Chapter 6 Suspicion

"A horseback riding accident?" Emily asked, curious. "Are you well now?"

"I am." He replied.

"And your horse?" She asked again.

"Gil-galad? Yes, of course, you saw him on the night of the party didn't you?"

To her, his reply was as though he were reading lines from a play because of how abrupt they were. Emily wondered if Nicholas had been keeping secrets of his own, away from everyone in Middleton Valley. Yet judging from their outings today he was but a mere stranger to the townspeople for not a pair of eyes looked at them in suspicion nor were there voices that gossiped as they passed by. She would have to make her own inquiries about Nicholas Sutcliffe but having known the staff over at Mortimer House, it would cost her money to get information out of them and so Emily decided there and then that the first person she would ask once she got home would be Cecille. Surely everyone has a past, they do not want to get out and this includes her.

Nicholas placed his arms on one of the lower tree branches, shading himself from the warmth of the sun.

"The sun's getting warm," Emily said as she approached him, having also felt the heat of the sun intensify. "I thought you'd be used to the heat by now since you were a captain in the Navy."

"In my defense, I never wanted to be a sea captain," Nicholas replied. "I wanted to be a doctor."

She never thought of it that way, she thought men were drawn to a life filled with adventure but that was not his case. Not to degrade the importance of doctors and indeed they require a strong stomach for it, the thought of a Dr. Nicholas Sutcliffe was not alarming, to say the least. His life at sea had shaped him into the man he is today and that was all she accessed from her observation of him, direct and brash at times though not always. Her blossoming friendship with him has been nothing short of pleasant and she appreciated that. She was curious of him just as she was curious about whether or not he had secrets of his own. Emily thought she should stop using the word curious to describe her companion, it somehow felt invasive of his own privacy.

There was of course him looking down at her in the literal sense, but with a pensive look in his eyes as though he were penetrating her own thoughts and she did not like that. Emily did not like the thoughts of her inner mind to be found out by anyone, and that's why she never kept a diary of a journal with her, that was Elizabeth's way of doing things.

"Is Emily short for Emilia?" He asked.

"Yes," She replied. "Though I never liked it."

"Why not? It's a name fit for a queen."

He had a way with words, as though he were seducing her with his charms and surprisingly she did not mind. Yet why did she feel so confused as to the nature of their relationship? Isn't it right to think nothing of it for now but a mere friendship? She asked herself in thought.

"You shouldn't look down on yourself, Emilia, it's unattractive," Nicholas said with confidence.

"Unattractive in a woman?"

"Unattractive in anybody."

He was at least honest, or at least she thought he was. Emily sat on the ground, not minding the dirt that might stick on her clothes since she wore black all the time. All that walking pained her feet and so she took off her boots and stretched her legs. There was still dew from the cool weather the night before and so she spread her feet evenly on the dew-covered grass.

Nicholas noticed this and he bent down to sit beside her. Emily was always in awe of his tall frame, but she was glad that he did not have the need to hover over her by standing and watching her like her protector. She always thought that that was like a reflex in men to feel the need to watch and protect helpless women like a hawk and Emily was by no means helpless.

"You're awfully quiet today," said Nicholas, breaking the silence. "Anything on your mind?"

"There's a lot actually."

"Do tell," Nicholas said in reply. "I'm all ears."

"Well there are a few things that I've so far observed both near and far," Emily said, starting her list of observations.

"Go on."

"One, the Mortimers are an eccentric family, good people but eccentric." She went on. "Two, the staff at the house is just as eccentric as they are, and three..."

Emily blinked as she turned her gaze to him, he was waiting for the

"And three, you've been acting strangely since we first met and your manner shifted once we were out of the tea parlor." She said, unafraid, despite being alone with him in a place where no one can hear her scream for help. "And don't dodge the questions, please."

Nicholas sighed heavily as he straightened himself up from the ground. She saw that he was clearly thinking of what to say in reply to the questions, particularly the one that questioned his conduct. Perhaps he thought he would go unchallenged since he was the man, men she had the misfortune to meet were like that. Emily hears him clear his throat, hands in his pockets and his attention fully on her.

Emily swallowed, wondering if she would survive the day. It was wrong of her to provoke him and this certainly was not the adventure she had mapped out in either her mind or her heart.

"The Mortimers are Followers of the Son if you haven't figured that out yet, they're as strange as they come," He began. "Their servants have to sign an NDA never to speak of them despite having good relations with them."

"And you?" She asked, impatient for an answer but she kept it bottled up.

