The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) - Kiera Cass Page 0,4
hurt?”
“No,” I sputtered out, already shivering from the chill of the water, “but I seem to have lost my shoes.”
Jameson looked down at my stockinged feet and burst out laughing. “We shall have to fix that, won’t we?”
There was laughter all around now that I was fine, and Jameson took off his coat to wrap it around me, keeping me warm.
“Back to shore, then,” he ordered, still smiling. He held me close, looking deep into my eyes. I sensed that in this moment—shoes gone, hair a mess, soaking wet—he found me irresistible. And yet, with my parents just behind him, with a dozen demanding lords hovering nearby, he was forced to settle for placing a warm kiss on my cool forehead.
It was enough to send new waves through my stomach, and I wondered if every moment with him would feel like this. I’d been dying for him to kiss me, hoping every time we got a brief second to ourselves he’d pull me close. So far, though, it hadn’t happened. I knew he’d kissed Hannah and Myra, but if he’d kissed any of the others, they weren’t telling. I wondered if his not kissing me yet was a good sign or a bad one.
“Can you stand?” Delia Grace asked, bringing me back to the moment as she helped me onto the dock.
“The dress is much heavier when drenched,” I admitted.
“Oh, Hollis. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall!” Nora exclaimed once she climbed off her own boat.
“Nonsense! It was my fault, and I learned a very valuable lesson. I shall only enjoy the river from my window from now on,” I replied with a wink.
She laughed, almost looking as if she did so in spite of her better judgment. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes. I may have a runny nose tomorrow, but I’m right as rain, and twice as wet. No hard feelings. I promise.”
She smiled and it felt genuine.
“Here, let me help you,” she offered.
“I’ve got her,” Delia Grace snapped.
Nora’s smile instantly faded, and she went from looking quite pleased to unimaginably irritated. “Yes, I’m sure you do. Seeing as you never had a chance of getting Jameson’s attention on your own, holding on to Hollis’s skirts is the best a girl like you could do.” She raised an eyebrow and turned. “I’d keep my grip tight if I were you.”
I opened my mouth to tell Nora that Delia Grace’s situation had never been her fault. But I found a hand on my chest, stopping me.
“Jameson will hear,” Delia Grace said through gritted teeth. “Let’s just go.” The heartbreak in her voice was unmistakable, but she was right. Men battled on open fields; women battled behind fans. I held on to her with a firm grip as we made our way back to the castle. After so much abuse in one afternoon, I wondered if she might retreat into solitude the next day. She’d done that often when we were young and her heart couldn’t bear to hear another word.
But the following morning, she was in my room, wordlessly pulling my hair into another intricate design. It was in the middle of this that a knock came at the door, and she opened it to an army of maids bringing in bouquet after bouquet of the first blooms of spring.
“What exactly is this all about?” Delia Grace asked, directing them to set the flowers on any open surface they could find.
A maid curtsied before me and handed me a folded note. I smiled to myself as I went to read it aloud. “‘In the event you have caught cold and were unable to venture out into nature today, I thought that nature ought to come to its queen.’”
Delia Grace’s eyes widened. “Its queen?”
I nodded, my heart racing.
“Find my golden dress, please. I think the king deserves a thank-you.”
Three
I WALKED DOWN THE HALLWAY with my head high, Delia Grace just behind my right shoulder. I met the eyes of older attendees at court, smiling and nodding at them in acknowledgment. Most paid me no mind, which wasn’t surprising. I knew they felt there wasn’t much point in them getting attached to the king’s latest fling.
It wasn’t until we approached the main hallway to the Great Room that I heard something that set me on edge.
“That’s the one I was telling you about,” a woman whispered loudly to her friend, in a tone that made it impossible to mistake the words for praise.