I searched his face. Artless. Guileless. I wholly trusted Friedrich.
With a deep breath, I held out my injured hand for his inspection. He took it into his own, angling my palm to better catch the light of the fire. “This looks fresh. Almost like you’d ripped the scab—”
On instinct, I jerked my hand away, then smoothed my skirts as if to smooth over my awkwardness. Friedrich’s momentary distraction left the French book sitting loosely in his hand, and I seized it before moving several good steps out of his reach and thumbing through the book to avoid meeting his eyes. “Youmay be right about my health. Let’s forgo our studies until I’m recovered.”
“Certainly.” He retrieved his hat from his chair but stopped in front of me.
“I want you to know...” He paused and swallowed. “If you ever needed help or if there was ever a time you wished to confide in me, I’d do my best to assist you... if you needed me.”
My eyes stung, and I had to resist the urge to rub my nose. Nodding, I swallowed back the tightness in my throat, but the renewed ache in my stomach could not be quelled. The pain was like a knife puncture with each clip of Friedrich’s shoes on the stone floor as he moved toward the door. Why did he have to be so kind?
“Friedrich.” His name spilled out without thought.
He turned and waited, one hand still on the knob.
“There is something I must tell you.” My pulse pounded at my temples as he stepped toward me, his brows arched with curiosity.
“I... It’s just that...” I licked my bottom lip. “You know of Samuel’s capture, of course.” I began pacing. Was I doing this? Was I truly about to admit my deception to him? “Remember, he is my brother. My blood and kin. Think of my duty to him, my affections for him, and perhaps it will render what I am about to say a little less repulsive to you.”
Friedrich raised an eyebrow.
Fear and shame threatened to stop my tongue. But no. He deserved to know the truth.
After a deep breath, I continued. “I must confess I’ve had no real intention of learning to hunt. That is, it was not my primary motive for our lessons. While I have received training of a sort with you, it is not the kind you’d planned. Mistress Hatzfeld,” I took the coward’s way out, blaming her, “knows my value in the marriage market of Brussels. Knows I’m poised to make anexcellent match, a powerful match that could save my brother, if only I could learn the... womanly arts... of-of flirtation.”
I peeked a glance at Friedrich, but his face was stone.
Releasing the French book, I took to wringing my hands. “She conceived a plan in which I would study these arts by repeated trial and error. With... you. I confess there was a great deal of error.” I laughed nervously.
Ceasing my pacing, I leaned against the sturdy oak chair, my strength sapped by the effort of my confession.
Friedrich stayed silent.
And silent still.
When he finally spoke, his voice was dark. “So, the entire time I’ve been teaching you to hunt, you’ve been trying to bait me?”
I pressed my lips inward and nodded.
His jaw went taut, and he whirled around, turning his back on me. The rapid rise and fall of his lungs kept me in agony as I awaited his inevitable anger.
Then I noticed his shoulders shake. He was sniffing. Was hecrying? That was worse than anger.
“Friedrich, please forgive me. I cannot offer enough apologies.” Eliminating the distance between us, I placed a hand on his arm, and he turned toward me, but instead of crying, he was laughing. Laughing!
“What is so amusing?” I furrowed my brows, irritated. I should have been relieved instead of feeling like the subject of a joke I did not understand.
He leaned against the door with another chuckle. “I apologize, Countess. It’s just that I pity poor Samuel if his fate rests on your skills as atemptress.” He laughed out the last word. “Dressing in maids’ clothes? Plowing into a thicket? Yes, those are the marks of a seductress in the making.”
My embarrassment burned hot, turning to anger. “Any other man wouldn’t have required such... excessive designing.Amiable conversation and a soft smile really ought to have been enough, but for you—stone cold and prejudiced as you are—I had to resort to the extreme.” My mind accused me of going too far, but I wasn’t done yet. “Do you know how humiliating it was, working to attract even a spark of your notice? I would never have endured it if it weren’t for Samuel. You mock my abilities, but you ought to measure your own. You haven’t even the skills to carry on a conversation, let alone entice a woman to love you.”
Friedrich’s smile disappeared, and he wheeled toward the door, twisting the knob and pulling it half open before he paused. Taking a few deep breaths, he gently clicked the door closed again and turned toward me, his eyes lowered to the ground.
“I apologize. I shouldn’t have provoked you, Margaretha.” His words were deliberate and slow.
My name on his tongue was water, cool and sweet, dousing the flames of my anger.
“Friends again?” He held out a rigid hand, and I took it, accepting his unexpected offer of reconciliation. His hand relaxed, surprising me further when his thumb traced slow circles over my skin. He gently pulled me toward him until my legs bumped into his.
