Amy, who had been walking sedately at her father's side, holding to one of his hands, dropped back after a while and took Jane's hand. Jane smiled down at her. The child said nothing but walked gravely on. Fairfax, looking back after a minute to see what had happened to his daughter, was surprised to see her hand in hand with Jane. He failed to catch the eye of the latter, though. Her head was bent down toward the eldest of Dart's children.
"Papa, Papa," Amy said, pulling at his coat when they had all reached the folly at the lake, "may we swim from the island? Please, Papa. It is so much more fun there."
"It would not be polite to abandon our guests to quite that extent, poppet," he said.
"Don't consider us," Lady Dart said cheerfully. "All my family has a healthy disgust of water. My children have plans of climbing trees and shooting down at savages, I believe. And I imagine Jane and I are unanimously elected as the savages, since I am sure we will not be fool enough to venture off the ground. Wallace will be delighted at the excuse, of course."
"Quite right, my love," he said cheerfully, shrugging out of his coat and proceeding to roll up his shirt sleeves.
"Please, Papa," Amy pleaded.
Fairfax looked down at his younger daughter, who was staring solemnly up at him, thumb in mouth. She smiled broadly around it. "Island, Papa," she said.
He grinned. "The island it is, then,poppets," he said. "Let us go and load up the boat with towels and dry clothes."
Honor andSedgeworthwere already settling in one of the boats. Honor was arranging her favorite yellow dress around her and raising the matching parasol.
Claire was tugging at Jane's dress. "You come too?" she asked.
"No, sweetheart," she said, touching the blond curls gently. "I am not as clever as you. I do not swim."
"Papateachyou," the child offered.
"Aunt Jane is afraid to put her head underwater," Fairfax said. "Perhaps we should teach her by taking her out in the boat and throwing her into the deep water. But I think not. She might drown, and then we would not feel very proud of ourselves, would we?"
"Aunt Jane can watch us," Amy said, looking eagerly up at her father. "I want her to see me swim, Papa. May she come?"
Fairfax looked somewhat helplessly at Jane. She opened her mouth to utter a very firm refusal.
"Oh, do go, Jane," Joy said from behind her. "I do not know why I did not think of it myself. You are forever spending your time entertaining the children. It is time you had a chance to relax. And the water is beautifully calm for the boat this afternoon. Go on. I shall be savage enough for these children. They will enjoy the opportunity to shoot at me. Thank heaven for imaginary arrows."
"Yes!" Amy shouted, jumping up and down in a greater show of animation than Jane hadseein her before.
"Up," Claire was demanding of her, holding two arms skyward.
"Much rest from children Aunt Jane is going to have, by the look of it," Fairfax said. "And, Claire, poppet, I thought we decided at Christmastime that you do not have to be carried everywhere."
But Claire was in Jane's arms already and was not going to lose her perch without a struggle. She wrapped her arms around Jane's neck and laid one soft little cheek against hers.
"I can dive and swim on my back and my front, Aunt Jane," Amy was saying eagerly, clinging to Jane's skirt as Fairfax went in silence to load the boat and to pull it down into the water.
"It is going to be crowded," he said, "with one rower and three ladies. You sit very still beside Aunt Jane, Amy. And, Claire, don't move, poppet. Aunt Jane will hold you safe."
He was prattling, he knew. And he could tell from the look on her face that Jane was every bit as dismayed as he by the way she had been trapped into joining his family party. His palm still burned from contact with her hand as he had helped her into the boat.
Chapter Thirteen
"I suppose you wish you could go to Waterloo with your sketchbook and record the scenes of the battlefield for posterity,"Sedgeworthsaid conversationally as he rowed Honor out onto the lake.
She twirled her parasol and lifted her chin. "I did not ask you to bring me out here so that you might insult my lack of feminine charms, sir," she said.
He laughed. "That governess must have been a real chucklehead," he said. "Who could possibly be interested in an empty-headed female who is good for nothing but… flirtation? I would not wish to be within thirty feet of a woman with nothing between her ears but empty air."
"How delicately you do phrase your meanings, sir," said Honor, giving the parasol another twirl.
"I have never seen you so much on your dignity, Miss Jamieson," he said with a grin. "Have I offended you? I did not mean to. I meant to compliment you. I have liked you much better since discovering that you are a fraud."
"Well," she said, her tone somewhat mollified, "I did not bring you out here to listen to compliments either."
