His words were but a breath, and she found herself leaning toward him, her gaze slipping to his lips, which drew closer.
*
Noah stopped himselfjust in time and pulled back. Juliet was hardly ready to be kissed when she had yet to understand the full change her life had taken. Silently, he admonished Orinda for causing Juliet to trip and for the dreams in their heads. Obviously, Juliet was uncomfortable with her passion for him, and he kept forgetting he’d just met her. That the diary pages were blank proved even Orinda didn’t believe Juliet ready for her future yet. He would have to have a talk with that spirit.
He removed his hand from Juliet’s cheek and held it out to the side. “I suggest we conquer one problem at a time.”
Her hands were buried in her skirts and her teeth worried her bottom lip. She cocked her head before she spoke. “I am grateful for all you have provided, but I’m afraid there is no easy remedy for the fact I do not know how to cook.”
“Neither do I.” He chuckled. “However, I do have someone who cooks for me and her mother would be most interested in coming to your aid a few days a week.”
Her eyes lit with hope, the green dominating any blue tints at all. Then her shoulders slumped and her chin lowered. “I fear I would not have enough to pay her.”
There were so many burdens he could relieve her of, but not yet. His gaze strayed to Orinda’s diary, something he’d read cover to cover at least twenty times as he’d gone from awkward youth to adult man. Thinking about Orinda’s transition to Northampton gave him an idea. “Do you have any skills?”
Her brow furrowed. “You mean such as embroidery, writing invitations, and being passingly good at the pianoforte?”
“Yes, exactly.” Suddenly, he remembered the new school that had opened last autumn. “There’s a new ladies’ school that has only been in existence a year. Perhaps you could teach there.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “You mean work…for money?”
Now he understood why Orinda’s diary was so blank. “Your great-aunt did.” He said the words loudly and strode over to the table to pick up the diary. He turned over a few blank pages and was pleased to find the ones he sought. “Yes, here it is.” He opened the book wider. “I’m so pleased with myself. I have secured a position as the governess of two adorable little girls at a nearby estate called Ravenridge. Viscountess Blackmore was very kind and since the girls are of an age where I need not live there, the lady was happy to employee me. My husband is proud of me too. I don’t think he believed me when I said I would do whatever was necessary for us to be happy.”
Juliet sidled up to him as he read and stared at the page. “But I didn’t see that there this morning.”
He closed the book, avoiding her gaze. “The pages often stick together.”
She gave a short nod as if his explanation sufficed. How long before she realized Orinda was only allowing her to see what she could accept?
“I must suppose that if my great-aunt, who I was told was most obstinate, was willing to work so she could be happy, I could do the same.”
Orinda had been happy in love, but he withheld his comment. He’d been half in love with Juliet before she’d ever arrived, but he was no more than a stranger to her. Or rather, almost a stranger. He had no doubt she’d had the same dreams he did. “Then would you like me to saddle your horse and accompany you to Silver Meadows?”
Her gaze flew to the long window. “It is far too early for calling.”
He held back a grimace, not sure how to gently nudge her in the direction her new life needed to go. Unable to do so gently, he simply stated it. “This wouldn’t be a social call, but a request for employment. I don’t know if the duchess would actually meet with you or have you leave a card.”
Juliet’s face paled and her hand grabbed the back of the chair next to her. “Duchess?”
He barely kept from letting out a sigh of frustration. Whether it was a duchess, a marchioness, or a viscountess, they were all the same to him. It appeared Juliet wouldn’t be the only one learning new values.Heneeded to learn more patience. “Yes, the Duchess of Northwick. Do you know her?”
She shook her head.
“Then all the better. She can see you for who you are and not have any preconceived views about your person.”
“That’s true.” The tension left her face, but her eyes looked away as she pondered her options. “I will go. Today. I wish to make a good life if for nothing more than to spite my husband’s brother, who refused me any dispensation.”
A shock of anger flew through him at her statement and an unreasonable urge to lay the errant relative out flat with a knuckle punch had him balling his fists. He forced himself to release his hands. “Then I shall ready your mount.”
“Oh, wait.” She laid her hand on his arm as she said it and immediate heat filled him. As if she felt it too, she pulled herhand back and buried it in her skirts. “I must change if I’m going before a duchess. I shall be ready in an hour.” With that, she twirled about and exited the kitchen.
An hour? He shook his head as he lifted the diary once again. “Orinda, I sincerely hope you’re right.” He dropped the book on the table and it flipped over, the back cover open. The last line on the middle of the page stood out in stark relief.
No sacrifice is too great for love.
“Even my patience?”
The little book slammed closed.
