himself a mug. “I hope you haven’t cornered me in order to ask if I’ll place a bet for you at Ascot.”
“It was one time,” Ammie said with a huff. “If you had granted my wish, we would have had winnings to split. I promised I would share.”
“Only because you knew Mother would kill me when she found out. Then you wouldn’t have to hand over a single shilling.”
Ammie grimaced and clutched her stomach.
His heart jumped into his throat. “Are you in labor?”
Ammie shushed him. “You will upset Phillip. The baby is kicking again.”
Julius’s alarm ebbed. “An active one, eh? Mother would claim it’s the Danish blood.”
“Maybe she is right. I am beginning to worry my child will take after his Uncle Hugh,” she said. “I thought the boy would mellow with age.”
Julius glanced over his shoulder to observe the scene in the other room. Their twelve-year-old brother was hopping on one foot and waving his arms to gain Ammie’s husband’s attention. “He is still obsessed with the major, I see.”
“Phillip is very patient with him. I don’t know how he bears it. All those questions about the military… They are never ending.” Ammie’s favorite spaniel, Mr. Perkins trotted into the room and sat at her feet. She broke off a piece of a biscuit and fed it to him. “I noticed you changed the subject. Why are you different with Lady Hadley? And don’t bother denying it. Your face becomes all soft when you look at her.”
“It does?” Julius touched his cheek. “Faith, did anyone else notice?”
Ammie shrugged. “No one has said anything to me, but they weren’t prohibited from going on the ice. I had little to do besides pay attention.”
Julius should deny her claim, at least until he sorted his feelings for Bess. In his family, secrets were as real as unicorns. They didn’t exist. But it was Ammie. If anyone would understand, she would. Besides, he wanted to confide in someone.
“I think I love her,” he whispered, “but it’s too soon. Isn’t it too soon?”
“I had the same worries about Phillip.” Ammie placed her mug on the sideboard and held her lower back with both hands. “Who falls in love in a matter of days? It is madness.”
“It could just be a strong attraction,” he said.
“You’ve been attracted to ladies in the past. Does it feel the same?”
“No,” he murmured. “Nothing has ever felt this way. I want to be with her all the time. Am I losing my mind?”
“If so, I lost mine around the same time last year.” His sister met her husband’s eyes and smiled. “My heart knew the truth before my head. You don’t need your little sister telling you what to do, but you might want to listen to what your own heart has to say.”
He would be a fool to ignore her advice. Major Rowland adored her. There was no other reason he would tolerate Hugh firing questions at him that he’d answered a hundred times already.
“For my second act of kindness,” Julius said, “I will rescue your husband.”
“You are destined for sainthood, dear brother.” He didn’t miss the touch of irony.
Julius snatched a needlepoint pillow from a rocking chair as he returned to the drawing room. “Hugh, come here. Let’s play a game.”
He instructed his brother to stand in the middle of the room. “I will throw the pillow to Clive, and if you miss it, Major Rowland will give you orders.”
“What if I catch it?”
“If you catch the pillow,” Ammie’s husband said, “I will allow you one question.”
Hugh liked the idea and threw himself into the activity, and sometimes onto the floor. When William, three years Hugh’s senior, joined the game, Julius couldn’t hear anyone over the racket the boys made.
Ammie motioned to her sisters from the doorway.
Laurel raised her voice to invite Bess and her cousin to follow. “It is quieter in the dining room.”
The ladies retreated with their chocolate and gathered around the table. Julius’s attention strayed to the adjoining room. Ammie was asking Bess a question. When Mercedes took over the interrogation, Laurel and Ammie shared an enigmatic smile. The twins were plotting something. They had a knack for communicating without saying a word.
If his sisters were spying to report back to Mother, they were wasting their time. Their parents were aware he was considering a proposal, although he hadn’t revealed that Bess could be with child. Why should he? It was no longer a determining a factor. He’d fallen for her with a speed