A Solemn Promise

VII

But her answer vexed him. Well. Was that all she could say? Was that all he deserved?

Grace focussed her stare at the ground in front of him, her shoulders rolling forward in a way that closed herself off. There was a sudden coldness to her, which was a word that he never would have used to describe the Grace he had known.

She truly did mean every word in that letter, and nothing had changed, not even after all this time. What he had been expecting, Adam really didn't know. But he couldn't stop himself from wanting to just speak to her again.

But this was the result. What had he done to deserve this?

"I am well, too. Thank you for asking," he said facetiously, and without thinking.

She looked up again, her eyes flashing to his as they narrowed. There was anger there, fire, and he could see something in her. She was holding her tongue, but she felt something. If it was anything other than an apology, he couldn't understand it.

Grace took a deep breath, then, and she calmed herself, composed herself, regaining the focussed coldness of a moment ago. Adam didn't like this about her. It annoyed him, really, that she had the nerve to be this way.

"Footmen see to the gentlemen," Grace then murmured. "You should have no need to speak with me. I am but a housemaid, so I am of no consequence to you."

Adam felt so shocked at her words that he needed to take a step back, feeling as though she had pushed him herself. "Really?" he repeated, his voice little more than a gasp. "I never imagined you to be a rude person, Grace. How things have changed." His teeth clenched.

"Rude?" retorted Grace, with as much resentment in her voice that he had ever heard. But she said nothing further. Once again, she swallowed her tongue and regained her composure, seemingly determined not to answer for herself.

Adam realised Grace would not apologise. She would not right the wrong she did him, and he was a damned fool to be standing in front of her, waiting for her to make it right. She wasn't his friend, and she certainly was not anything more than that.

What came next, Adam was not proud of. He did not like that he had been so determined to injure her in that moment, but it was as if he could not control his own tongue. "I am engaged," he said, in such a spiteful tone that he never knew he had. "Won't you congratulate me?" It was utterly ungentlemanlike, but he simply couldn't help it.

The blood drained from Grace's cheeks as shock spread across her face as she heard the news. She, again, said nothing, but the damage was done, and somehow, in some deep, horrid part of Adam that resented Grace Denham enormously, it made him feel better.

Adam turned on his heel and left her there, fuming as he walked. Lord, he was furious with her, and he knew that he would be angry at his own behaviour in time. But today was not that day.

Adam descended to the second floor and emerged out into the hallway that housed the family's bedrooms. After checking on Jack to make sure that he was still sleeping soundly, Adam knocked on Susanna's door, entering after he heard her soft greeting.

Susanna's bedroom was in disarray. Every possession that she owned seemed out on the floor as she organised what to put away in her trunk. The wardrobe doors were open and there was clothing everywhere. Some of the dresses Adam could remember Susanna wearing when she was a child.

"Why don't you ring for a maid to help you with this?" Adam asked her, before immediately chastising himself. What if Susanna followed his advice and Grace was sent to assist? He would certainly be making himself scarce.