Note: Yay, I'm back on the wagon! Please let me know if you're still reading and enjoying this fic. I love hearing from you guys about what you liked and what you think might happen next. And if you don't mind, share it as well! The more TLC fans the better.
"What in heaven's name is going on?"
Winter stared, mouth agape, as the entire soaked party shuffled past her into the manor. Colonel Kesley and Captain Thorne supported Cress between them, and the poor girl looked positively ill. Despite her sneezing and red nose, however, she beamed when she saw Winter.
"Good evening, Lady Winter!"
"Good...evening?" Winter looked at Selene quizzically, but her cousin only grinned and shrugged.
"Cress got lost in the forest, and then it started raining. She's been a perfectly good sport about it, though."
"A perfectly good sport despite being on the verge of death!" Lady Blackburn interrupted, pulling Cress away from the gentlemen helping her in. "We simply must get you to bed. Colonel Kesley, send for a doctor. The rest of you can dry off by the fire. Come, Cress! We musn't dilly-dally."
Cress glanced back at Thorne as Lady Blackburn pulled her away, and Winter thought she saw him wink. If Cress's cheeks weren't already red, Winter was sure she'd be blushing.
Dr. Sage arrived promptly, and Winter waited with the others in the drawing room as he saw to Cress. Winter tapped her fingers on her dress—one of her ugliest gowns, since she wasn't expecting company—and joined everyone else in watching Captain Thorne pace the room. To be sure, his concern was surprising; he didn't seem the type to fret about anyone but himself. Even as she thought it, though, Winter chastised herself for being ungenerous. Surely he had good qualities.
Finally, Dr. Sage emerged.
"It's simply a bad cold," he announced. "With rest and some hot elderberry wine, Miss Darnel should be good as new in a few days. I must advise you to not let her exert herself for the next while, however. It's not good for young ladies to go running about in a thunderstorm."
"Indeed, it is not," Lady Blackburn said. "I'm relieved I had the sense to keep Winter home today, or she could be laid up in bed this moment as well. I've always prided myself on my maternal instincts."
Winter hid her look of dismay. Her stepmother hadn't kept her home due to a motherly intuition—she'd been furious with Winter for her behavior with Mr. Clay at the ball. The lecture afterwards had lasted for hours, and now whenever they crossed paths, Lady Blackburn was sure to make a cutting remark about her bad judgment.
Winter was generally a forgiving person, but lately her stepmother had been testing her boundaries.
After Dr. Sage left, Colonel Kesley, Miss Benoit, and the Kinneys said goodbye to Cress and then excused themselves to go home. Mrs. Kinney made Winter promise to send word when Cress had recovered, and even Miss Benoit seemed concerned about the girl's situation. She said she'd be back the next day with a basket of goodies to aid in Cress's convalescence.
Winter and Selene then made their way into Cress's room, where one of the lady's maids was fixing a fire in the fireplace.
"How are you feeling, my dear Cress?" Winter exclaimed, hurrying to her friend's side.
Cress smiled weakly. "I feel—I feel okay," she insisted between coughs. "If it weren't for Captain Thorne, I'd be in much more dire straits right now."
"What did Captain Thorne do?" Winter replied.
"The Captain was the one who saved poor Cress," Selene said with a knowing look. "When he found out she'd gone missing, he took up the search like a man obsessed. Even when the downpour began, he wouldn't rest for a moment until she was found."
Cress nodded, looking altogether amazed that she could confirm such a story. "He was such a gentleman. He said he wasn't going to let me out of his sight until he got me to Artemesia Manor safely."
For a moment Cress seemed like she might faint, and Winter leaned forward to help her. Cress brushed her away.
"I'm okay, Lady Winter. I'm just swooning."
The girls laughed.
"Truly, though," Winter said. "I must admit I'm surprised he had it in him. Could it be that we've misjudged Captain Thorne?"
"Not likely," Selene said.
"Of course," Cress said at the same time.
"He was a perfect gentleman," Cress reiterated, eyes going starry. "If I died this moment I could greet the afterlife happily. Today was the best day of my life."
"I wish I could have been there," Winter said. "My stepmother…wasn't pleased with me after the ball."
"What happened at the ball?" Cress asked.
Winter sighed, loath to remember the embarrassment of that night—as well as the frankly scandalous feelings that had been engendered before Lady Blackburn burst in on her and Mr. Clay.
"I started having one of my episodes at the ball. Mr. Clay was kind enough to take me out of the room and calm me down. We…I'm not sure what happened, but I think he may have been about to kiss me."
Cress squealed from her bed, and even Selene clapped her hands to her mouth.
"In any case," Winter continued, "that was when Lady Blackburn walked in."
"Oh no," Cress said, eyes wide. "She must have been furious."
Winter nodded, remembering the way her body had turned to ice as her stepmother lectured her. She shivered, willing the feeling away.
"I knew she was upset with you." Selene sighed. "I wish she'd let him court you. He's a good man, though a little serious for my taste. In either case, I know how much he cares about you. And he's a thousand times the superior of any of those other men that come around here for you."
Winter thought of all the times she'd spent with Mr. Clay—stolen moments, meaningful glances, secret meetings. It was obvious he hadn't forgot about those moments, either, and her heart swelled with the possibilities that presented.
"Do you think…he'll propose?" Cress said, sounding positively enamored with the idea of it.
Nervousness and excitement swirled in Winter's belly at the thought. "I don't know. Truly, I don't. And I'm not sure what I'd even say if he did."
"Well, yes, of course!" Selene said. "He loves you. And you love him, though you try to deny it sometimes."
"But my stepmother…."
"Who cares about Lady Blackburn? This manor is your inheritance. And you are the descendant of Lord Hayle. Though she likes to act like she runs this place, in the end it is your word that matters. If you chose to marry a poor second lieutenant, there is nothing she could do to stop you."
"I…" Winter tried to think of some way to argue with that, but she couldn't. "…You're right."
The thought of marrying Mr. Clay made a stupid smile find its way onto her face. Cress and Selene giggled at her reaction.
A quiet knock sounded on the door.
"May I come in?" came a man's voice.
Winter went to the door and pulled it open to reveal Captain Thorne, looking a little sheepish with his wet hair and uniform. She pulled the door all the way open to let him in.
"Come, cousin," she said to Selene with a grin. "Anna is still tending to the fire. It wouldn't be amiss to leave these two alone for a few minutes."