Abandoned to the Prodigal - Mary Lancaster Page 0,42
“Hardly. They only declared me winner because no one was counting the scores.”
“You should still have a prize,” Dan declared.
“Then I shall have a peony from the garden. If you can still remember which that is.”
Dan grinned and walked off to return with a luscious, red bloom, which he gave to the countess to present to Juliet. After which, the servants brought out some freshly made lemonade, and everyone sat informally on walls and cushioned benches according to taste.
Juliet saw Mrs. Stewart sit beside the earl. She wondered if her mother noticed it, too. Mrs. Cornwell certainly did, for she looked as if she would like to drag her sister away by the ear. However, after only a few moments, Mrs. Stewart moved and sat on the wall beside Juliet instead.
“I heard about your trouble,” she murmured. “Allow me to say, you handle it very well.”
“Thank you,” Juliet said faintly. “I think.”
“Oh, yes, it was a compliment,” Mrs. Stewart assured her. Her eyes twinkled rather like Dan’s did. “I’m sure you’re aware I speak from experience.”
“Did you also handle it well?” Juliet asked. She hadn’t meant to. It just slipped out.
“No,” Mrs. Stewart said. “I ran away. I admire you for meeting it head-on. But then, you are innocent.”
Perversely, Juliet said, “You don’t know that.”
“Oh, I think I do. Tell me, did you lose a velvet ribbon?”
“A velvet…” Juliet broke off with sudden uncertainty. Did she mean Gun’s unconventional leash? “Not recently,” she said in a rush. “Why?”
“Oh, I am curious by nature. As, I think, are you.” She smiled amiably and rose. “Tabetha, do you think it is time we left these good people in peace?”
Tabetha looked anything but gratified to be reminded of manners by her scandalous sister, but there was little she could do except agree and stand up, opposing the polite objections of her hostess.
The carriage was summoned, and everyone trooped round to the front of the house to wave the visitors away. Juliet still clutched her peony, and halfway to the carriage, Dan suddenly paused and came back to her.
She smiled, about to offer her hand, but unexpectedly, he took the peony from herand began to thread the stem through her hair, reusing several hairpins to hold it in place.
Flushing under his ministrations, she murmured, “What are you doing?” For though the brush of his fingers in her hair was curiously pleasant, even exciting, she was very conscious of being in full view of everyone else.
“I don’t know.” His hands fell away, and his gaze dropped to hers, and then to her lips. Her heart gave a funny little lurch, and she couldn’t breathe. A reluctant smile flickered across his face. “I never know.”
Then he stepped back, bade a civil farewell to everyone else, and jumped up into the carriage.
“He is a little forward, that young man,” her mother observed. “But there, I daresay he is merely unconventional. Or would you say eccentric?”
“I’d say both,” Juliet replied. And the strange thing was, she wouldn’t have him any other way.
Chapter Ten
Since she had come home, Juliet had left the shutters and curtains in her bedchamber open, so that she was more likely to wake at dawn. When she opened one eye, it still seemed pitch dark, so she closed it again.
Only then, the unmistakable sounds of pattering rain filled her ears, and she sat up. It was dawn, but the sky was cloudy, and the birds were quieter than usual.
Drat the rain! She and Dan could hardly have their al fresco breakfast in such weather. In fact, he probably wouldn’t come, which was lowering. However, she would go as usual. If nothing else, she would have a good walk.
She donned an old walking dress, sturdy old boots, and her traveling cloak, then picked up the umbrella from the stand by the side door. However, the rain was relentless. There was little chance she would not get soaked and covered in mud.
The umbrella was useless in the woods, so she had to fold it up, but at least the trees gave some protection.
She saw him at the edge of the path, silhouetted against the lightening sky and the river. At least she hoped it was him, for he looked different hunched under the trees, his collar standing up and rain streaming off his hat.
Fortunately, he heard her coming and turned, and she immediately hurried on to meet him. Unfolding the umbrella, she reached up to hold it over him, too. He laughed and took it from her.