Honor and Desire (Gold Sky #3) - Rebel Carter Page 0,52
Seylah asked, cocking her head to the side. “What are you going on about, Florence?”
Her sister turned to look at Seylah over her shoulder. “Oh, just a little hopeful planning, but for now I’d rather discuss what’s put such a smile on your face.”
Seylah forced her lips to not erupt into a wide smile and she began to collect her tools together into her leather tool kit. “I think you might have an inclination as to who it’s about.”
“And it’s not a Mister Elliot Myers, now is it?”
Seylah rolled the toolkit up and tossed the small hand towel over her shoulder as she stood. “No, it’s not.”
Florence swayed on her feet, her hands throwing her skirts out in excitement. “Why I never thought I’d live to see the day. Did your little list help refine everything?”
“I, ah, actually never used the list.”
Florence pursed her lips. “But it was a good list. Why didn’t you share it?”
Selyah cleared her throat and picked up her shotgun. “I had meant to, but things became busy.”
“Busy?”
She nodded, pocketing her tool kit. “Yes, busy.”
“Does busy pertain to the passionate embrace I glimpsed?” Florence asked, coming forward in a rustling cloud of silk. “Because from my observation, I quite envy your type of busy.”
Seylah froze and swallowed hard. She hadn’t thought they’d had an audience when she’d given herself over to her desires. “You saw that?”
“We did.”
“We?”
“Yes, well, all of us.”
Seylah’s eyes widened. She prayed that did not mean the entirety of their family. If her fathers caught wind of what they’d shared, she couldn’t say how they might react. “Who is we?” She asked, playing for nonchalance and tapped her palm on the butt of her gun.
Florence circled a finger around the room. “Oh, get that look off your face. I only meant that Rose and Delilah were with me. We all ran after you when the dust from my little spat with Rose finally died down.”
Seylah let out a relieved breath and she doubled over, cradling her shotgun close. “Oh, thank god.”
“You thought I meant Papa and Daddy?” Florence pulled a face and waved her hands. “I would have given a warning shout if they had been with us.” She shook her head and gave a shudder. “They might have drawn and quartered August right then and there, especially the part where he picked you up? That was unbelievably passionate.”
Seylah lifted her head. “Unbelievably passionate?” she murmured weakly.
“Yes, but unbelievably passionate means utterly necessary and satisfyingly wanton. And get that look off your face, you look as though you might be sick, we didn’t stay long after that little move. Delilah marched us inside.”
Seylah straightened. “Praise the Lord.”
“Delilah is entirely too much a mother hen. She never allows any of us to have any fun.”
Seylah uttered a silent prayer of thanks for her sister. She would have to remember to make only the finest cake for Delilah’s breakfast tomorrow. August and Seylah had spent the better part of an hour together and there was no telling how much they would have seen if Deillah hadn’t taken her sisters away.
She cleared her throat, fingers tightening on her shotgun. “Flo, I need you to be a little less enthusiastic about yesterday.”
“But why? I think it’s so wonderfully romantic and passionate of you two to have a clandestine meeting.”
“Exactly,” Seylah said with a sigh and set her gun down on the table beside them, “clandestine is the perfect word for describing what it was. And do you know the definition of clandestine, dear sister?” she asked, gesturing her sister forward with a tired hand.
Florence rushed forward and lowered her voice to a hush. “It is a deed done in secret.”
“Exactly,” Seylah said, leaning forward and giving her sister a serious look. “But rushing in here and talking about it where anyone can hear is not clandestine. I need you to keep yesterday’s events away from our fathers’ ears. Can you do that for me?”
“You can count on me,” Florence pledged, holding up her hand in oath, “In the spirit of clandestine trysts, the region over!”
Seylah winced ,and held up a hand, silencing her sister. “Shhhh! Flo, please!”
“Right, right.” Florence held up her hands and gave Seylah an apologetic smile. “My apologies. I saw nothing, and neither did either of our sisters. I can assure you of that.”
“Assure her of what?”
They both turned toward the door to see their fathers standing in the doorway. They looked as if they had just entered the house and were still wearing