Cinderella (Faerie Tale Collection) by Jenni James Read Free Book Online

close enough to see your face and not looking from a distance and admiring your dancing. She is actually seeing and admiring you .”
    He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “And is Miss Ella Woodston admitting she is admiring me?”
    Ella blushed and looked down, their feet dipping and swirling through the grass of the orchard. “No. What a foolish thing to believe. I was merely stating the difference between the two.”
    “Ella?”
    “What?”
    “Look at me.”
    “No.”
    “Ella, please?” He slowly brought their steps to a halt.
    Her eyes climbed to his cravat and coat, with her right fingers tucked into his—and his other hand warmly on her waist. “Yes?”
    “Look all the way up, please. I would like to see your eyelashes.”
    “Cannot you see them just the way they are now?”
    “Against your reddened cheeks, yes. But I wish to see them with your lively eyes staring back at me.”
    She could not explain why, but all of the sudden her breathing grew more rapid and the overwhelming sensation of his nearness was completely new and unexpected. “I would rather not.”
    “Why?”
    “I do not know.”
    “Ella?” He let go of her waist and tucked his finger under her chin.
    Instinctively, she stiffened and pulled back.
    Quickly, he dropped his hand. “Forgive me. I did not mean to startle you. I would never force you to do something against your will. I hope you realize that.”
    She was such a fool. Why did she have to be so skittish? Ella nodded her head and then slowly brought her eyes up to his.
    He inhaled sharply.
    She did not know what he saw within them, but his own face took on a look of such sorrow.
    “Thank you,” he said. “You do not trust many people, do you? So, I thank you.”
    This was simply too mortifying. He could read her like a book. “I—I should probably go now.”
    John captured her hand before she could run off. “Please do not leave because of my impertinence. I must learn that you are not the same as the women at court. You are different.”
    Her heart went cold. “What are you implying?”
    “No, I did not mean it that way.” He cleared his throat. “I meant your manners are more pleasing, more fresh and natural. You have not mastered the artifice that many of the other women have.”
    Warily, Ella’s eyes traced his features. He seemed happy and earnest enough. “And this is something that is good—it is good to be different?”
    He sighed. “Yes! Yes, more than you could ever imagine. Oh, Ella, I get so bored with the incessant chatter of the court. The games and rudeness and constant tiptoeing about everywhere you go so as not to say the wrong thing to the wrong person who will construe it in completely the opposite of what you meant.”
    “Oh!” She laughed forcefully and then replied, “So, akin to what has been occurring with us at the moment?”
    “Yes.” He nodded and grinned. “Yes, it is like this, but it is like this all the time. With you, I know it is simply a cultural difference, something I must explain away so you understand what I truly mean. There—there it is a constant battle of confusions and loyalties and naysayers. Truth be told, it is simply exhausting.”
    She looked down at their entwined fingers. “So why attend court if you cannot abide it?”
    “I must. It is my life—my, er, situation as an outrider and special companion to the duke to be present everywhere he goes.” He nudged her hand, swinging it a bit. “Honestly, I would much rather be here with you than anywhere else in this kingdom.”
    Gasping, her eyes flew to his. “You would? But why?”
    His smile softened. “I do not know. There is something about you that tugs at me, though. Something safe and warm and easy. Something that makes me forget my future and all the silliness surrounding life and her trials. No, you are so very different from the women at court, that I find myself relieved and grateful to have reconnected with you again.” He brought her hand up and,