9

The Courtship

They stood in the lobby in awkward silence. What Yves said rendered them speechless.

Ah! Bloody hell. He uttered a curse in his mind. Yves did not have to say that, really. Now, he does not know whether to hide his face in shame or to smile and pretend they did not just hear Yves introducing herself as Elinor’s future sister-in-law, suggesting that they will marry each other soon.

“Can you walk me through your estate’s garden?”

Colin was relieved that Elinor broke the silence between them. And even more so, he was glad that Elinor made the awkward atmosphere surrounding them disappear by asking him that.

“It is a pleasure,” He said, almost offering his elbow for her to link her arms around but Colin remembered she was not a sister nor a cousin of him, and the act, he figured, was done if both of them know each other very well.

At that point, he was reminded that he and Elinor were not that acquainted yet. They just met. But he makes it his goal to get to know this lady w