Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 257

Yvonne drew in a slow breath, trying to steady herself.

"It's probably someone from the estate," she said quietly. "Maybe they came to bring them back."

But the driver had already climbed down from the carriage.

He moved with the easy confidence of someone used to the place. Without hesitation he walked straight up behind Clarisse and slipped an arm around her waist.

Then he crouched.

A moment later his head disappeared beneath the folds of Clarisse's skirt.

Clarisse arched her back slightly. Her hips rolled forward, and her expression twisted into something that hovered between discomfort and pleasure.

Elspeth and Yvonne were both seasoned women. Neither of them needed a second glance to understand exactly what was happening.

The shock hit them both at once.

Their expressions changed, each more stunned than the other.

Clarisse seemed to notice something.

She lifted a hand and pointed toward the carriage.

The driver understood immediately. The three of them climbed into the carriage together.

Moments later the carriage began to sway. The movement grew stronger and more uneven with each passing second.

Yvonne's face darkened.

She lasted only a few breaths before turning away sharply, her cloak snapping as she spun. She strode back toward the path almost as if she were fleeing.

Elowen remained where she stood.

Her gaze drifted toward the western ridge.

The sun was sinking behind the mountains. Its deep red glow slipped between layers of drifting cloud, spreading softly across the jagged peaks and shadowed valleys.

The light had lost its harsh edge. What remained was warm and quiet.

It truly is beautiful.

Then hurried footsteps sounded behind her.

Elowen turned. Yvonne stood there, her face pale with fury. So she had seen everything.

In her previous life, Elowen had once come to this very overlook alone.

That time she had stumbled onto almost the same scene.

Back then she barely understood anything about the dealings between men and women. Even so, she had known what she was witnessing.

Something hidden. Something shameful. Something no respectable household would ever admit to.

Truthfully, it had not surprised her.

Her sister in law once told her that people romanticized noble houses far too easily. They believed that if a family carried an old name or scholarly reputation, then the people raised within it must surely be upright and refined.

But the larger the household, the easier it was for corruption to take root in places no one bothered to look.

The ugliness simply stayed buried.

And the family Clarisse came from had long since rotted from the inside. It still stood, yes. But only because the collapse had not quite finished yet.

Clarisse herself was proof enough.

The reason she had not married yet was not because no one wanted her.

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