I shook my head. It was so much more than that. I had been cross with him, but it had been replaced with something much more difficult to quell. “I’m hurt,” I admitted.
“I should not have danced with Miss Digby at the ball.” He looked at his boots. “I understand now that I should have danced with you like I promised.”
Promised. My heart sank at the word. He’d promised me so much but had delivered so little. Ollie thought he understood, but he didn’t. I wasn’t hurt because he danced with Miss Digby at the ball; I was hurt because hewantedto dance with her. Because it was she who occupied his thoughts and not me.
“Please don’t be angry with me. I cannot stand it. What can I do to earn your forgiveness?”
When I didn’t answer, he sighed heavily and glanced around. “Do you remember the last time we were together in this garden?”
“Of course I do.”
He smiled. “You used to chase me through the hedgerows,” he said. “I’d run through the winding pathways until I lost you, and then I’d hide until you were near—”
“And then you would jump out and startle me to the sky.”
We both smiled.
“I miss those times, Hanny.”
“Me too. Things were much simpler when we were children.”
“Things are not so difficult now,” Ollie said. “We are older, it is true, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.” He stood and held out his hand. His eyes held a familiar twinkle.
“I am not going to chase you, Ollie.”
“No.” He laughed. “I am asking you to dance with me. To make up for the one I missed.”
The only dance meant for two people was a waltz, and that was practically indecent even in a ballroom.
“We should not,” I said, though I wanted to be in his arms more than he knew. “What if someone sees us? It could ruin both our reputations.”
“You never cared about things like that before.”
“There are a great many things I did not care about before. But again, we are grown and must act like it.”
“You are even beginning tosoundlike Damon.”
“If that is true, then your brother is wiser than I have given him credit for.” I patted the bench beside me.
Ollie begrudgingly sat like a scolded child. “Damon is a great many things, but he is notwise.”
“Don’t say that. Your brother has been kind to me.”
“My brother is opportunistic. Do not mistake that for kindness.”
Perhaps that was true, but he didn’t understand the whole equation. Damonhadused my situation to his advantage, but what Ollie didn’t know was that it was tomyadvantage as well.
Feeling guilty, I looked away and focused my attention on the lavender stalks blowing in the breeze. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the perfumed scent.
“I should not have said that.” He dragged a hand through his hair, mussing it. “I didn’t seek you out to quarrel.”
“Whydidyou seek me out?”
“To offer an olive branch.” He leaned forward and rested his elbow on his leg, bringing his gaze even with mine. “What would you say to a picnic?”
Time alone with Ollie? It was precisely what I’d longed for. “I would say that I like the idea.”
“Good. Because I have already proposed the idea to Miss Digby, and she’s looking forward to meeting my dearest childhood friend.”
