The admission was a startling one. No wonder…
No wonder.
“I’m so sorry, Jeremy.” Of course, his aunt would call him by his given name. She’d known him as a child, and then a young man. “I imagine her heart weakened from young Arthur’s passing. There is too much tragedy in this world.”
If Lydia had not been watching him very closely, she would have missed it—a flicker of despair, of pain.
His throat worked, and then his eyes shuttered once again. “We’re doing our best to keep her comfortable, for now.”
He sounded so resigned.
Aunt Emma nodded. “But I know you did not come to visit me. Feel free to go about your work while I knit.” She glanced down at the two needles and half-finished project on her lap, as though she’d forgotten it was there. “If only I could remember what I was working on. Was this the scarf for your sister? Oh, no, I remember, it’s a blanket for the baby.”
Lydia met Jeremy’s eyes in an unexpected moment of shared amusement.
“Lucinda is expecting later this spring.” Her sister had married later in the same Season the twin sisters had made their come out… and then moved away and become quite caught up with her new husband’s family.
As she should.
However, it had left an emptiness in Lydia’s life that she never would have expected.
“I remember,” he said.
Of course, she’d told him when she’d received Lucinda’s letter—back when they had shared those sort of details with one another.
Lydia blinked, forcing herself not to dwell on the past. Jeremy was here on business. “What did you think of the plans?”
“I have a few questions.” He opened and spread them out on the low table in front of them, while she placed a candle holder on each of the corners to keep the papers from rolling back onto themselves.
Over the next half an hour, while taking tea, they discussed the design, some issues she’d considered, and some she had not. In that time, both of them had moved to the center of the sofa, and Lydia became acutely aware of his thigh touching hers.
His scent—which reminded her of leather-covered books and clove and freshly cut cedar—only served to heighten her awareness.
She was so acutely aware of his presence that she could almost feel him breathing beside her. Altogether, she was more than a little distracted.
She straightened her spine and forced herself to focus on what he was actually saying.
“I’m a little concerned about your garden area. If it was used for disposal, you might have problems with the soil…”
“I had not thought of that.” Lydia wrinkled her nose. When she’d first toured the warehouse, she’d only spied the yard from a window. Until it could be cleaned up, it would not be at all inviting. She and Clarissa had also caught sight of a few vagrants. “I have no idea…”
“No way to find out other than to see for ourselves.” He’d turned to stare at her, and their faces were only inches apart. His gaze flicked to her lips, and then quickly back to her eyes. “Shall we drive over now then? Did you wish to change first?”
She barely heard his question over the pounding of her heart. When he’d kissed her last, she had welcomed it, but she hadn’t felt like her skin was going to burst into flames the way she felt now.
“Lydia?”
“Oh… oh, yes.” She glanced down at her day dress, which would have been perfectly acceptable if she was going anywhere other than the docks. “I suppose I should.” She burst off the settee. “I’ll only be a moment.”
Jeremy only nodded at her.Had he felt that too?
Louise, her maid, was waiting inside Lydia’s bedchamber with a plain-looking gown, cleaned and pressed. Not quite fifteen minutes later, Lydia reentered the drawing room, pea-green coat draped over her arm.
“I cannot wait for the weather to warm up.” She forced her tone to remain light and casual. She could only hope that he was unaware of how he’d affected her. “This winter has been unusually cold. And so much snow!”
As she exited Heart Place, her hand tucked into his arm, she found herself babbling about other ideas she had for the orphanage. It wasn’t like her to go on so, and of course, he knew that.
Unfortunately, as she sat down beside him, their proximity in the confines of the coach did nothing to settle her nerves.
