“I cannot think of anything else.”
Edmund must have announced the next hymn, for suddenly everyone rose. Harriet and Jeremy were left sitting for a moment until they caught up. Jeremy boldly risked a flashing kiss on Harriet's lips, disguised by the forest of people standing around them, eyes fixed on their hymn books. It lasted a mere cluster of heartbeats but felt as though it went on forever. He stood, looking down at her with a bemused expression. Flushing, she hid her face away.
My emotions are like wool after a kitten has been among them! How does he do this to me? I must gain some measure of control. I wish to enjoy my freedom while it lasts, not simply fall under the spell of a rake.
After the service, they filed out with the other parishioners, exchanging a few words each with Edmund, who had taken his position by the church door once more.
“Would you care to join me for tea?” Edmund asked when they reached him, “a small number are heading over to the vicarage, on the other side of the village. My housekeeper will be there to welcome you while I change out of my uniform.” He smiled boyishly, plucking at the cassock that he wore for services, “Lord and Lady Sutton will be in attendance. Sadly, their business in town meant they could not be here for the service.”
Harriet beamed brightly, sharing that joy with Jeremy, vindicated in her plan.
“We should be happy to attend. Thank you,” Jeremy said with a bow of his head.
They moved on, walking through the churchyard to the lychgate. Edmund had given them directions, including a shortcut skirting one of the fields on the outskirts of the village and cutting through a wood that adjoined the vicarage.
“I presume you would wish the shortest route, the quickest to be done?” Harriet asked as they walked.
“I would prefer the shortcut, but only because I prefer natural scenery to village life,” Jeremy replied.
“An artist's eye?”
“I am no artist.”
“Not yet perhaps.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Not ever.”
He offered his arm, and Harriet took it. The man was as layered as an onion. Just when she thought she had reached a soft center, a tougher skin beneath was revealed. His mood went from serious to playful and back without warning.
Mercurial is not in it. He makes quicksilver seem slow.
They walked out of the village, along a shady lane, and over a stile to walk along the edge of a field of green-stalked barley. Another stile took them into the deeper shade of a wood. The path was barely visible beneath the fronds of tall ferns. The noises of the village faded, screened out by the trees and the undergrowth. They might have been walking in a deep forest, miles from human habitation.
“The light here is remarkable,” Jeremy murmured in awe.
“And you claim not to be an artist?” Harriet smiled warmly.
He scowled, looking down. “An artist is a master; I cannot even claim amateur knowledge. I have merely remembered the things my great-grandfather used to say.”
Harriet put her hands on her hips, rounding on him.
“Why is it so difficult for you to admit to an interest in something that is not your dratted opera house? Or being a rake like my brother's other friends. I remember them and their exploits.”
“Because I will not live with the knowledge that I was always second best behind another of my family,” Jeremy shot back.
“Perhaps you would not be second best if you tried.”
“Or perhaps I would be worse than second,” he retorted. “I know where my skills lie and where my name will finally be made.”
Harriet did not know what it was that made her so angry at him. Was it simply that she did not like to see wasted potential? Or did she care more than she realized for this man and wanted to see him doing the best he could? He gave as much fire as she, eyes blazing.
“Perhaps you would excel, achieving more than even your great-grandfather,” she pressed.
He shook his head stubbornly. “Come, we have a tea to attend with the vicar and the Winchesters.”
He strode past her, and Harriet caught his arm, pulling him around. But she tripped on a stone concealed by the thick undergrowth, her ankle twisting painfully. She fell, clutching at Jeremy to arrest her fall, but only succeeding in bringing him down with her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
