Stop it!She wished these memories would fade, because they disrupted her life too much.
Bridget wiped out the basket and placed inside a newly embroidered cloth that Priscilla had been working on yesterday when the girls planned to take biscuits to the earl. The shooting incident had shaken everyone. The earl had tried to pass it off as if someone was pheasant hunting and a stray bullet had grazed his arm, but Bridget thought differently. She had been with her father and some of the men from church when they had gone hunting, and she knew what a close-range pistol blast sounded like. Whoever pulled the trigger hadn’t been too far away.
She glanced outside the window and watched the drizzling rain. Perhaps they should postpone their call on the Worthington brothers today because of the weather. Then again, she had been hesitant to go to Hanover Hall anyway. Just thinking about seeing Adrian again made the nerves in her stomach flutter.
“Do you think we should wait for tomorrow to take the basket of biscuits?” she asked her sister.
Priscilla’s expression fell in disappointment. “Why would we wait?”
Bridget motioned with her head toward the window. “Because of the rain.”
Prissy moved her attention to the window before returning it to Bridget. “It’s not raining that much. We shall be fine.”
Although Bridget wanted to feel upset because they were still going, excitement raced through her, making her heartbeat quicken. She really needed to figure out how to stop this feeling. There was no use acting this way when nothing good could come out of it. It didn’t matter that Adrian had been sweet yesterday when he rescued her—he was still a scoundrel of the worst kind.
Or was he?
Bridget shook her head. No man could change that drastically.
Felicia walked into the kitchen and straight to the biscuits that Priscilla had carefully arranged in the basket. The younger sister reached for a biscuit, but Priscilla slapped Felicia’s hand and glared.
“These are not for you.”
Felicia arched an eyebrow. “There is no need to become so mean. I only want one. I don’t think your precious earl will miss one biscuit.”
“If you must know,” Priscilla snapped, “ourprecious earland his brother are very kind neighbors, and it would be foolish to not appreciate the attention they have been giving to our family.”
Felicia held up her hands in surrender. “Forgive me for being hungry.” Her gaze moved to Bridget. “Do you feel the same way about our neighbors?”
Bridget hesitated, only because she struggled with answering honestly. “They have had plenty of opportunities to reject our friendship—no thanks to you and Jannette—but the Worthington brothers continue to show their kindness.”
There. That wasn’t a lie.
Felicia laughed heartily and shook her head. “You two women are doe-eyed, and it’s most humorous to see you both tripping over yourselves to please the earl and his brother.”
Bridget wanted to tell her sister how wrong she was, but she held her tongue as the younger sibling walked out of the kitchen.
Priscilla finished with the basket and placed the remaining cloth over the top of the biscuits. She looked at Bridget with a skeptical expression.
“Do you think Felicia is correct?”
“About what?”
“About us being doe-eyed for the lords?”
Bridget chuckled and hoped her cheeks didn’t grow too hot—enough to notice, anyway. “Absolutely not. Our sister forgets that this has never happened to us before, and, well… it is rather nice to have the attention from the Worthington brothers, even if I don’t believe it will last long.”
“You don’t?” Priscilla stepped closer. “Why not?”
“Neither of us has a dowry, so I don’t see the lords offering marriage.”
Priscilla released an audible sigh and frowned. “I thought of that as well, but then I wondered why the Lord Hanover keeps coming to see us if he isn’t interested, and why did he introduce us to his brother?”
Bridget shrugged. “I wish I knew.” She motioned with her hands toward the door. “Are you ready to leave?”
“Yes, after I fetch my cloak.”
It didn’t take long before Bridget and her sister were in the family’s chaise. Priscilla held the basket as Bridget took the reins and guided the horse toward Hanover Hall. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining hard, but the weather had turned chilly. She still wondered if staying home would have been the best decision to make today, but Priscilla was anxious to get the freshly baked biscuits to the Worthington brothers.
