Eloise wasn't able to sleep that night, but it was no longer because of the marriage she dreaded. Her thoughts were instead solely consumed by the red-eyed man and the sensation of his lips against her skin - even if it was only her forehead.
She was summoned to the sitting room shortly after breakfast, only just keeping the shock on her face when she saw Alistair, engaged in uncomfortable small talk with her father.
"Eloise, there you are," her father said, taking her gently by the arm and pulling her towards Alistair. "Alistair, may I officially introduce you to my eldest daughter, Eloise. You haven't seen her since she was an infant."
"How time flies," Alistair commented, bowing. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Byron."
Eloise curtsied, having the sense not to mention their previous meetings with one another. If he didn't divulge acquaintance, then she would not either. "You as well, sir. Father has told me much about you."
"Did he tell you it was I who settled the dispute on your name?" Alistair asked, catching her by surprise.
She cast a curious glance to her father. "He did not."
"Your mother and I could not come to a peaceable decision on your name, and Alistair was gracious enough to cast the deciding vote," her father told her. "And I do think he chose rightly; you are not much of a Margaret."
Alistair's face betrayed nothing, but Eloise could see the amusement that gleamed in his eyes. "In that case, sir, I thank you. I do not think I'd make much of a Margaret."
"Just Alistair, please. We have known each other long enough to be familiar, even if you do not remember our first meeting," he said.
Her father seemed pleased that they were getting along well. "I must say, Alistair, that I am happy you visited. In just a month my dear Eloise will be managing her own house."
"Congratulations," Alistair said, countenance changing near imperceptibly.
"I always knew she would marry well, being such a pretty, talented, sensible girl. Even if she does spend too much time in the woods," her father said. This was a common dispute between them.
Eloise barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "I enjoy being outside, Father. The fresh air is good for my health."
"You do fall ill so rarely," he agreed, turning back to Alistair. "I wasn't entirely sure you'd be coming around again, considering the extended time between your last visit and now."
"I found myself in the Americas for some time. Picked up a new acquaintance." He did not sound particularly enthused about this. "It was several years before I stepped foot on English soil again."
Eloise wondered if he had traveled to the Americas at all, knowing that he still paid visits to the Byron property - to her - every few years. She couldn't help asking, "What was it like?"
"The Americas?" he asked, and she nodded. "Wild is the word I would use. Those that choose to make it their homes are hardy people. For some, there is no guarantee that there will be enough food to last them the winter, but they persevere. Dangerous country, filled with predators that would be all too happy to make a human their prey: bears, mountain lions, wolves. But it is beautiful."
"Don't go getting any ideas, now," her father said, disliking the dreamy look in her eye. "Much safer here in England."
"Would it be too much to ask you, Miss Byron, to give me a tour of the grounds? It's changed since I last visited," Alistair said.
"What a splendid idea, Alistair," her father approved. "It's such a lovely day for it. Will you be staying through the evening?"
"Likely not, though I appreciate your endless hospitality," Alistair said. "If you allow it, however, I would not mind staying in the area until the wedding is to take place."
"Oh, certainly, if you wish," her father said, surprised. "Feeling a little sentimental, Alistair? The infant you held, now all grown up."
Alistair smiled, though it did not quite reach his eyes. "Yes, something like that."
"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you wish. Do you require a room?"
"No, I have no need for one," Alistair dismissed. "I will make my occasional visits inside during your waking hours."
"Very well, then," her father said, and Eloise detected a note of relief in his voice. She had always gotten the sense that Alistair, due to his nature, put her parents on edge. But she had never found reason to fear him.
"Shall we go on our tour, then?" Alistair asked her.
She smiled at him. "If you are ready, then yes, we shall."
They walked arm-in-arm, in no hurry despite the gray clouds that promised rain. Alistair waited until they were out of earshot to speak. "Did you get any rest at all last night?"
"Not really," Eloise admitted.
He merely shook his head. "I don't believe that's good for your health."
"Showing up in my sitting room unannounced is not good for my health!" she retorted, a smile playing at the edge of her lips.
"I did promise to return today, did I not?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"You didn't expect it to be in your sitting room," he finished.
"Precisely."
"I apologize for catching you off guard," he said.
