A few minutes passed before she placed the fork on the table, rising to her feet. Without a word to him, she turned toward the door.

“Miss Riverside,” he called, rising to his feet as well as she paused briefly in her tracks and turned to him. She was reluctant to look at him, he thought, the realization feeling like a stab to his chest. Swallowing, he said, “Is something wrong with Elizabeth?”

She shrugged, her gaze drifting to the wooden floor. “She's asleep. She has had a very difficult day with so much discomfort caused by the fact that she began teething this morning, I thought it best not to awaken her.”

The overwhelming urge to reach out and lift her chin up until he was staring into the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen, washed over him. It broke his heart to think that she was reluctant to look at him, choosing instead to stare at the floor like a mere servant.

But rather than reach out to her, Ethan heard himself say, “you are excused, Miss Riverside.”

She nodded, and he watched with increasing pain as she made her way out of the door without a backward glance his way.

Chapter Eighteen

"Mama!" Ellie squealed, a small smile tugging on the edges of Gretchen's lips as she stared down at the adorable baby who held her arms out to her. Lately, Ellie was the only thing that brought joy to her. With Ethan's rejection came a glaring sadness and no matter how hard she fought to get rid of it, she just couldn't. For a few days, she found herself contemplating severally, the thought of leaving London and returning to San Francisco, but one look at Ellie —with this beautiful smile on her face— and every notion of leaving London was wiped out. She adorned Ellie. She loved Ellie so much that she was willing to stay under the roof of the man whose love was now tearing her apart.

Reaching down, she lifted Ellie out of her crib and gave her a loud kiss on her red cheek. "Look who just woke up from her nap!" She teased, nuzzling against Ellie's neck. Ellie's happy laughter was more than enough to excite her. "Would you like a snack? Hm, Ellie?" She smiled, playing with the tip of Ellie's nose.

Turning to face the door, she walked out of the room with Ellie in her arms and made her way to the kitchen, the fear of running into Ethan, clouding her mind. With the awkwardness that now surrounded both of them since the night of the ball two weeks ago, she didn't look forward to running into him. Even seating in the dining room to share a meal with him became more difficult as the days progressed, but Ellie's presence seemed to ease the tension between them.