'll do it!" I exclaimed, interrupting him. "Your room is just across from mine. Come on."

I grabbed Elijah by the hand and ignored the helpless shrug he gave the others as I dragged him up the stairs towards the hall of bedrooms that Victor had allowed my family to overtake. Mother and Emily were gone, likely off to plan more of the wedding. So it was just Elijah and I as I pushed him through the doorway of his room where all of his things had already been brought up.

"How's father?" I asked as he observed his new temporary lodgings.

"Well," he answered. "How is mother really doing?"

"She's beside herself at the grandeur of it all."

"It is grand," he admitted, thoughtfully, as he ran a finger along the elaborately carved oak of his dresser. "And Emily?"

"I think she's enjoying the spotlight," I replied and he chuckled.

Silence descended upon us then as he went to his suitcases and began to unpack them. I had a question for him that I desperately wanted to ask but there was a possibility that he wouldn't be pleased with my doing so and I'd just gotten him back. I didn't want to lose him again.

"Elijah," I started slowly. He didn't look up at me, only grunted in response as he started putting his clothes away. "Are you courting someone?"

He froze, hand hovering over the dresser drawer. I took a breath. He set the article of clothing he'd been holding down and turned to me.

"What would give you that idea?" He asked.

"Madison and I were talking," I told him, "about what could be the reason that you're suddenly going into town much more than ever before. She was joking but she said you might have a secret relationship. Is it true?"

He watched me for a moment, gaze narrowed as if trying to determine whether or not he could answer me, whether or not he could trust me. I desperately wanted him to decide that he could but, at the same time, I knew that I was keeping a very similar secret of my own from him. Finally, he sighed, shoulders slumping as he collapsed onto the bed behind him.

"Women are so infuriating," he groaned and I couldn't help but smile.

"Are you talking about me?" I asked. "Or... someone else?"

"Yes," he replied, smiling mischievously up at me. "All of you. I wanted to visit you, Ella, make no mistake. I've missed you at home. But I'm here because I needed to get away for a few days. We had a fight."

"Who is she?"

He raised a brow.

"My apologies, sister," he said. "I've made an oath to keep a promise. I hope you can understand."

I did. More than he might ever know.