Christopher caught her flustered expression and couldn’t resist a playful smirk. “Frances, is something the matter? You seem a bit distracted.”
Frances quickly looked away, her heart racing. “No, nothing at all. I just… thank you again, for coming to my rescue.”
Christopher’s smile widened, and he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. “You can look at me, you know. I won’t bite.”
Her blush deepened, and she found herself at a loss for words. “I… you should get changed, too.”
“No need to worry about me, love. I used to go for a swim in those very waters each morning. It is nothing new for me.”
Thatwould explain his hard muscles. She bit her lip, red as a rose.
Christopher kept looking at her, too. A mix of amusement and curiosity.
Does he enjoy seeing me get flushed like this?
It seemed that was the case.
“You know, Frances, it’s a good thing I was there to save you. Otherwise, you might have had to wait for someone else to come along. Are you embarrassed that you couldn’t swim and had to rely on your husband?”
Frances shot him a sidelong glance, her heart still pounding. “I… I wasn’t expecting to fall in, that’s all.”
Christopher chuckled softly. “Next time, perhaps we should have a swimming lesson. Just in case.”
Frances bit her lip, unsure how to respond. The playful glint in Christopher’s eyes made her feel both flustered and intrigued.
“In fact…” He stepped closer to her again “I think I should take it upon myself to ensure that you know how to swim properly. We cannot have the Duchess drowning now, can we?”
He was staring at her again. She looked up, and caught his eye.
“That would be less than ideal,” she croaked.
“We cannot let that happen”—he lowered his voice—“under any circumstances.”
They held each other’s gaze for a long moment. It felt oddly romantic, the moment between them.
For a second, Frances wondered if he was going to reach out and touch her. But then she sneezed, and the moment was effectively over.
“Bless you.” He smiled teasingly.
But the moment had been over, and Frances had snapped back to reality.
“Are you always this non-serious about everything?” Her mood had quickly shifted, and now she felt annoyed by his non-seriousness.
“What did I say?”
“You know, you just find a joke in everything,” she huffed, irked. “Not everything is a laughing matter.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, Frances. I just thought we could use a little levity.” He seemed surprised by her reaction.
As was she, to be fair. She did not know why she was snapping at him like this, but she could not stop herself either.
“Sometimes, it feels like you’re not taking things seriously. Like you’re making light of everything, even when it matters.”
She sneezed again, and his expression softened.
“You should make yourself warm,” he reminded her.
“Don’t tell me what I should do.”
