“The Grayson’s hosted a welcoming party for me, to introduce me to the people in the area. It was wonderful to get to talk to people other than those here at the manor. One in particular has caught my eye, though I was careful to conceal that. He is a close neighbor of the Grayson’s, sharing a property line on one side with them. His name is Nathaniel Ryder. He’s intelligent and witty, well-traveled throughout other lands, and has a mysterious air about him that I am drawn to with the strongest pull I’ve ever known. There is also the fact that he is without question the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. Every woman at the party was eyeing him throughout the night, even Lady Grayson. He is magnanimous and enthralling in the utmost. His hair is as dark as night, and his eyes are a shade of green that I have never seen before—deep and spellbinding. His skin is pale, his features so exquisite that they might have been chiseled from marble by the world’s finest sculptors. From the first moment I set eyes on his face, I could hardly look away; I had to make myself do it, so as not to draw attention to my attraction to him, and since that blessed moment, I have not been able to erase the sight of him from my mind. He is without a wife, and I know that my mother and father have their sights set on me wedding into the Grayson family, but I have already entertained notions about becoming the wife of Nathaniel Ryder instead. I feel more for him after one night than I have for Giles Grayson in all the time I’ve known him.”
Claire’s eyes were wide and her heart was beating swiftly as she read, her forefinger and her thumb pulling at her lower lip slightly as the words entranced her. She couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened to alter Elizabeth’s feelings, which were obviously so strong for Nathaniel Ryder, when it was more than clear that Elizabeth had married Giles and become Lady Grayson.
She wanted to read more, but sleep had finally come upon her, and she yawned, feeling tiredness overtaking her. Promising herself that she would read more later, she set the diary on the nightstand beside her, on its spine, open to the page she had been reading, with the delicate ribbon left in the crevice of the pages. As she turned the light off and laid back in the pillows, she did not notice a gentle breeze that drifted over the pages, lifting and turning them one by one, as if some unseen hand were touching them. The cool air brushed over her cheek, and she stirred, opening her eyes a little to look over at the glass doors. She saw that they were closed, and she nestled her head into her pillow as slumber lulled her away from the world.