"Don't. It was a nice surprise," she said, looking to the horizon instead of his face. "May I ask you something?"
"Ask me whatever you wish."
"Why do you continue to visit my family when it's obvious you dislike doing so?" she asked.
He looked startled. "How-"
"My family may not be able to read you, Alistair, but I would like to believe that I can."
"Yes, you do have something of an uncanny knack for it," he said. "Did your father never tell you the story?"
"Father told me that you owed a debt to my great-grandfather, that he saved your life. Nothing more than that," she said.
"I am surprised he did not tell you the full tale," Alistair said. "But yes, what he did tell you is correct. I continue to visit because Henry Byron, your great-grandfather, saved my life."
"How? I can't imagine it's easy to kill one of your kind," Eloise said.
Alistair had suspected she knew the truth for some time now, so her statement did not catch him off-guard. "Yes, you are correct. It is quite difficult, but not impossible. It is usually a feat that can only be accomplished by another of my kind, but humans have managed it before by using our weakness, should they know it, to their advantage."
"Weakness?" Eloise echoed. In her mind, Alistair had always been invincible.
"Only one," he said. "Fire. The easiest way to dispose of my kind is to be ripped apart and then do the burning, but any humans that have managed the feat of killing one of us have skipped that step."
"How does this tie in with my great-grandfather?" Eloise asked, ignoring the unease that budded in her stomach at the thought of Alistair being harmed.
"Well, I had taken up residence in a cabin within the woods for a short spell, seeing as its owner was no longer in need of it," he said delicately, as if she didn't know of his gruesome diet, because he could not reconcile how she would still trust him if she did. "It was a mile away from the village, and though I'm not sure how, the men of the village realized what had happened and what I was, and made a plot to kill me.
"They were smart enough to know that they could not best me in a proper fight, so instead they used bows and flaming arrows. They set the walls and ceiling ablaze; it had already been a dry summer, so the fire spread quickly, and I was trapped.
"I suppose they retreated afterwards, just in case I managed to escape, but your great-grandfather, who had watched the scene unfold, stayed back. There was a brook by the cabin, and he used a bucket to douse the flames, enough that I could escape unscathed without catching fire myself."
"Why did he save you? Not that I'm not glad he did," Eloise said, and indeed she was thankful for the actions of her great-grandfather, for without him she would not know who felt like the only true friend she had ever had.
"Henry - your great-grandfather, that is - was an interesting sort of man, in that he never gave me a true answer. Perhaps he never quite knew himself. His actions were made more peculiar in that he wanted no form of repayment. I even offered to make him like me, which he refused, which was likely the correct decision." Alistair laughed, but it wasn't genuine. It was short and sharp, full of bitterness. It didn't suit him, she decided, and moved the conversation forward, away from painful memories.
"If he wanted no repayment, then why did you continue to visit?" Eloise asked.
"I felt indebted to him, and had developed an odd sort of friendship with him. So I continued to visit, keep an eye on his family, protect them if needed. I decided that, whenever the story of my presence around your family was forgotten, that my debt would be repaid," Alistair said. "As your father didn't tell you this story, it seems this will be the last generation of Byrons I will ever meet."
Eloise felt strangely saddened by this. "So one day you'll leave and never return?"
He hesitated. "Yes, I suppose so."
"I'm glad my great-grandfather saved you, Alistair," said Eloise, looking up at him.
He met her eyes. "You are one of very few, then, that feel that way. Perhaps the only one."
She shook her head, disbelieving he could be so alone. "There are still people who care about you, Alistair. Nevertheless, I count you as a friend, one of very few. And the only one who has never treated my dreams as foolishness."
"A friend." There was some unreadable emotion in his voice. "Yes, a friend. I am glad to be counted as one of yours. My life was a very lonely one before I met you, Eloise Byron."
There was something about how he said her name that made blood rise to her cheeks; he said it reverently, intimately, in a way no one ever had before. She wanted to ask him to say it again, just as he had, just so she could feel herself warm in the wake of it.
Instead she said nothing, smiling at him rather than speaking, as if that would communicate everything she felt. It didn't, but he smiled back, and the genuine expression was almost as nice as the sound of her name on his tongue.
Ugh, I love their interactions so much. I hope you are enjoying the story so far, I'm excited for you guys to read what's to come. Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!