Alone in the room, Nicholas got up from his chair and walked towards the fireplace to bend down on his knees. Pus.h.i.+ng the wood further in to burn, he let his hand close to the fire, feeling the heat. He let his hand into the fire which didn"t affect his skin, turning it around to feel the warmth.
Nicholas doubted that Heidi would try to run away mostly because the woman was in love with him. Nevertheless it wouldn"t harm to have someone watch her than let something happen.
He hadn"t realized before but Issac, Lettice"s past lover was from Woville too. She wasn"t the kind to make enemies, unless he didn"t know her well and that made him wonder what someone would get by killing her. It didn"t look like it was because of her getting married into the truce because his suspicion didn"t lie there. Why would anyone persuade Issac to kill her when they had no relation. Retracing back his hand, he got up to go and sit in his chair.
Heidi Curtis. He dragged his hand over his hair, pulling it back for it to only spring back forward on his forehead. The woman was driving him crazy.
One of the mornings when Heidi was having breakfast along with Warren and Nicholas, served by Stanley himself, she felt Nicholas" gazing towards her. He made her aware of his presence, not letting her ignore even if Warren was here. She was worried if Warren would doubt them. She always did, as the lord had his way in stealing looks from her. Sometimes his eyes would turn gentle to intimidating making her lower her eyes. It made her heart thump against her chest and she had to will it to calm down. She knew he could hear it. Only he could because he had an extremely good pair of ears than the rest at the table.
"Heidi?"
Heidi heard someone call from the table and she looked up to see it was Warren.
"Pardon me," she apologized to see her fiance.
"Mother picked a dress for you for the grand ball. I will bring it to you tomorrow," Warren who was talking asked her, "Is something wrong?"
"Actually I brought a dress the last time I visited Isle valley. Would it be alright if I wore it instead?" she asked him.
"Sure. I don"t mind. I will let mother know the same," he nodded his head understandingly.
"Ms. Curtis, will you be wearing the necklace which Warren gifted you? It did look lovely on you," Nicholas interrupted their conversation. Heidi gave the man a dirty look before schooling her features when Warren looked from Nicholas to her.
"Ah-yes. It will pair well with the dress I bought," Heidi smiled looking at Warren, her hand clutching the side of her chair as she lied to him.
The same day, Nicholas was in his study room, standing in front of the large windows to see the rain fall against the gla.s.s when he heard the doors to the study open and close.
"I thought you were going to meet father Phinneas at his place," Nicholas commented without turning back to look at his cousin.
"I finished meeting and came here," Warren answered. Taking a deep breath he then said, "I want to talk to you about something," seeing Nicholas turn around he asked, "What happened to the necklace ?"
"Why are you asking me? I am not the one you gifted it to," the lord stated uninterested with his question.
"Nick," Warren stared at him.
"What did I say about doing unnecessary things," Nicholas turned around to look at him, "Didn"t I say you not to do anything which wasn"t required?"
"It was just a necklace."
"A necklace for which you took your time out and went to Mythweald to fetch it personally, yourself."
"Why not, I think-" Warren stopped talking when something sharp graze his cheek before the door was. .h.i.t. It was the quill Nicholas had been playing with his hands which he threw at him.
"My, did I miss that?" Nicholas asked smiling at a stunned Warren. A small streak of red line formed on Warren"s cheek, "My dear cousin, are you forgetting what we discussed?" he tutted. "You will only act as a catalyst for the truce and not involve yourself more than required with the lady. You will hold no actual interest in her. Weren"t you the one who was against the whole ordeal before I stepped in and set the rules?"
"It was in the beginning. Now I care for her," hearing Warren, Nicholas scoffed.
"I don"t care if you hold feelings for her, it might be natural for one to hold after all she is your fiance right now. She is not yours to take care Warren."
Warren"s lips were set in line, "Do you like her?"
"That"s none of your concern now, is it. I do hope that you erase whatever is blooming in that dead heart of yours before I tear it out myself," the lord warned him with a deadly look.
It was true that when the truce was made, Warren was asked to only behave as a groom for the truce as he didn"t any part in it. Things had changed after knowing Heidi Curtis. He wasn"t in love with her but he had come to like her but the unexpected turn was that his cousin was interested in her too. Nicholas wasn"t joking and looked with a serious intent, both the men staring at each other. This had never occurred before them, not because there wasn"t a truce before but because his cousin wasn"t the kind to threaten someone over women. Up till now to Nicholas, women were only the kind to provide food and s.e.x to him. Nicholas hadn"t answered his question but it seemed that he held some sort of feelings towards Heidi.
Warren gauged the lord"s expression before looking away with a sigh, to say, "I understand. I won"t do anything unnecessary and will act out my part as asked," he complied not wanting to ruffle the man"s uneven temper that lurked behind the dark eyes.