“I thought that whatever had happened, it would be better if someone said something to someone, and since neither of you appeared to be making any immediate plans in that direction, I thought I might as well be the one to say something.” He glanced at her briefly. “Even if what I said was only to ask if you were all right.”
“You know,” she said, “you are rather remarkable.”
He looked at her.
“I am only being sensible,” he said. “Can I tell you something?”
“Yes,” she said.
“My father is not very good at saying things,” he said, “not because he has nothing to say but rather the opposite sometimes.”
She was very still.
“I have also noticed,” Joseph said, “that since we came here, he says things more than he used to. I think that is because of you.”
She looked at him. He looked back at her with the clear, direct honesty that was entirely his own, without any of the management that adults put around difficult things, just the plain truth of it offered simply.
“Joseph,” she said.
“I only mention it because I think it is worth knowing.” He stood up, “I should go and do my Latin.”
“Yes,” she said. “Probably.”
He gave her the small, formal nod he had when something had been concluded to his satisfaction, and turned to go. He was almost at the garden door when he stopped and looked back at her.
“Miss Hosmer,” he said.
“Yes?”
“I hope you will not go away,” he said. “Whatever happens. I hope you will stay.”
CHAPTER 15
The dress was green.
It was, by any reasonable measure, a beautiful dress, and it fit with the suspicious accuracy of something that had been ordered by someone who had paid close attention. Temperance had looked at it for a long time when the maid brought it up. She had not tried it on yet, not sure if she was ready for that just yet.
She was sitting on the end of her bed looking at it when Albina appeared in the doorway in her house robe.
“That,” Albina said, “is a very fine dress. He has good taste.”
“He has a good tailor,” Temperance said. “It is not the same thing, and I’m sure that he must have just picked it up randomly.”
Albina set Soot down on the bed and came to stand beside her daughter, and they both looked at the dress together. Albina letout a small, impressed sound, which was rare as the woman had high standards.
“It seems like it will fit you well. And since you didn’t give him your measurements, it means that he measured you with his eyes,” Albina said.
“Mother,” Temperance said, blushing at how it sounded.
“I suppose that means that he has been paying more attention to you than I thought,” she mused. “What should we make of that?”
“Nothing, it is only a practical gesture,” Temperance said, in the same tone she had been using since the dress arrived. It had started to sound a little like denial. “He wants me presentable, so it’s only logical that he did so.”
Albina looked at her.
“Huh. Do you know that he picked out the dress himself? I think there is a great deal of thought that must have been put into it,” she replied, “or at least, consideration of some kind.”
“It’s just a dress,” Temperance replied, “I think you’re reading too much into it. I suggest you find something better to do with your time.”
