Page 14 of Match Made in Heaven (The Cricket Club #5)

Before Jack could offer another biting retort, Lady Amelia wrapped her arm around Ella’s and directed her down the hall without anything resembling a goodbye. Ella’s nerves relaxed when she realized it was not the same hall that led to the drawing room, meaning she still had time to make her exit.

But if Ella thought that Lady Amelia’s clutches would be weaker than Lady Evelyn’s, she was mistaken. She couldn’t get out of the older woman’s hold until they entered the library, and the lady deigned to set her free.

Though perhaps she should have asked the lady to prop her up once more, because the sight of the room was almost too much to take.

Ella’s jaw dropped as she lost herself in the grandeur of the library, in complete awe of the books hemming her in on all sides.

How many hours she would love to spend in this room, wandering through the titles, getting lost in all the worlds they represented.

But not today. Not ever.

And especially not now, while Lady Amelia’s brow was sinking lower and lower on her forehead the longer Ella stayed quiet.

Ella remembered herself. “Should we sit—?”

“Quiet,” the older lady barked. “I’ll let you speak, but you will listen first.”

The hair on the back of Ella’s neck stood to attention, and she had the odd sensation to steal Lady Amelia’s cane. Protection seemed mighty important at the moment.

“I heard you last night,” Lady Amelia began.

“I heard everything you told my grandson in his room. Oh, don’t worry.

I pushed the others away, wanting to give you privacy.

No one else heard your little confession.

” She bobbed her narrow shoulders. “I’m old.

I can listen to anything I want to. And my ears have never been better. ”

Despite the alarm pounding between Ella’s own ears, she smiled wanly. “So then you know—”

“I’m not done!” the lady snapped. “And yes, I know everything. And what’s worse, I know what you were babbling on to my other grandson about just now. Of all the stupid…”

Ella’s temper ignited. “I don’t understand. You don’t want me to tell them?”

The lady threw up her hand. “Of course I don’t! You’re the best thing to happen to this family in years. Misguided, perhaps, but still good.”

Dumbfounded, Ella felt her legs almost give out. “I don’t understand,” she replied, wobbling on her feet.

“Stop saying that!”

“I can’t help it!” Ella flopped onto the nearest couch, folding her arms like a sullen child. “I lied to you. I lied to this family. I didn’t mean to lie. It was all a misunderstanding. I never meant for this to happen.”

Lady Amelia’s eyes were glassy and opaque, eerily unreadable. Ella couldn’t decide if she was an ally or not. “And yet it did happen. So let’s keep it that way.”

Ella’s spirits sank. Just when she’d thought she had pulled herself out of this mess, someone just had to come along to yank her back in. And now she had a partner in crime!

Lady Amelia’s cane thumped over to the couch as she carefully took a seat next to Ella.

“You can’t hear it now, my dear, but there’s laughter in this house.

In the drawing room. My daughter is laughing again.

Those men,” she grumbled, “my nephews’ uncles…

They’re actually behaving like real people and not the vultures they are. ”

So that was who all those odd men were… Jack’s uncles? Or, rather, Lord Oliver’s uncles.

The lady’s hand was tiny and dry, riddled with veins and dark age spots.

She placed it over Ella’s. It was an awkward movement, certainly lacking warmth; however, Ella appreciated the effort.

“This house has been a tomb ever since my daughter’s husband died.

We thought Ollie could revive it, but then his engagement went sour and…

” Lady Amelia gave her an apologetic look.

“All that’s the past. The second you walked in here, everything changed.

And everyone felt it. Change. A new future for this old, tired house. ”

“But he doesn’t know who I am.”

The lady shrugged. “He also has a pretty sizeable bump on his head. Give him time.”

Lady Amelia wasn’t getting the point—or maybe she just didn’t want to. “But time won’t help him remember me,” Ella insisted. “He still won’t know me.”

The lady squeezed Ella’s hand, and what the woman lacked in compassion, she made up for with pure strength.

“Then make him know you. My grandson has led a very silly life these past few years. I allowed it because he’s been nursing a great hurt.

But that’s all over now. Ollie is not a fool.

He will see the accident as a sign to take his life more seriously.

To make better decisions. To start fresh. ”

Ella sighed. The weight that she’d rid herself of on the way to the house restacked itself on her shoulders. “But what if I don’t want to be someone’s good decision? I want to be someone’s love.”

Lady Amelia rolled her eyes, muttering something that sounded awfully like a filthy curse.

“Sometimes, I actually hate young people,” she said, releasing a put-upon breath.

“All right, fine. You want love, then make him love you. The man has just looked death in the face. For the next month, everything he looks at will be the brightest, most beautiful, and earth-shattering thing he’s ever seen. ”

“And?” Ella asked helplessly. “What should I do?”

“Make him see you.”