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“I am trusting you, Miss Mackenzie.” William lifted the tart toward Elinor before popping it in his mouth in its entirety. They’d been made small, but not that small. Surely it was too much for one man’s mouth.
“What do you think of it?” Elinor asked, bouncing on her feet.
William chewed slowly, making exaggerated sounds of enjoying the food. So exaggerated, in fact, that Pippa was absolutely certain he hated it. She fought a smile, and William glanced at her from the side, continuing to chew.
Their eyes locked, and Pippa couldn’t contain her amusement. She broke out in a full grin that stretched over her cheeks and deepened the creases near her eyes. William’s laughing countenance matched hers, and she crossed her arms over her chest.
“You do not like them, do you?” she asked.
William swallowed visibly and looked about the table as though searching for something to drink. “Well, it was a pear tart,” he said with the apparent expectation that that was explanation enough.
“Can you really despise them? They are so sweet. Who would not enjoy a small pie the size of a biscuit?”
“Yes, they are sweet,” he agreed. “Sweet and wet and...granulated.”
Pippa laughed, resting her hand on her full stomach.
Elinor shook her head in confusion. “Perhaps you need to try another one.”
William’s hand rose in a halting expression, and he took a step back. “No, I thank you. I am quite decided in my dislike for that particular fruit.”
He winked at Pippa, and her chest tightened. Must he keep doing that?
William glanced over her shoulder and narrowed his gaze, seemingly looking at something in the distance.
Elinor appeared to have tired of their conversation, for she tugged on Pippa’s sleeve. “I want to see Fanny.”
“I think your mother would prefer if you—”
“I will not go far!” Elinor called, running past them toward a group of girls.
“Stay away from trees!” Pippa yelled back. She faced William again, and he was as still as a marble statue, his blinking eyes the only proof of life. “Mr. Blakemore?”
He didn’t respond. Pippa stepped before him, suppressing her concern. “William, has something happened?”
His eyes flicked down at her, worry lacing their clear blue depths. William said nothing but stepped around her and walked into the crowd.
Pippa wasn’t sure what had frightened him, but one thing was perfectly clear: William was terrified of something.
