Page 40 of Cupid Comes to Little Valentine

“It was only ices at The Mermaid’s Tale,” Clementine teased her uneasily.

Bea shrugged, looking out of the window, a faraway look in her eyes. “I know.”

Clementine waited, wondering if she would say more. She felt like Bea wanted to talk, but sometimes you had to wait and give her the time to order her thoughts. Her patience was rewarded some minutes later.

“Lord Stonehaven was very kind, was he not?”

And there it was, Clementine thought with a sigh.

“I had such a lovely time talking to him. Raspberry ice and the company of such an… an interesting and charming man. It was more than I ever expected when I woke up this morning,” Bea said, her eyes sparkling.

Well, of all the mismatched couples, Clementine thought with a groan. Stonehaven seemed aggressively masculine, rather overpowering, and certainly far too harsh a fellow for her gentle sister. He would crush her, literally and figuratively. Yet somehow he had captured Bea’s attention. And then there was that business with Mrs Adamson. She was a sensible woman and if she held the man in such dislike, which she clearly did, there must be a reason for it. Yet, Clementine dared not say anything of the sort to Bea. Human nature being what it was, she would only like him even more if anyone said a word against him.

“It was a very pleasant afternoon, and Lord Stonehaven was most entertaining,” Clementine replied cautiously. “It was so strange, however. Just think, we go for years and years without seeing a nobleman and then two turn up at once. Still, I doubt we shall see them again,” she said confidently, as much for her own benefit as for her sister’s.

“Oh, I do not know about that,” Bea said, with more assurance than Clementine was prepared for. “I think we shall certainly see Lord Beaumarsh again soon. So perhaps his friend will accompany him.”

Clementine turned to look at her sharply. “Why should we?” she asked, her heart performing a complicated series of beats in her chest that made her feel quite winded.

Bea laughed, pulling her knees up to her chest as she regarded Clementine. “Oh, Clemmie, you are far cleverer than I, but sometimes I swear you cannot see the nose on your face.”

“Whatever does that mean?” Clementine said, staring at Bea and wondering what on earth it was she had missed.

“There is obviously something between you and the earl. I could sense it all afternoon. You could hardly look at him one moment and the next you could not look away.”

Clementine blushed, horrified by the notion she might have behaved so blatantly.

Bea grinned at her, a mischievous look that few people got to see. “Oh, don’t look so appalled. I’m sure no one else noticed, but I did.”

“You misunderstand,” Clementine said hurriedly. “Yes, there was… something, but it’s not what you think. It’s only that we had a bit of an… an accident. It made us both feel rather foolish. Well, it made me feel foolish, and very aware of Lord Beaumarsh, who obviously delighted in making me even more flustered whenever he looked at me. It’s silly really. Nothing at all to get worked up over, so don’t read anything into it,” she begged.

Bea, however, only looked increasingly intrigued. “What kind of accident?”

“The kind where I knocked him flat and found myself lying on top of him,” Clementine said with some heat. “One of the wretched kittens finally caught a mouse, and I was chasing it, and then there he was, on the garden path. I couldn’t stop in time.”

Bea’s eyes grew very large and very round. “Clementine!” she exclaimed, and pressed her hands to her mouth to stifle her mirth. “O-Oh, Cle-Clementine,” she sputtered, before dissolving entirely.

“Yes, well,” Clementine said with what dignity remained to her. “Now you see. It was nothing romantic in the least. Simply… Simply….”

“Animal spirits,” Bea wheezed, before going off into another peal of laughter.

Clementine sighed and waited for her sister to regain her wits. It took a good few minutes but finally, Bea sat meekly beside her, pink-cheeked, her blue eyes shining.

“I beg your pardon,” she said gravely.

“Hmph.” Clementine shook her head. “Do not go getting any silly notions about me and Lord Beaumarsh. I will admit, the incident was shocking, and it made me feel—” Clementine searched for the right words, words that would not incite another round of hysteria. “Very… aware of him. As a man, I mean. He was just so big, up close. Strong, too. So robust. All that hard muscle and…”

Clementine swallowed, the memory too vivid for her to dare another word on the subject.

“Oh, Clemmie,” Bea said, her voice laced with a mixture of pity and exasperation.

“Oh, go to bed, you vexing creature,” Clementine said, shooing her sister out of the room with good-natured little pushes. “And don’t you dare tell Isabelle. I cannot endure both of you teasing me!”

With that, she shut the door on her sister and went to bed, determined not to give Lord Beaumarsh another thought.

Chapter 12

New beginnings, high hopes, and cakes - obviously.