What else was she hiding?
Mrs. Cresswell shrieked again when a stray bee flew past her head. Her niece’s reassurances didn’t seem to have taken effect. “P-perhaps we should return home. We would not wish to take advantage of your hospitality, Mr. Campbell.” Mrs. Cresswell ducked abruptly, though she seemed now to be imagining things. Her face was flushed.
I exchanged a glance with Miss Sharp. She seemed to be barely containing her laughter at her aunt’s reaction to the imaginary bees. She smiled in my direction from behind her aunt’s shoulder.
I smiled back.
As if she had done so by mistake, she quickly erased the expression and looked down at the grass. When she looked up again, her features were as smooth and cold as the vanilla ice. “Yes, we must be going. Thank you, Mr. Campbell, for a diverting afternoon.” She curtsied, taking her aunt gently by the arm. “If you swat at them, they might mistake you for a threat. And then they actually might sting you.”
Mrs. Cresswell lowered her hands, hunching her shoulders and dropping her head as I led the two women through the house and out the front door.
I stood in the doorframe, watching Miss Sharp’s back as she walked down the cobblestone street away from the Circus. My chest buzzed with intrigue, but I pushed the feeling away, forcing myself back inside the house. I closed the door firmly on the image of that confusing woman. Her gentle touch with the bee did not match the harsh scowls and words she oftenemployed. I had only been in her company for a short time, yet I found myself eager for more.
I turned away from the door and started toward the stairs, unsettled by my own thoughts. I glared at my feet as I walked. My brother deserved a scolding for nearly being caught watching from the window. I reached his bedchamber and tugged open the door.
“Would you care to knock?” Colin whirled around in the chair by his writing desk.
“Would you care to be more discreet?” I strode across the room, parting the curtains and looking down at the garden below. The picnic rug was in clear view as the servants carried the food and drinks back inside the house. “Miss Sharp saw you.”
Colin shook his head. “She did not. I closed the curtains quickly enough. I had to ensure you were representing me well.”
“And what was your assessment?”
“You might try smiling less. You looked far too giddy.”
“Giddy?” I exclaimed in disbelief.
“You seemed to be enjoying yourself.”
“I was not.” My voice was firm. “You underestimate my acting abilities. I would like Miss Sharp to believe I actually enjoy her company. I can’t look like I’m being suffocated by my cravat all afternoon.”
Colin smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. “I have received an invitation to a dinner party later this week. I believe there will be parlor games and dancing, and if I am not mistaken, Miss Sharp also received an invitation.
“Must I attend?”
“Of course.” Colin rested his hands behind his head. “Your courtship is barely beginning. Her attention could easily be drawn to one of the other wealthy men in attendance. You must be there to prevent that.”
I sighed. “Very well, but you must describe all the guests to me. I cannot continue omitting names when I greet people with whom you are already acquainted. It will raise suspicion and reflect badly on you—if it hasn’t already.”
Colin agreed with a nod, withdrawing a sheet of paper from his desk. He dipped his quill, writing a list of all the people he expected to attend the party alongside a description of their appearances and ages. When he was finished, he handed the sheet to me.
I read it over quickly with a sigh. Not only did I have to continue my act, but I was battling an inconvenient attraction to Miss Sharp.
And now I had studying to do.
CHAPTER 12
ARABELLA
The more I drank the mineral water, the more I tolerated it. I took a small sip from my cup as I exited the Pump Room with Kate. The streets were crowded, as usual, even at such an early hour. Morning light peeked through the clouds, warming the air just enough to make my spencer jacket uncomfortably hot.
Kate had been drinking the waters for the last week and had claimed that they settled her stomach. My stomach hadn’t required settling until my meeting with Mr. Campbell two days before, but ever since, it had been fluttering with nerves and uncertainty. I hadn’t heard from him since our picnic, but Kate assured me that a short delay was nothing to fret about. I hadn’t confessed to her that I had actually enjoyed myself that afternoon.
That was, perhaps, the most unsettling part.
I had become quite fixated on the moment Mr. Campbell had wiped the ice cream from my chin, and how intently he had looked at me while doing so. Never had I felt so vulnerablefrom a simple look. The warmth in his eyes combined with the soft curve of his lips had made me rather breathless, and I had remained so for nearly two days—at least whenever the memory came to mind. Thankfully Aunt Julia was afraid of bees. It had given me the opportunity to escape and think through what had just occurred on that rug in Mr. Campbell’s garden.
I had felt attracted to him.
