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Elizabeth clearly couldn’t manage a reply. Whether that was due to suppressed laughter or utter stupefaction, James didn’t know.
And he wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to find out.
“Er, it was most disrespectful,” he added.
Without warning, she reached out and touched his forehead. “Do you have a fever? I think you have a fever.”
“I don’t have a fever.”
“You’re acting like you have a fever.”
“Are you going to put me to bed and tend to me with loving kindness if I have a fever?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t have a fever.”
She took a step back. “In that case, I had better go.”
James sagged against the wall, utterly worn out. She did this to him, he realized. If he wasn’t grinning like an idiot, he was furious. If he wasn’t furious, he was overcome with lust. If he wasn’t overcome with lust—
Well, that was a moot question, wasn’t it?
He watched her as she swung the door open, mesmerized by the delicate curve of her gloved hand.
“James? James?”
Startled, he lifted his head.
“Are you certain Captain Andrien stoops?”
He nodded, knowing he’d be proven a liar the next day but hoping he could devise another, more clever lie to patch up this one.
She pursed her lips.
His gut clenched, then did a flip.
“Doesn’t that seem odd to you? A military man who stoops?”
He shrugged helplessly. “I told you not to marry him.”
She made a funny little sound from the back of her throat. “I can improve his posture.”
He could only shake his head. “You’re a remarkable woman, Elizabeth Hotchkiss.”
She gave him a nod, then walked out the door. Before she shut it, however, she poked her head back in. “Oh, James?”
He looked up.
“Stand up straight.”
Chapter 14
The following afternoon found Elizabeth skulking near the front gates of Danbury House, cursing at herself first for her idiocy, then for her cowardice, and finally just because.
She’d followed Susan’s advice and left her notebook—the one in which she scribbled all of her household accounts—at Danbury House the day before. Since the notebook was so essential to everyday life, she was required to retrieve it during the garden party.
“There is nothing suspicious about my presence here,” she said to herself. “I forgot my notebook. I need my notebook. I can’t possibly survive until Monday without it.”