"I'm not obliged to answer any question that attacks my person, but if you ask for my forgiveness I will freely forgive you."

"It was an answer I was looking for not a testament to your person." She said, wanting to sound fierce but falling short.

"There are things about me you wouldn't want to know," said he, brooding as he inched closer to her. "That's the truth, and I wouldn't want to lose a friend."

It was the first in a long time that she had been struck by someone else's words. Deep down she had hoped that he was a good man, but his actions say differently. He should not be dodging the question, she thought but what did she know of him? He was a charismatic character she got along with rather well and made her feel comfortable while speaking. Emily thought she made the right decision in guarding herself against the outside influences that wanted to dominate her but that was never Nicholas' goal, had he been angry with her he would have easily overtaken her by now but he did no such thing.

Friend. That special word for someone who earned your trust without having to make anything out of it. She was surprised to know that she had earned his trust when she should not be especially since he showed her his special place. The other men were not interested in any friendship, they wanted to marry immediately and so Emily inhaled and exhaled, wondering what to say to him.

"I haven't thought of it that way."

"For someone who thinks a lot, you don't seem to." Nicholas smiled as he said this.

"That's not a fair assessment." She said in defense.

"How do you think I feel?" He retorted.

His words struck her again, no matter how hard she tried she was in the wrong and if she were as mature as she thought she was she would tell him that she was wrong. Emily had been too proud so she could not tell him so.

"I'm sorry," he replied when he should not have.

"No, I should be the one who's saying sorry." Replied Emily though her eyes were down at her bare feet.

Looking up at him, she noticed how his hair streaked with grey was more intact than it had been moments ago. Emily decided to get up from the patch of grass and face him trying to muster the confidence to solve the conflict between them.

"I did not seek to offend you, Nicholas." She said softly, or rather in meekness. "I'm just being indecisive, it's been a problem with me."

"I was that way too once," he admitted, brushing his hair to the back of his head. "The Navy knocked it out of me and taught me better."

She hoped his solution to her indecisiveness was not to tell her to join the Navy, Emily had already acclimated herself well in Mortimer House and she would miss the children dearly. The thought was a queer one since women were not allowed to participate in such barbarity or so she had grown up being told so. Dismissing the thought immediately, she wanted to make an effort not to overthink anything again, and the only way to do this was to talk.

"Let's start over again shall we?" She asked and he smiled once again holding out his hand for her to take.

Emily takes his hand in hers and glanced at each other.

"Emily Blakewell," said she introducing herself again.

"Nicholas Sutcliffe," he introduced himself in return.

Emily wore her boots and tied them up tightly so as not to loosen and cause her to slip while walking. Later, they returned to town for lunch, and afterward, he decided to show her Hawthorne Heights. She accepted this for it was only fair to see a part of the valley she had not been to yet and she wanted to meet Oliver Hawthorne the owner of the infamous estate.

Once lunch was over they took their time walking over to Hawthorne Heights, neither Emily nor Nicholas were in a hurry to get there and so they cherished the time they were able to spend with each other. There had to be a considerable amount of gossip about them at some point, it was still a small town after all with nothing to do but that; gossip.

They reached the pathway that would lead to the Heights but took their time as they decided. Emily glanced up at her companion, he was slightly tanned from all that time spent at sea but did not look gaunt in the slightest. Wondering what his secret was she now realized that she should not have pressed him to tell her what it was, patience was a virtue after all and she had lacked that the moment she demanded he not dodge the question. She studied the pathway before her, it was a long way still but there was time and the Heights was closer to Mortimer House as he informed her.

Emily questioned herself as to why it took her time to go on a stroll outside of Mortimer House when nearly everything about it was gloomy and foreboding.

"Can you see it?" Nicholas asked pointing at the house on the horizon.

It was still a tiny speck from where they stopped in their tracks but Emily could swear she saw the most beautiful house she had ever seen, it was rather small for a house on an estate.

"Yes, I can see it." She replied, covering her eyes away from the sunlight that was not as intense as it had been hours before. "It looks beautiful."

"It's why I want to buy out old Mr. Hawthorne." Said Nicholas as they started walking again.

Reaching the lawn of the house, they were exhausted and out of breath from their journey and so they stopped by the terrace to catch their breaths. Once they straightened themselves, Nicholas fished out a key from his coat pocket, slid the key on the lock of the door, and turned.

The door opened and he held out his hand for her to take, and without their knowledge, it could be said that it was the beginning of those dark rumors about both Emily and Nicholas.