“True,” Caroline agreed. “One usually only hears the termsublimein a positive context otherwise. How could something heavenly be otherwise?”
“Is there an opposite of a cut?” Georgiana paused, the daisy chain hanging limply from her hands. “For instance, four ways to look at someone to indicate pleasure. Is there no opposite for each cut?”
“Not that I have heard.” Caroline pushed herself up on one elbow. “How would one perform the opposite of a cut sublime, for instance?”
“I am not sure. Perhaps one would have to look deeply into another’s eyes and expect to see heaven there?” Georgiana finished her chain, and leaned forward, looping it carefully around Caroline’s neck. Instead of pulling back, she brought her fingers to Caroline’s chin, tipping it up gently and gazing into her eyes. “Like so.”
Caroline’s reply died on her tongue. All she could feel were the pads of Georgiana’s fingertips, warm on the underside of her jaw, and all she could see were two dark pools, reflecting her own image back in miniature. Georgiana made to withdraw her hand but Caroline, hardly knowing what she was doing, grasped it and kept it there. Georgiana’s eyes widened, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. She had tiny freckles on the very tops of her cheekbones, and Caroline’s fingers twitched with the impulse to acknowledge each and every one. Instead, she stared back, willing her voice to stay calm. “You deserve so much more.”
“Than what?”
She hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “I... I don’t know. I only know that you deserve someone who sees you for who you really are in all your glory.”
“Thank you.” Georgiana’s breath ghosted over her lips,warm and sweet, and Caroline swallowed hard as her vision blurred. Was it just her imagination or was Georgiana leaning closer?
Before she could wonder what to do—her body screaming at her to do nothing, something, or a nonsensical combination of the two—a bird squawked loudly in the branches above, making them both jump. “Shall we return to the house?” Miss Darcy said, smiling in amusement. “Lest another bird should frighten us both out of our wits?”
Caroline agreed, though her heart was still pounding. While they packed up the picnic, Georgiana chattered away, seemingly unaffected by the incident, but Caroline could think of nothing else on the way back to the house. For a moment, she’d thought that Georgiana truly looked like she wanted to kiss her. And for a moment...
Caroline had wanted that, too.
