Page 43

Then, suddenly, she stopped fighting, and her body floated.

Her eyes went wide. “Oh.”

Juliet laughed. “There.”

“I—I am doing it!” Eloise cried with excitement. “Do… do not let me go.”

“I will not. I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Juliet said softly.

Eloise pulled her arms through the water the way Juliet had shown her and moved forward two feet. She made a sound of pure triumph. Juliet laughed and moved alongside her, and Eloise tried again—stronger—and moved another yard, and Juliet kept one hand beneath her, but light now, barely there.

“You can let me go now,” Eloise said after a while.

Juliet blinked. “Are you sure?”

Eloise nodded. “Yes. I have the idea of it now.”

Juliet slowly moved her hand away, watching Eloise paddle three strokes in a straight line. Then she turned her head to look back at Juliet, her expression one of magnificent satisfaction… and promptly swallowed water when her chin dropped. She surfaced sputtering.

“Chin up,” Juliet said, not quite managing to keep the laughter out of her voice.

“I was distracted,” Eloise said, affronted. She wiped her face and tried again.

Juliet felt something settle in her chest that had no name and didn’t need one.

“Again,” she said. “This time keep your eyes forward.”

Eloise went again, and on the fourth attempt she turned at the end and swam back without being asked; she grinned so widely that she swallowed some water again, but less this time. She drew level with Juliet and slapped both palms down on the surface, sending a curtain of water directly into Juliet’s face.

Juliet gasped. Eloise shrieked with laughter. Juliet swept a wave back, and the girl screamed and launched another arc of water.

They were both laughing now, Eloise splashing with both arms and Juliet holding up her hands⁠—

“What the devil is going on here?”

Juliet gasped, whirling around at the loud voice coming from the top of the slope.

Adam was already coming down at a half-run, no coat, his boots striking the grass hard. He hit the water at the bank and kept moving, not even bothering to check the depth, and covered the distance to Eloise in four strides. Both hands slid under her arms, and he lifted her clear of the water and carried her to the bank before setting her down.

He crouched in front of her, his hands going over her arms, her face, her hair. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his tone frantic.

Eloise was shaking her head. “No, Papa⁠—”

“Are you hurt anywhere, Eloise?” His eyes were going over her face—forehead, cheeks, chin, hands.

Then he went back to her face again.

“I—I am really all right, Papa,” Eloise said, her tone small. “Juliet has been teaching me to swim. I can do twelve strokes now. Watch⁠—”

Adam’s tone was cold as he said, “You will not go back in.”

Eloise froze almost instantly. “B—but I have learned⁠—”

“Eloise.” Now his tone was even harder, hard enough to make her flinch, and she went quiet.

Juliet waded to the bank, not minding the fact that her chemise clung from the waist down and water ran from the hem, gathering in the grass at her feet.

“You do not have to speak to her in that tone,” she said. “She was perfectly safe. I was holding her the entire time. The water is shallow here, and she⁠—”