“I am free to do whatever I wish, am I not?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
“Certainly,” he answered with far too much cheeriness which only raised her defenses. “But not when such activities include Dorothea.”
Catriona gave herself a moment to think of a valid excuse but then decided that the truth would be the best option. “I thought it would be a good way of bonding with her. And Dorothea seems to enjoy it which is all that matters at the end of the day, isn’t it?”
“The last thing I want is for her to pick up any bad habits that would not be deemed proper for a lady of her stature.”
“Oh my, I didn’t think gardening was such a sin, Joseph. How could you even stand to look at me?”
Her blatant sarcasm didn’t appear to anger him the way she thought it would have. He only regarded her silently for a moment before saying, “You can do whatever you wish with your hour, and if you wish to sit in the sun and the earth and dirty your hands then by all means.”
“You haven’t even asked what we were planting here,” she pointed out.
“Does it matter?”
“To Dorothea, yes.”
“Fine, then,” he conceded with a sigh. “What were you two planting?”
“It’s a secret,” she told him with a smile before she turned and walked away. The groan he let out behind her made her laugh.
“At this rate, I think you are purposely trying to upset me.”
“Oh, no, Joseph, I would never do such a thing,” Catriona protested with far too much emphasis which only made him narrow his eyes at her and her laugh. “Why don’t you ask Dorothea yourself if you are so curious?”
“You have left me no choice, it seems.” He sighed. Then, after a few seconds of them walking in silence he said, “It is I who should apologize.”
Catriona frowned at him. “For what?”
“I should not have been curt with you. Though that topic is certainly not one I wish to explore, I should have given a far kinder response. You deserved that after all you have done for me. And I do not think I thanked you for caring for me during my sudden illness. God only knows how much worse it could have been if you hadn’t been there.”
“I only did what anyone else would have had they been in the same position.”
“There are not many who would stay up for two nights nursing their cold, standoffish husband through their fever.”
“Oh, so you are aware that you’re cold and standoffish? That’s good to know.”
He took her hand suddenly, and her knees nearly buckled. Somehow, she managed to face him with a decent modicum of coolness, trying not to show how much his touch affected her. He stared into her eyes, only a hairbreadth of distance between them.
“Thank you, Catriona,” he murmured softly, so close she could feel the brush of his breath against her lips. “You have my sincerest gratitude.”
“You’re welcome, Joseph.”
He should have moved away. Catriona knew that, and she was certain that he did as well. There was no reason for him to be this close to her, for him to hold her hand like this, for the tension smoldering between them to grow this thick. There was no reason for his gaze to drift to her lips and for him to brush the pad of this thumb against the back of her hand in a tender motion that shattered through her walls.
But as soon as that traitorous thought crossed her mind, the one that sent a flush of heat racing throughout her body, Joseph stepped away. She watched the emotions that had been seeping through his eyes dissipate before she could decipher them. She felt cold all of a sudden.
“This reminds me,” he said before she could pull her mind away from the fog in time to think of what to say, “we have another lesson to do.”
“Now?”
“Now,” he stated with a nod. And then he gestured for her to take the lead. Catriona did just that, even though she didn’t know where she was going. She was just happy to be walking in front of him, so he wouldn’t notice the utter mortification consuming her.
The situation was certainly dire, she confirmed to herself. And if she wasn’t careful, she was at the risk of falling for the man she could never have.
CHAPTER 17
“No, Lord and Lady Hampton rarely leave their country seat. Lord and Lady Hampshire are the ones you should be very aware of. They hold considerable influence amongst the ton as one of the oldest, and largest, families in London.”
