“I am sorry about that.” Mary stood up and moved to shake Edmund’s hand. After everything that they had been through together, it felt such an odd, formal gesture, but it was expected of them, and Iris was watching on. “I know it must be a surprise; I just hope that I can have a few moments of your time.”
Edmund could see the seriousness in Mary’s eyes which intrigued him massively. He would not have turned her away for whatever reason she had come for a visit; he liked her far too much for that, but now he was really intrigued. He could sense that this conversation required some privacy, which he was more than happy to comply with.
“Shall we go into my office? We can talk there.”
Iris was half disappointed to see the couple go because she wanted to know what was going on too, but she was undeniably pleased as well. It seemed that there was something positive going on between them, and judging by the way that chemistry circled around them as their eyes met, that was a good thing. She just had to take a step back to let it happen.
Mary kept her eyes fixed on the floor as she followed Edmund to his office. She knew that she should have spent a bit of time planning what to say because now that she was here, her mind felt blank. All she could concentrate on were the feelings that Edmund gave her when she was near to him. He heated her up; he made her stomach flap and tilt over, and she could feel that powerful magnetic connection to him growing stronger by the moment.
How was she supposed to act normally when he was overloading her with sensations?
“Here is my office,” Edmund said smoothly as he stepped inside his small room. As he did not think that anyone was coming, he had paperwork scattered everywhere. He was a little ashamed of himself, but Mary did not see it as a mess. She could only see it as intriguing and interesting. She wished that she had time to search through it all, to find out more about Edmund and what he did with his life. “I am sorry about the chaos; I am in the middle of working on a new deal at the moment ...”
Mary wanted to ask more about this, but she could not. This was not the time or place for that. She had something that she needed to say and wanted to say it. “Thank you for meeting with me,” she said quietly. “I do appreciate it.”
“It is absolutely fine; I am more than happy to spend time with you.”
“I saw Lady Victoria Hartmon today,” Mary blurted out without thinking too much about it. “She spoke to me.”
Edmund bristled; he did not like the idea of Victoria being anywhere near Mary. She was toxic; she was angry, and she wanted to destroy him. He knew that she was doing all that she could to take him down. If Victoria had gotten to Mary just after they had sorted everything out, then it would crush him ... but if that had already happened, then he did not know what he could do to stop it now.
“What, erm ...” Edmund coughed and made an awkward sound. “What did she say to you?”
“She told me that you are horrible and that I should not marry you.” Mary smirked at the irony of this statement since they were not getting married at all ... much to both of their dismay. “She said that you tried to ruin her, but of course, I told her I knew that was not the truth at all.”
Edmund’s spirits lifted as he heard that. Not only had Mary not been sucked into Victoria’s spiteful web of lies, but she had also stood up for him as well. As he looked at her proud expression, even more feelings flooded him. He liked her, everything about her, and he could not shake that even when it seemed that nothing was going to go his way. He could not help wishing that everything was different and that he was back to the place where he and Mary were actually planning a wedding.
It was a shame ... a shame that it had all come far too late.
“Well, I do appreciate you doing that for me,” he said kindly, trying to push all of his emotions down. “It means much to me.”
They both sensed that there was a whole lot that needed to be said between them but that there was not much point in saying it, not when nothing had changed. Charlotte was still in danger, Mary did not feel ready to leave her yet, and much as Edmund wanted to push her into what she wanted to do, he knew that he could not.
If he wanted Mary, the woman that he just knew he was in love with, then he would have to be patient and hope that one day things changed.
As Mary faced Edmund with nothing else to say, she wondered what on Earth had made her come to his home. That was pointless; it did not change anything, and she should have kept the information to herself.
“I am sorry.” She pushed her chair back and stood up as redness tainted her cheeks. “I know now that I should have written to you with this; I guess I just did not want you to hear about my meeting with Victoria from someone other than me. We both know how vicious rumours can be.”
Edmund knew that it was time to let Mary go, but he could not just yet. He stepped closer to her and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face, and he stared deep into the pools of her eyes. She was so beautiful that she made him feel absolutely swallowed up by love. It was all that he could want and more.
Then, before either of them knew it, and neither of them could stop it, the magnetism had pulled them together, and their lips had connected once more. Their lips connected rapidly, and they were kissing like there was no tomorrow. There was so much more at stake this time; the kiss was even more taboo than before which only made it even more delicious for the pair of them. They were trapped together, encased in their own little bubble where they could express their true love for one another for just a brief moment. Reality wasn’t in the way, and there was nothing telling them that this was a bad idea – no rules, no expectations, no commitments. It was just them two, and it felt incredible.
I don’t want this to end, Mary thought strongly. I wish I could just stay here and be with him. If only it were that simple.
Of course, all good things could only last so long. Soon they had to pull apart once more. Despite the fact that neither of them felt quite ready to. This time, they both hoped that although it felt like the very last time, it wouldn’t be.
“I have to go,” Mary whispered. “My sister is outside waiting for me. I shall ...” She looked up at him questioningly, but Edmund did not know for sure what he was supposed to say, so he said nothing. “Goodbye, Your Grace.”
“Yes,” Edmund whispered sadly. “Goodbye, Lady Roberts.”
They shared another look, one that only filled him with even more determination than before. He had to do whatever it took to help Mary. He was more than happy to help Charlotte too. He had an idea, it was something that he had been working on for a while and just needed to pull off.
If he did not manage to, then his chance to be happy with Mary would be gone forever more.
Chapter 27