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Mabel looked as though she meant to argue, but she bit her tongue. Finding a comfortable rhythm between them now that Pippa was an adult was still taking time, but Mabel was making an effort to give Pippa the freedom to govern herself.
She rose, stretching her tired limbs. “I just want to see the sunset, Mabel.”
“Do so quickly, then.”
“Yes, I’ll mention that to the sun. Excuse me, could you please hurry it up? My sister doesn’t wish to worry.”
“At least you understand that my worry is for your sake and not merely to ruin your fun.”
“Yes, and I love you for it.” Pippa grinned at her sister before flouncing from the room. She retrieved her spencer jacket and buttoned it as she walked outside, not bothering with her bonnet. She hated the blasted things and how the wind pulled at them and ruined her hair.
The light was fading, the sun falling in a soft sky of faded blue to orange. Pippa walked the pathway, standing on the cliffside and watching the sun dip lower and lower as she turned Gram’s warning and Mabel’s compassionate responses over in her mind. As it stood, William Blakemore confused and enticed her, and she was frightened of how that made her feel.
Pippa wrapped her arms around her middle and watched the sun descend as the water below her turned darker, the white caps bright against the navy water. Cold air swirled her skirts around her legs and danced loose hair across her forehead, and she breathed deeply.
Her neck prickled with awareness, and she turned, spotting a figure down in the cove walking along the sand. He stopped near the water, seemingly heedless of the wave lapping his feet.
Pippa squinted, looking closer. No, he wouldn’t care if the water touched his feet, because his boots had been removed and left further up the beach. It would appear that William Blakemore liked to walk in the surf.
And Pippa was going to join him.
