A Fiery Dalliance

XVII

"Those who are difficult to love, are difficult to love because they have gone through difficult things which have made them the way they are. What you need to do is to forgive, what they need is your love." Jeanette Coron

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XVII.              

Perrie and Lily both returned upstairs to change into their riding attire. Lily was ready first, and she entered Perrie's bedroom with a curious expression on her face as Perrie stepped into her riding boots.

"Do you think Mr Parish is sweet on you?" Lily pondered once the maid had left the room.

Perrie scoffed rather loudly. "Don't be ridiculous. Joe wouldn't know sweet if it bit him on the rear."

Lily smirked. "I meant Mr Edmund, Perrie," she clarified. "Though, of course, it is interesting that your mind would go directly to Joe when I mention affection."

"Do you want me to hit you? It really sounds as though you do," Perrie snapped impatiently.

Perrie knew that Lily was teasing her. This was simply a subject that Perrie disliked immensely. "No, I do not think that Mr Edmund is sweet on me," she bit back. "If I know Joe, he would have related all of my terrible qualities to his brother and is fostering an intense hatred of me within him as we speak."

Lily giggled. "Lord, I wish I were older. How I would love to attend Grandmamma's ball just so that I could watch it all."

Perrie rolled her eyes. "Be thankful you are only fifteen," she retorted. "Come on. Let us go and be dutiful tour guides for our guest and his evil twin."

Perrie and Lily were met by Joe and Ed in the foyer downstairs. The viscount's valet was also present, though he was in the midst of being dismissed as they had no need of him. Perrie and Lily were chaperones for each other, and they could fend for themselves without a servant.

Both brothers were standing beside each other, equally as tall and broad. Joe, whichever one he was, was no longer slouching as he had been at the table. Perrie paused on the last step to try and pick which one he was. She had to know. Surely, she had to know the face of the person she'd loathed for more than half her life.

Both Ed and Joe seemed to pick what Perrie was doing, and they stood beside each other. Their poses were identical, and Perrie was unsure if this was on purpose or not. Their hands were clasped in front of them, their shoulders squared and proud. They had both changed as well, and so Perrie could not rely upon what they had been wearing at breakfast to spot the difference.

Perrie stepped down off of the staircase and approached them slowly. Lily walked beside her, amused. There was, of course, the obvious difference between the two in Joe's deafness. But a bit of Perrie's pride wanted to be able to pick them without relying upon that.

As she approached, they both lowered their eyes so that they met hers. Their eyes were such a deep brown. It was a very warm, rich colour that Perrie had never really admired before as those eyes had always been accompanied by a snide remark. But both mouths remained closed as Perrie looked up upon their faces.

The eyes of the man on the left were calm, almost peaceful. He didn't smile at her, but his eyes were. Perrie was immediately brought back to the moment that she had sat before Joe on the floor the morning that he had discovered what she had done to his shoes and breeches. She recalled the look on his face, the look in his eyes that he had briefly allowed her to see as she had calmed him down. This man had never known whatever pain Joe had experienced that day.

For all his faults, and there were many, Perrie wasn't oblivious to there being more to Joe than he allowed anyone to see. But she had seen it for a moment.