"Can you please release me? You are a very touchy man, and I did not expect it from you," Eloise said, waiting for Damien’s hold on her to end.

"What did you expect from me? For me to be cold, emotionless, or distant?" Damien asked and reluctantly moved his hands from Eloise’s waist.

"I wouldn’t go so far. You were a sweet boy to me, but now you are a very intimidating man. You give off the impression that you don’t want others in your space, and your aunt kind of confirmed it by stating you don’t want your cousins here," said Eloise.

"My aunt doesn’t always have control of her children. They have a habit of breaking too many items around the estate, and I am tired of the excuse that I have money to replace them all. As for others, I don’t like them in my presence," Damien agreed with Eloise. "But you are different. You are my wife."

"I am starting to get the feeling that you are making up for the physical touch you lack with others by touching me every chance you get. Should I be concerned?" Eloise jokingly asked.

"Whenever I offer my hand to you, you do not decline. I would say you like my touch just as much as I like your own," said Damien.

"I do not. I am polite not to decline."

"Liar, liar," Damien teased Eloise. "It is not good to lie."

Eloise folded her arms. "Are you saying that you never lie?"

"I do lie, but I am honest with you. I should have been clearer. You shouldn’t lie to me," Damien corrected himself.

Eloise shook her head. "Honestly, it is no wonder that so many townspeople are afraid to approach you. I truly am surprised now that I was able to convince you to be my friend in the past. Then again, you were so lovely as a boy."

"I was told I was awful," said Damien.

"You were not awful. Everyone wished for you to be as talkative as Quinn was. They should not have expected two siblings to be the same way. I would say they took your honesty as being rude, but you were being truthful about your feelings," Eloise said in defence of Damien.

"My little protector," Damien said, watching closely as Eloise put space between them.

"Very funny. All I am saying is, I do not like it when adults want children to follow their every word in situations where children are uncomfortable. I have been placed in the position one too many times. I respected my elders, but sometimes their requests were uncomfortable," said Eloise.

"I envy that you always dared to speak up," Eloise confessed. "I went along with it."

"You were always respectful, Eloise. All the adults loved you for it."

"I wanted to be well-behaved for my father. There was already so much weighing on his shoulders, so I didn’t want to add a daughter he had to be concerned about," Eloise said, reminiscing.

"After I lost my mother, so many people around us lacked faith in my future, so I wanted to be the perfect daughter for my father. No fussing, no bringing unwanted attention to myself, and staying quiet when I desperately wanted to speak up. It was frustrating," Eloise admitted. "But I wanted to prove I could be well even without a mother."

"You turned out quite well in my eyes. In this town of awful people, you turned out to have a good heart. Everyone who tried to claim you wouldn’t be well because you no longer had a mother were foolish people. I encourage you to say what is on your mind now. It is quite fun," said Damien.

"I’m sure it is for you. You like to see others squirm and ruin their day," Eloise said, shaking her head at Damien. "But I do intend to speak up. Staying silent only allows others to treat you poorly."

"Perhaps I would have been more open with my feelings had I continued to live in town and be your friend. Do you think that, as we got older, you would have stayed friends with me? You would not have been ashamed?" Eloise asked, wishing she could have stayed in town a little longer.

"What would I be ashamed of? You have entertained me more than any other lady could. I have never witnessed a young lady climb a tree as you did, and the fall was far more entertaining."

"I almost broke my arm. Since then, my father forbade me from climbing trees. Wait, weren’t you the reason I was in the tree?" Eloise asked, squinting her eyes as she suspected Damien. "I remember it now. You spoke of there being an injured bird."

"Don’t you want to see the will?" Damien asked, changing the subject. "I can get it for you."

"This is not over, Damien. I will have my revenge, but I want to see the will. We should take it to the court today to reveal that we are speaking the truth," said Eloise.

"Or, we can let your uncle present the will he made and reveal the true will after to make a fool of him. I have captured the man who worked on the wills, and before I send his documents to the court, I must confirm the will he presented to me is real," Damien said.

"I am eager to expose Clive, but your way does sound better. Now we must focus on obtaining a confession from Clive. That is the hardest part now," Eloise said and sat down on the bed.

Damien joined Eloise and sat down beside her. "You should celebrate the small victories."

"Believe me, I am very happy that we have a way to expose him. I am also truly thankful for your help. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you. I am merely thinking about the challenge it will be to get him to confess," Eloise shared.

"I assure you that he will be exposed for killing your father. Men like Clive, who aren’t used to taking someone’s life, are often riddled with guilt or feel haunted. We just have to spook him a little, and he’ll crack like an egg. Leave it to me," Damien suggested and held Eloise’s hand to comfort her.

"See, the touching. You cannot avoid it," Eloise said, but still she rested her head on Damien’s shoulder. "Thank you."

"Before I forget, I must tell you now that I agreed to tutor your cousins," Eloise revealed.

"You what? Eloise," Damien said, annoyed by the news. "You must tell her no. Those children do not listen. I will not have them here."

"I am going to your aunt’s home. They won’t bother you," Eloise promised.

"I would like my wife to remain in one piece. I will have to speak to them before you go," Damien decided.

"You will be kind, won’t you? Damien?" Eloise called and lifted her head from Damien’s shoulder to look at him.

"You shouldn’t know how they will be dealt with," Damien replied.