Anette felt tears forming in the back of her eyes and she vehemently blinked them back. She didn’t want Roswell to see her cry. Then he would know that her feelings for him ran much deeper than he had realized. That would be mortifying.
“Have I lost you?” Roswell asked her.
Keeping her gaze straight ahead, Anette said, “No, you haven’t. I would like us to be friends, as well.”
Roswell watched her as if he were gauging the sincerity of her words. “You look as if you are being prepared for the guillotine.”
“Do I?”
He grinned. “Don’t think I don’t know what you are doing.”
“What is that?”
“You are attempting to keep your answers as short as possible so as not to encourage conversation.”
She dropped her mouth open, feigning outrage. “I would do no such thing. Perhaps you are just terrible at making polite conversation.”
“I consider myself an expert on polite conversational topics. Furthermore, I have an immense knowledge on herbs and plants,” Roswell said. “You seem to forget that you used to rattle on and on about botany when we spent time together.”
Anette met his gaze, challenging him. “What do you know about elderberry trees?”
Roswell looked amused. “The berries of the elderberry tree can ease sickness by preparing them as a hot drink.”
She opened her mouth, but he continued. “They also could be used to make cold lozenges and soothing syrups.”
He was right, about all of it. Perhaps her question was too easy. “All right, clever man, what herb is used for eye infection?”
“Adder’s Tongue,” Roswell said without a hint of delay.
Roswell was much too cocky for his own good. She would have to bring him down a peg or two. “What plant will help with yellow jaundice?” she asked with a smirk.
“Jaundice, you say.” He tsked. “That would be the succulent plant known as Cleavers. It flowers in late June to early July.”
Anette wasn’t quite sure how she felt. Roswell had listened to her all those times she had babbled on and on about herbs. Her mother was insistent that she was proficient in botany and taught her every opportunity that she could.
“I am impressed,” Anette admitted.
A broad smile came to his face. “Thank you,” he said. “I must admit that your knowledge has come in handy a time or two. In fact, I was able to speak intelligently when Mr. Moore said that Esther’s cousin was poisoning her stepmother with pennyroyal.”
Anette bobbed her head. “That was an ingenious way to poison someone.”
“I bet you would know the best way to murder someone.”
Her eyes grew wide at that ridiculous remark. “I do, but I would never tell another soul. With this knowledge comes much responsibility.”
“I am teasing you, Anette,” he said.
“Oh, I should have known.”
Roswell put his hand up in greeting as another gentleman rode past the curricle on his horse. “How is your book coming?”
She perked up. “It is well,” she said. “I just can’t figure out what I want to write about. I keep spending my time reading everything I can get my hands on for research purposes.”
“That sounds… exhausting.”
“It is not,” she declared. “I have learned the most interesting facts about animals and their mating habits.”
His brow shot up. “I beg your pardon?”
