Joseph saluted the sisters with a chuckle as he left the room, picking up the bouquet he’d made earlier this afternoon as he went. He made his way up their bedchamber where, as he expected, Catriona was sitting at her vanity table, twirling a tight curl around her finger. Her eyes locked onto him in the mirror, and she twisted to face him.
“Joseph! Perfect. Come here for a second, won’t you?”
“Is something the matter?” he asked, approaching her from behind, holding the bouquet behind his back.
She faced the mirror again, frowning. “Do you think my hair looks a bit… overdone?”
“Overdone?” His lips twitched. “I didn’t think that was possible.”
“Of course, it is. I have far too many curls and far too many pins in the back of my hair. I am getting older now. Perhaps I should let some of my hair down. What do you think?”
“I think I have never seen you care this much about your hair before.”
She scowled at him. Truly scowled, which wiped his smile off his face. “So, you think I am being melodramatic.”
It wasn’t a question. “Of course not. I am only wondering why it matters to you so much.”
“Shouldn’t it?”
“If it does to you, then it does to me.”
Her scowl only deepened. Clearly, he hadn’t said the right thing. “How convenient of you to know how to say the right thing all the time.”
“Would you rather I say the wrong thing?”
She thinned her lips. Then she sighed. “Oh, forgive me. I am being rather crabby, aren’t I? I don’t mean to, I just…”
Joseph knelt by her side, taking her hand. Catriona immediately twisted to face him. “Just what?”
She sighed again before shaking her head. “It’s nothing.”
“It isn’t nothing. If it’s bothering you, then it couldn’t possibly be.”
She smiled, putting her hand against his cheek. “I will tell you later, then.”
Joseph raised his brows at that. The truth was that she’d been a little out of character these past few weeks, but the odd behavior came and went so quickly that he didn’t think twice about it. But now it was clear that something was wrong, which bothered him. However, if she wanted to wait until she was ready to talk about it, then he would wait. Especially on a day like today.
She tilted her head to the side, peeking behind him. “What do you have there?”
Joseph pulled it out, watching the glee fill her eyes. “Carnations, courtesy of Dorothea’s flower patch.”
“Joseph, they’re beautiful! I hadn’t realized that they’d bloomed.”
“She’s been taking quite good care of it. And she made sure to tell me that she would be quite disappointed in me if I do not make a bouquet for you today.”
Catriona giggled, sniffing the flowers. “I really have her to thank for this then. I shall show her my gratitude later.”
“You look beautiful,” he said, standing. He put both hands on her shoulders, looking at her in the mirror. “You always look beautiful. I thought that the day I first met you, and I will continue to think that until I draw my last breath.”
“Hopefully that isn’t for years to come,” she responded with a smile. “I intend to for us to grow quite old together, you know. So old we can barely walk.”
“I shall have to use you as my cane, then. It will be a nice excuse to take you everywhere with me.”
“Shall I walk unhindered then? What of my cane?”
“That’s why we have Dorothea.”
She laughed heartily at that and any remnants of her odd behavior fled. Catriona stood, taking his hand in hers. “Let’s go downstairs. I’m sure you and Dorothea must be famished waiting for me.”
