Good Lord, she was in love with Hugh Sterling!

Slowly she inhaled a shaky breath, then took the smallest sip of tea known to man before setting her cup down and exhaling in a rough whoosh of air.

“All right there?” Elizabeth murmured absently as she read a note she’d received.

“Yes,” Elinor gasped as she dabbed her linen serviette at her mouth. “Yes, perfectly so.” She cleared her throat and rose from her seat, almost fumbling for the edge of the table. “I find I am in need of a walk.”

She left before either of them could make a reply, striding out into the corridor, one hand going to her brow.

How could she have missed this? How could it have happened in so short a time?

For pity’s sake, she had been ready to throw him out on his pompous backside and run him over with a family carriage when he’d shown up at Deilingh just the other day! She would have lumped him in with the devil and his demons without blinking at it.

Now she was breathless with love for him?

But of course she was! The man had changed so miraculously, had proven himself a worthy heart and loving soul. He had seen the error of his ways and brought himself low into the fields of suffering to find the true nature of himself and to rid his character of the vile stains it had collected over time. He had sacrificed the life he had known and precious time with his family in order to seek redemption and restitution. He had pushed himself into the darkness in order to be worthy of, and to find more clearly, the light.

How could she not love a man who would go to such lengths to remedy his mistakes?

But more than that, she found in him a soul filled with goodness, humor, and strength. He had opened her eyes, and she hadn’t known they were closed to begin with. It certainly helped that he was handsome, danced well, and seemed to know when she was ready to laugh, and joined her in it.

Elinor moved into the sitting room at the front of the house, settling herself in the window seat and tucking her feet under her as she looked about the room. This was the room where she had questioned Partlowe on the subject of mistletoe with the intention of making Hugh as uncomfortable as possible, or perhaps finding a way to turn the plant into a poison. He hadn’t been intimidated in the least by it, and it had driven her to complete distraction.

She giggled to herself now, leaning her head against the wall as she reminisced. He was still driving her to complete distraction, but in very different ways.