(Aurora's POV)
Eleanor was already inside when we reached the private dining room. She stood the moment I came through the door, and before I could say anything she had taken my hands in both of hers and was pulling me toward the chair beside her.
"Come sit here," she said. "Next to me."
I sat. She kept hold of my hand for a moment.
"I have to ask you something," I said, because I needed to know and I didn't see the point in waiting. "Does it bother you? That I was married before?"
Eleanor looked at me. Then she smiled - warm, genuine, with a flicker of dry humor underneath it.
"Darling," she said, "a woman who makes my son show up on time to dinner is already my favorite person in this family."
The tightness in my chest loosened. I hadn't expected that - not the warmth, not the com
