“You’re acting quite peculiar today,” Mary said, jolting Julianna from her thoughts.
“Pa…pardon?” Julianna replied, guiltily swinging her gaze back to her sister, who was carefully studying her.
Mary set her half-eaten bun on her plate. “Earlier in the carriage you looked as if you might faint, and then you turned red as a cherry, and now you keep glancing back at the coach.”
Julianna bit her lip. Oh, lovely, she was acting insane in front of her sister. No wonder Mary was suspicious of her behavior.
Julianna plucked at the neckline of her yellow gown. “I may have felt a bit warm earlier, but—”
“I don’t blame you, really,” Mary interrupted with a sly look followed by a giggle.
Julianna frowned and blinked. “Blame me for what?”
“For thinking Mr. Worthy is handsome,” Mary replied. “He is. Very. I quite agree.”
Julianna’s heart thundered in her chest. “Mr. Worthy? Handsome?” If her sister had just informed her that King George himself and all fifteen of his children were standing behind her, she couldn’t possibly have been more surprised.
“Yes,” Mary replied, nodding knowingly. “I couldn’t help but notice you blush when you saw him this morning and again when he opened the door.”
Julianna opened her mouth to speak and shut it again. What could she possibly reply? She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her. Perhaps some sort of lake creature could choose this most welcome of times to crawl out of the nearby body of water and consume her.
“I…I don’t know what to say.” There, that was as honest as she intended to be at the moment.
“You needn’t say anything,” Mary replied, pulling the bun from her plate again and taking another bite. “And I promise not to say a word to anyone. Least of all Mr. Worthy himself.”
Julianna felt herself blushing again. When had her younger sister become so astute? Instead of prolonging this awkward topic, Julianna set about finishing her bun and a handful of grapes while remaining steadfastly silent.
A few minutes later, Rhys reappeared. He stood near the far edge of the blanket and cleared his throat. “Is there anything I might help you with, milady?”
“Yes, Mr. Worthy,” Mary said, springing to her feet. “Will you please keep my sister company while I go take a closer look at the flowers across the lake? I’m convinced they’re buttercups and I haven’t seen buttercups in an age.”
Before Rhys had a chance to reply, Mary had lifted her skirts, spun around and took off along the bank toward the far side of the lake.
Julianna raised her hand above her eyes and squinted. She didn’t see any buttercups. Was Mary mad? She watched in agonized silence until her sister disappeared behind a small copse of trees on the far side of the small lake.
“Did you tell her?” Rhys’s quiet question made Julianna jump. She hadn’t expected her sister to orchestrate private time between herself and a groomsman, for heaven’s sake.
This entire outing was not turning out the way she’d hoped at all. She’d expected to rile Rhys by making him perform a variety of petty chores designed to make him want to quit pretending to be a servant. Instead, she found him lowering himself onto the blanket across from her, his wrist lying atop his propped-up knee, staring at her as if it was the most normal thing in the world for them to be alone together this way.
Julianna spared a glance toward the opposite side of the lake. She shouldn’t allow Mary out of her sight. Mary was her responsibility, after all. But for the life of her she couldn’t bring herself to move from her spot. When she spotted Mary’s light pink gown just inside the tree line across the lake, she exhaled a sigh and turned back toward Rhys to answer his question.
“Tell her? Tell her what?” she finally managed to choke out.
“Who I am?” he replied, arching a brow.
“Of course not,” Julianna replied. “I promised you I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Rhys narrowed his eyes. “They why did she leave so suddenly? I’m willing to believe she enjoys flowers, but that was quite a hasty retreat for a jaunt to see a buttercup.”
Julianna had to press her lips together to keep from smiling. It had been a hasty retreat indeed. In fact, she hadn’t known her sister had it in her to move so quickly. “Yes, well, she seems to think I have a bit of an infatuation with a certain groomsman.”
Rhys looked truly surprised. He pointed at himself. “No. Me?”
Julianna inclined her head and smiled. “Yes, she informed me that I blushed earlier in your presence.” Even as she said the words, Julianna regretted them.
“Wasthatwhy you blushed?” he said, a hint of arrogance creeping back into his tone.
“Certainly not,” she replied with a conspiratorial smile that belied her words.
