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There was no movement outside the cottage when she arrived, so Pippa picked her way quietly across the front garden toward the window that she knew would lead into the kitchen. It was wise to speak to Lily, however briefly, to establish a purpose for being on Blakemore property.
Pippa stepped up to the kitchen window and peeked into the house. It was dim inside, and she had to squint to see. There was a figure on the far end of the room, and it looked—
Good heavens. Pippa pulled herself away from the window and flattened her back against the wall before she could be seen. She blinked the image from her mind, her breaths coming rapidly. Tears threatened, needling her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Lily was wrapped in William’s arms, kissing him so heavily that Pippa couldn’t tell when one of them began and the other ended. Her stomach fell clear to the ground. She’d wanted so badly to be wrong about William, to believe the way he made her feel was real. But it was impossible to argue with the truth plainly present before her eyes.
A giggle floated from within the house and slapped her, and Pippa straightened. She wanted to get out of there fast, to not be discovered while learning the awful truth.
Motion in the trees alerted her to the presence of another person coming her way and she panicked, hurriedly wiping the tears from her cheeks and drying her hands down her gown. If Mr. Ainsworth had followed her, she would rather not have to explain her sudden burst of emotion.
Pippa looked up when the footsteps grew louder, and her eyes locked on William coming from the path in the woods.
But, how?
She rubbed at her eyes again, but he did not change. Pippa turned back for the window and peeked inside. She found Lily still wrapped in the arms of a man, but it wasn’t William. It was Roger.
Roger Blakemore.
Now that she looked closer, she could see his blond hair shadowed in the dim kitchen, his face buried in Lily’s neck. The pieces shifted and moved into place, and the truth smacked Pippa in the gut.
She and Lily had not been speaking about the same Mr. Blakemore. It was so clearly obvious now, Pippa felt keenly ridiculous for not having noticed before. Had either of them mentioned a Christian name during their conversations? Clearly, they’d both assumed “Mr. Blakemore” to be theirs. Pippa hardly spared Roger a thought in general, and she never thought of him as Mr. Blakemore, though she couldn’t exactly say why that was.
It was the only explanation that made sense, especially given the current evidence in the Blakemores’ kitchen. She hoped Lily had come to that same conclusion before this embrace occurred.
But more than that, this meant that her estimation of William’s character had not been as off-kilter as she’d believed.
Cool relief flushed through Pippa’s body even as she found his gaze pasted to her.
Pippa hurried across the lawn, meeting him at the mouth of the lane before he could speak and draw attention from the lovers inside. She would need to speak to Lily, but she didn’t want to do so now.
William paused as she approached. She glanced both ways to be certain Mr. Ainsworth hadn’t followed either of them, then took William by the hand and tugged him back down the path and into the woods.
“Do you have a spare minute?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, though he sounded confused. She didn’t blame him. She hadn’t tried to hide how deeply she’d been avoiding him. He must think her the strangest creature.
“Good.”
Pippa pulled William away from the path and through the trees until she felt properly hidden. Surely even if Mr. Ainsworth had followed either of them, he would have stopped further back. She did not see a soul.
William’s hand tightened around hers. She slipped her hand free and stepped back. She needed space or her judgment would surely be clouded.
“Still upset with me, I see.” He didn’t look pleased, but he’d willingly followed her through the trees, so he couldn’t be too angry with her.
“No, not upset. Not any longer.”
His dark eyebrows lifted. “May I ask what I did to earn your ire in the first place? And furthermore, what did I do to dispel your frustration?”
“Nothing.”
“You will not wound me by speaking the truth.”
“No, William. I mean it. You did nothing. I was under the impression that...well, suffice it to say that I believed ill of you when you’ve done nothing wrong. I was mistaken. I did not trust you when you assured me that you did not give Lily cause to believe you loved her.”
“Lily? Truly, I have not—”
“I know this now. She’s currently wrapped in Roger’s arms as we speak. Though perhaps I ought to have interfered and ended that before they were discovered by someone with a slippery tongue.”
