He smiled his blinding smile then, the one Josephine had watched him use on so many others with clear success, yet it only fuelled her fire. She burned to wipe it off his face with a few choice words, to put him wholly in his place, but she forced herself to smile instead.
‘As I adore the sound of my name on your lips, Josephine,’ he whispered, leaning closer.
A wave of nausea threatened, but they were so close to her destination she gritted her teeth and sighed wistfully instead.
‘It is such a warm day to be enjoying each other’s company, don’t you think? I wish I’d known this afternoon was going to be so delightful, I would have brought a parasol and perhaps even a bathing gown for the lake!’ She trilled off into laughter that sounded very fake, and hoped Sir Francis was too far wrapped up in his own growing expectations to notice.
‘Bathing gown?’ he mused suggestively. ‘Why you ladies burden yourselves with such layers I will never know, especially within the privacy of your own grounds.’
‘Oh truly, Sir Francis, you will make me blush!’ Josephine replied with her finest attempt at an arch smile. ‘Wemayhave broken the rules a few times in the past, but only in trulytrustedfamily company.’
They rounded the curve in the trail then to emerge on the side of Knightswood’s large lake, which glistened quietly in the summer sun. It was one of Josephine’s favourite spots, not because of boisterous swimming fun with her sisters and brothers, but because of her many happy hours as lookout bookworm in case any family members ventured this far. She swept her gaze around and was reassured by a flash of colour halfway down the trail, which gave her the comfort she needed. Fred and Matilda were in place, which meant shecould continue.
‘I hope I am starting to feel like a “truly trusted” family friend, Josephine,’ he replied, turning and catching hold of her hands. ‘It is reallyquiteimportant to me.’ He lingered over his words before lifting one of her clenched hands to his lips. ‘It was what I was trying to say last night– rather clumsily, I fear, for true matters of the heart are always the hardest to articulate, are they not?’ Then he trailed a fingertip down her cheek in a way that made her want to push him straight into the lake.
‘Oh, Francis!’ she gurgled instead, feeling sure Matilda would have a fit of hysterics if she could hear her. ‘I have never met anyone like you. You make me want to throw all caution to the wind! How I wish we had our bathing suits. I vow it would be the finest way to celebrate our friendship on this glorious summer’s day!’ Then she sighed again as Sir Francis’s eyes gleamed in a way that made her shudder. She steeled herself: just a little longer.
‘Well, wecouldtake onetinylittle swim?’ he whispered. ‘No one need know, and it would be such a wonderful way to celebrate our friendship, as you say. It could also be a sign of the trust we place in one another, a trust that could grow into something much more special…’
‘Oh!’ She feigned a gasp at the suggestion. ‘But how could we possibly do so, when we don’t have so much as a bathing suit between us?’
His eyes gleamed again, and for the first time Josephine noticed how closely set they were.
‘You are wearing your petticoats, are you not?’ he murmured, standing so close his cologne overpowered the nearby wild jasmine. For some reason, this irritated her more than anything, but she mustered all her self-control. ‘I could wade into the water before you?’ he added. ‘And turn away when you come in?’ His fingers reached to play with hers in a way that turned her stomach. ‘Of course, I give you my word you will bequitesafe.’
‘Oh, Francis, I do declare you are far too wild for me, and yet my heart is aglow with the idea!’ she replied, rattling off a line from one of the worst novels she’d ever read. ‘I will undress behind the willow tree over there, while you do the same behind that oak, and when you are in the water, call me?’
At this, Josephine thought Sir Francis’s eyes might pop out of his head, but she continued to smile and dimple becomingly, as he caught her fingers to his lips.
‘Your word is my command, Josephine,’ he breathed heavily, ‘and neither of us will ever forget this day of… friendship.’ Then, tugging at his silk cravat, he backed away towards his appointed tree, looking as though all the gods had smiled on him at once.
Fluttering her eyelids as though her life depended on it, Josephine made her way behind the willow, where she pressed back against the gnarled bark, her heart thumping fit to leap out of her chest altogether. Yet this was the moment it had all been about. Craning her neck, she glimpsed another flash of colour further down the lakeside– Fred and Matilda were on the move.
She swallowed, never more aware of the outrageousness of her plan, and never more committed either. Then there was the sound of a faint splash.
‘Are you ready, Francis?’ she called, suppressing a smile at the thought of Matilda’s grimace now she was within listening distance.
‘I am, my love,’ he cooed, ‘and already in the water. It is as refreshing as we imagined, and time for you to join me.’
She drew a deep breath before rounding the tree and looking out at the cool rippling water, where a very naked Olympian gazed back.
‘But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun—’ He broke off. ‘Yet my sun isstill clothed?’ he quizzed playfully.
‘Your sun is a little shy!’ Josephine called ‘But she will join you, if you turn like you promised?’
Within seconds, Sir Francis had spun in the water, giving Josephine a clear view of his golden back. It was a sight that might have mesmerised her once, but now it only made her roll her eyes. Turning, she made her way to Sir Francis’s tree, behind which she found a neat stack of clothing, together with a dancing-eyed Fred and Matilda. With a swift smile at her siblings, she scooped up the clothing, and re-emerged lakeside with a far cooler air.
‘You may turn, Sir Francis!’ she called with a reversion to her previous formality.
Then he turned with a smug smile that faded as he realised his sun was still clothed.
‘I don’t understand.’ He smiled again, though with less certainty as he spied his clothing in her arms. ‘Have you changed your mind, my love? Do you wish me to come out and help you, perhaps?’ he added flirtatiously.
‘Not at all,’ Josephine returned flatly. ‘But youcanhelp me,Sir Francis, beginning with telling meexactlyhow you knew Eliza Pellham.’
At this utterance, his expression changed completely.
‘Eliza Pellham?’ he repeated, and for the briefest of moments it seemed as though her name was whispered on the breeze. ‘Never heard of her!’ he declared with his next breath, though his smile had disappeared and he looked a little pale around the mouth. ‘Listen, why don’t you join me for a bathe, and we can talk afterwards?’ he wheedled. ‘This wasyourplan, remember?’
