a pleasant couple who seemed to be quite infatuated with one another, causing Joanna to sigh with envy she wished away.
Lord Elijah had been in mid-conversation with them, but now he was looking back and forth between his sister and the footman — the footman who had come to a halt right beside Caroline, and was now placing the bowl of soup in front of her with the utmost care.
“My lady,” he practically breathed, and Joanna wondered if everyone else could feel the air grow tense between them. She hoped that the scent of the greenery that lined the tables as well as the beeswax of the candles that were strewn through the room hid it all.
Maybe she just knew her friend better than most. Maybe no one else would notice anything was amiss.
“You there,” Lord Elijah called from across the table, and the footman looked around as though searching, until he seemed to realize he was the one being addressed. “Yes, you. What’s your name?”
“Thatcher, my lord.”
“Thatcher. Do you see something you like here?” He grinned, but the look in his eyes was one of knowing, one of suspicion, one she didn’t overly like.
Thatcher jolted upright at being addressed, as all of the eyes around the table suddenly turned toward him. As he did so, his tray tilted forward, the remaining bowl of soup upon it crashing to the tabletop, the floor, and spilling all over Caroline and Joanna, although Caroline suffered the worst of it.
“Oh!” she shouted, jumping from her chair as the brown soup now covered her cream silk gown. “It’s hot!”
“Here,” Joanna leaped up next to her, lifting their pieces of linen from the table and wiping the soup off Caroline’s skin.
“We’ll clean you up. Excuse us,” she said, curtsying to the table, before conveying Caroline out of the room as quickly as she was able, as Caroline’s father began to make apologies to the rest of the guests.
Joanna paused in the doorway, looking back just long enough to allow her gaze to rest on Lord Elijah. She narrowed her eyes at him, as he was already sitting back smugly, one arm resting upon the table as he sipped his drink and his soup.
Mature, indeed.
Chapter 4
“Out with it.”
Caroline whirled around, her skin clear of soup, clad in a clean gown. Joanna would have changed herself, but she had nothing else to wear — not if she was planning to remain here for the rest of the house party. A few soup stains, half blotted out with a piece of linen, would have to stay.
“What do you mean?” Caroline asked, widening her eyes as she attempted innocence, but Joanna was already shaking her head at her.
“Your lady’s maid is gone now, so you can tell me all. Has anything actually happened between you and the footman, or is this merely the two of you desiring what can never be?”
“It is… oh Joanna—” Caroline moaned, sitting down upon the bed next to her, taking her hands within hers as she bent over them in supplication. “I love him.”
“You do?” Joanna asked, slightly shocked at Caroline’s admission. To have a flirtation was one thing, but to be in love… “How did this happen?”
“I don’t even properly know,” Caroline said, throwing herself backward on the bed. “I was here all summer, and then when my mother and father went to London for a month in September, I remained with my brother and his wife, as she was due to have her third baby and I felt like I should stay with her. She mostly remained in bed, however, and my brother was busy, so I was on my own. Samuel and I just got to talking one day and… well, we got on rather well. I know it is shocking—”
Joanna gave a low chuckle. “Not really. I am the granddaughter of a seamstress — a seamstress myself now — and you and I have always been the best of friends. I’m sure Thatcher’s family is not that different from mine.”
“I suppose,” Caroline said, sitting up once more, leaning back on her elbows now.
“No one else knows?” Joanna asked, surprised how it could remain a secret if Caroline and Thatcher had been regarding one another with such open longing for any length of time.
“No,” Caroline said remorsefully. “No one. Except now you, and obviously Elijah noticed.”
“He most certainly did,” Joanna said wryly. “And now because of him, Thatcher might lose his position.”
“Do you think he would, truly?” Caroline asked, looking up