Chapter 318: Test [1]
"I’m going to stop here before I end up being the one knocked out and dragged from town. Have you settled on any balls you’d like to attend? Surely Eloise has received a few invitations she’d extend to you," said Zayne.
"Not at the moment. We’ve only had one, from the Countess. Did you not hear the rumours?" Iris asked, a flicker of nerves passing through her as she waited for his reaction. "Do you remember when I told you I once had feelings for Damien?"
"I try very hard to forget you once attempted to have my best friend court you," Zayne said, sitting up straighter. "Why? Are you starting to want him again?"
"My past feelings will never return, I promise you. Someone has been stirring gossip that there’s an affair between Damien and me, all because a maid caught the two of us speaking alone," Iris shared, her cheeks warming with frustration at the very thought.
Zayne’s response was to laugh. "Forgive me, but I simply cannot imagine either of you hurting Eloise that way. Truthfully, I can’t even picture the two of you courting."
"Neither can I. I cringe just thinking of it, and it troubles me that anyone would so carelessly disrespect her marriage. I swear to you, there hasn’t been a single day I’ve found any interest in Damien," Iris assured him.
"I’d never have thought there was any romance between you two. Though if Damien ever did fall out of love with Eloise, it’s only reasonable he’d turn to me instead."
Iris stared at Zayne as though he’d sprouted a second head.
"See, now I sound just as absurd as the rumours themselves," Zayne said with a grin. "Did he manage to find the maid responsible?"
"He did, though she denies everything she’s accused of. Is there anyone in your family who might act the way Camille has?" Iris asked, hoping desperately she’d be spared the same fate.
"My uncle can be a bit of a headache, but he’d never meddle. If it’s truly Camille behind this, it’s rather disappointing not only for her ties to Damien, but also for mine. I don’t like what she’s dragged you into," Zayne said, thinking of confronting her himself.
"You two are close, then?" Iris asked.
"Our families have always been close, though I’m closest with Damien personally. Perhaps I should introduce you to my mother since she’d have no trouble silencing Camille. I don’t think it’s really my place to go arguing with women," said Zayne.
"That would be kind of you, but it isn’t necessary. They’re trying to spoil Eloise’s name, not mine," Iris said, seeing no real need to drag his mother into it. "I’ll be fine."
"I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t enjoy being thought of as someone’s mistress," Zayne said, seeing straight through her composed exterior.
"No, I don’t. I already carry enough weight from my father’s actions without adding this to it. Enough of this talk," Iris said, rising to her feet, eager to shift the mood. "You’re meant to be courting me, remember? Making me fall in love with you. The season’s slipping away rather quickly. What exactly do you intend to do about it?"
"I brought you flowers," Zayne said, standing as well. "Isn’t that a fine start? I did also spot a rather lovely bracelet while I was out- hmm," he cleared his throat abruptly.
"While you were what? Is there a secret I must know about?" Iris asked, stepping closer, her curiosity thoroughly piqued now. "You get this particular anxious look whenever you’re up to something. Where exactly did you see this bracelet you suddenly can’t speak of?"
"I saw it in town, while I was out running errands," Zayne said, carefully avoiding her eyes.
"You’re not telling me the full story, and that’s rarely a good sign when you’re trying to convince me to marry you. I promise I can handle whatever it is you’re hiding. I- Reece?" Iris called out, startled by her brother’s sudden arrival. "My brother’s here. He’s rather early."
Zayne turned to get his first proper look at his future brother-in-law and frowned immediately. "That’s your brother? The man walking towards us now?"
"Yes. There’s no other man in sight who could be. Wait, do you know him?" Iris asked, glancing rapidly between the two men, sensing something amiss.
"I do not. He bumped into me recently. Either him, or some other man who happens to look remarkably like him," Zayne said, quietly hoping it wasn’t the same man at all.
But the moment he saw Reece’s expression change, he knew with certainty that it was.
"Please tell me your interaction with him went well," Iris asked, her nerves climbing with every passing second.
"I hold no ill will towards your brother, and he shouldn’t hold any towards me either. I merely offered him some advice. Perhaps it would be wise to put a little distance between us for now," Zayne said, stepping back from Iris just as Reece drew near.
"Reece. You’re unusually early," Iris said, moving towards her brother. "What trouble have you gone and found yourself in this time?"
Reece’s eyes settled on Zayne. "I’m not the one in trouble here. It seems that honour belongs to you, given how you’re acting so nervous. I finished tidying the house as best I could and came to see you. Who’s your companion?"
"This is Zayne-"
"The gardener?" Reece cut in before she could finish.
Iris shot her brother a sharp look. "Does he look like a gardener to you? I do worry sometimes about how little sense you have. He is an old friend of Lord Hawthorne’s, and the man I told you I’ve been courting. If you’d like to keep your only sister speaking to you, I suggest you play nice," she whispered.
"I always play nice. I met your friend recently, quite by accident, when I bumped into him. I meant to go back and apologise for my behaviour, but didn’t think you’d have cared for it then. Allow me to do so now," Reece said, extending his hand towards Zayne. "I’m sorry for how I acted."
"You’re forgiven," Zayne replied, accepting the apology graciously. He shook Reece’s hand and felt the deliberate pressure the moment their palms met.
Zayne only smiled and returned the grip with equal force.
Reece winced, his pride stinging further at the fact that Zayne’s knowing smirk never once fell.
Iris stepped quickly between the two men, prying their hands apart before things escalated further. "If you two intend to test whose grip is strongest, you’ll do it without me present. I’m going to join Eloise and Damien," she said, spotting the pair seated together on the balcony above.
Reece pulled his hand back, rubbing at his sore knuckles. "You should leave us be for a moment. Let us talk, man to man."
Iris shook her head, already walking away. "If either of you ends up hurt, you’ve only yourselves to blame."