Ned shuffled into the room, shut the door, and leaned against Emma’s desk. “I imagine you enjoyed your brief period of freedom.” “Did you have a good weekend?” she inquired. You look quite refreshed.”Įmma, who was lying on her stomach with her right cheek pressed into the bed and her arm twisted over her head at a somewhat unnatural angle, raised her eyes skeptically and realized that he wasn’t being the least bit sarcastic he appeared quite distracted, and she doubted he’d actually taken a good look at her. “Did you have a good weekend?” At her weary nod he continued. “Hello, Emma.” Ned opened the door and poked his head into the room before she had a chance to answer. Or until someone knocked on her door ten seconds later. It hadn’t occurred to her how tired she really was until she fell onto her bed and realized that she wasn’t going to get up for at least another week. The bumpy ride back to London hadn’t helped. The entire weekend had been emotionally draining, between her intimate encounter with Alex, her great realization that she loved him, and her inability to see him after that.

When they arrived back at the townhouse in London, Emma breathed a sigh of relief, swore she’d bring a book on the next long trip, and dashed up the stairs to her room. Emma stared out the window, resigning herself to a ride devoid of intelligent conversation. The moment they were on their way, Belle opened her Shakespeare, Henry pulled out some business papers, and Caroline went to sleep. Alex, tired from his treks the previous day and unaware of the Blydons’ plans for such an early departure, slept quite late and missed Emma altogether.Įmma only sighed at his absence and helped herself to a hearty breakfast.Įugenia and Sophie had already made plans to remain at Westonbirt until midweek, and Alex had decided that he couldn’t very well leave with all of the storm damage to attend to, so Emma and her family had a carriage to themselves for the return trip. Henry had an important meeting with his solicitor that afternoon which he declared he could not miss, and so the entire family left fairly early in the morning. She didn’t see Alex the next morning, either. On the other hand, it was fortunate that she ate one of the apples while she was perched high in the tree because she certainly didn’t eat anything that night at dinner.

Splendid by Julia Quinn