She couldn"t hide anything from her close friends, Ellie realized as she sighed. They knew her inside and out. Ellie took her hands in Olga"s and drew her closer. Olga"s violet bouquet felt strange to her as she wondered why they were in such formal clothing at a carnival. But she threw those thoughts out of her mind. Her suspicions didn"t need to be a part of this event. "As it is my birthday and we are celebrating something together, let"s not speak too much of our problems. If there was an issue, I wouldn"t let it go on to. I"m not the type of person who would be alright with that as it would be apparent to everyone. I"m a pretty open book. But look around us at what you can see, my partner created all of this for me, he brought you all here to see me happy. Whether he is good for me, I"ve never felt this way. I"m just taking it day by day. Every day I have been Mrs. Wong I have always felt taken care of.""But are you loved? Does he love only you? Do you have questions"
"Yes, no one takes this good care of someone they sort of like. It"s outrageous. He has a different way of saying it that I"m learning to find."
Olga hugged her and soothingly rubbed circles into Ellie"s exposed back. "See that"s all we need to hear to be supportive. He has us all sign NDAs before coming here so the press couldn"t pay us to talk."
Ellie shrugged. "It"s not due to our relationship that he would do that. I think he is more terrified of his own company and the struggle in that. Maybe he just wanted to cover all the bases. He thinks much farther ahead than anyone I"ve ever met."
Olga nodded before pulling her friend to a twirling teacups ride. As her head was spinning, Ellie wondered if this sense of security was something that could be falsely created. She had never felt so content in a relationship before. Was it all an elaborate illusion?
Henry chatted through with old tenants again as they began to whine about how they weren"t as sprightley as they were in their youth. His smile was a bit of concern, but he felt a sense of restlessness now that everyone was talking to leave. Several of the rides were loaded up to leave and the limousine had come back to take Ellie and his guests to a hotel in Lutterworth. Ellie was in talks to go stay with them at the hotel, but they kept pushing her back and reminding her she had a husband to keep.
Henry smiled to himself thinly as he heard s.n.a.t.c.hes of conversation. These friends of hers really made him sound better off than he was. They should be warning her, he wanted to say, that he might be doing something to cover something else. He would have agreed with that. Henry felt immense guilt over this carnival actually as people now regarded him as the new Baron Braye. It was going to be such a hoax when they found out he was intending to leave Stanford Hall and return to his life back in America. To see a newly single Baroness would cause talk as their lives returned to their separate trajectories. Every time he saw her laughing, he couldn"t stop himself from envisioning her emaciated body at the hospital when he had first met her. He wanted to celebrate this return to good health with her as she was one who was very deserving of miracles.
As the ground completely emptied, Ellie yawned hugely. "That was a fantastic party, but now I"m just excited to turn in for the night. I"m so tired and I"m going to need help to get out of this dress."
He cleared his throat as he shook his head. "We still haven"t eaten your birthday cake with the candles. You haven"t made your wish. It"s actually being prepared in the living room as we brought a smaller table in for our own private meal when the festivities ended."
"You planned this too?" Ellie said incredulously. "I wish I could eat dinner in pajamas."
"Then you"d get food all over the bed. That would be unproductive and probably not a comfortable night"s sleep."
Ellie privately agreed but she was quiet as Henry lead her into the living area. The area was softly lit with antique gas lamps. The appetizers were sitting out waiting for him while they both sat. Henry helped her to make sure that her dress didn"t get caught in the bench style seat on the table. There sat on the same side of the table so they shared one seat. Their meals were usually quite simple, but as Ellie drank the barley soup, she could taste that the chef who had been hired was definitely professional. Ellie wondered if he had been flown in as Henry poured her a gla.s.s of wine. As they continued on to their starters, the topic of conversation changed to the ideas they had for future renovations and projects that could benefit the house or the local community. To their separate ideas, each partner offered ways to improve the idea which was presented. As Ellie talked she kept opening and closing her hand over Henry"s. He seemed to blush and looked away before giving her some meat from his plate. Henry was really trying to make her feel loved, Ellie realized. She could feel the alcohol start to distort her thinking as she wondered what he was thinking as his eyes bore into hers. She wanted to touch him more intimately, but she knew that it could bite her later. Still, she couldn"t help herself so her hands wandered.
As everyone was either outside or in the other rooms cleaning up, there was no reason to have inhibitions. Henry didn"t move her hands away as she kissed him between bites. He would smile to himself as she was giddy about how much she had enjoyed the day. They continued to finish the bottle of wine, it was nice to be able to talk about anything. Ellie wondered when had they grown so close to have this comfort.
Henry watched how the flickering light made the contours of Ellie"s makeup look even more like an angel. Her face looked as if it had been dipped in honey. He felt his heart jump as this visage of her as healthy was something that really appealed to him. From his first look at her as an invalid where the hollows of her face could show what looked like the curve of her bone. Her face had brought her a cold thrill of fear that someone could get so close to death without having any options to turn to. Now, her body was still thin, but her body was curved sweetly in the beauty of a young woman. Her charms had come back to her naturally so he could no longer feel anything but good muscle and healthy fat. He liked to touch her as her health was what was a miracle. Henry looked down to her lips as she chewed as he remembered their kiss on the ferris wheel and what promise he had broken to her there. Her mouth stopped as she was probably thinking of the same thing.