appeared to be.
Sophie said, "I think you should give the frog to Lucy."
Everyone looked at her for an explanation. "It would suit her - because of her name, of course," she added blithely. "And she'd be doing the world a favor. Bad enough having little Verderans without them having green skin and bulging eyes."
Lucy took the piece in a daze, clearly at a loss, and then they all prepared to depart.
Lord Templemore offered Amy another mount but she refused. The fewer high spirits there were today the better.
The ride home was uneventful. Everyone was content with a leisurely pace, satiated almost with excitement. The duke rode happily with Clyta, but the other couples were arranged for tact. Amy was partnered with Chart, who kept conversation light and impersonal, Sophie rode with Harry, and Lord Randal was using his considerable charm to soothe Lucy Frogmorton before she was returned to her mama.
Amy saw Harry look back at her with intensity once or twice, but he made no move to speak to her.
When they arrived back in New Street, however, it was he who came to assist Amy from her horse.
He kept his hands on her waist a moment longer than necessary. "I meant what I said."
"So did I. Please don't make things more difficult for me."
"So you admit they are difficult."
Amy pulled herself out of his hands and summoned a smile for the whole company as she thanked them. Then there was only the matter of giving a light account of her day to Nell and her aunt before she could find refuge in her room.
It seemed as if she had come out of a dream. It couldn't have been real - the barefoot romping, the passion, the kiss. But one thing remained. She did not want an old man in her bed.
Amy claimed to have developed a headache from too much sun and kept to her room the next day. Both Lord and Lady Randal, and Harry Crisp came to call on her separately and were sent away.
Amy tussled with what was right.
She was quite certain that she must not marry Harry. The pleasure to be found in that was too great when there would be so little for her family. But would it be a better thing for them all to suffer the straightened circumstances which they deserved - by inheritance if not from personal responsibility - or for her to marry Sir Cedric?
Amy was still willing to marry Sir Cedric and do her best to make him a good wife, but she knew now what she would be missing and how little she had to offer. Such an old man would not want passion, of course, but he would expect some warmth. Did she have that for him?
And, of course, Amy would have to give him what devotion she could under the eyes of his chilly son and saddened daughter-in-law, even as she grabbed as much of his money as she could get her hands on so it would all be worthwhile.
Amy's headache became a grim reality.
Chapter 14
She kept to her room the next day, too. Nell and Lizzie both fussed over her and discussed whether to send for the doctor. Amy assured them that was not necessary.
"Sir Cedric is expected back today," said Nell. "Will you not want to see him?"
"No," said Amy, a little more forcefully than she intended. "I mean... I really wouldn't be good company today. Apologize for me, please."
Lizzie came up with a tea tray in the afternoon and coaxed Amy into taking a little. "Been overdoing it, I suppose. But you must get your looks back before Sir Cedric cools down, dear. Most anxious to see you, he was. He seemed to want someone to go for a drive with him, so Nell went."
Get her looks back. Amy sat up and studied her reflection in the mirror. Good heavens, her beauty was fading. It was the pallor and the dark smudges beneath her eyes which were doing it. Perhaps she wouldn't have any choice as to whether to remain a spinster or not.
"And no sign of that duke," said Lizzie, "so it will have to be the banker, I suppose."
"If the worst comes to the worst," said Amy, "it won't be so bad to carry on as we were. In just a few years we'll be able to live in modest comfort."
"What!" exclaimed Lizzie. "Back at Stonycourt, living on potatoes, mutton, and chamomile tea. You must be mad!"
Amy retreated. "It's just