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Chapter 12
It was about late morning, the day after the ball. Everyone had slept in, then gotten together for a late brunch. After the group had breakfasted, Dinah had gotten all of the young people to go blackberry picking.
Lucy was dressed in a lightweight white cotton dress, her straw bonnet, and the black ribbon in a bow beneath her chin. The heels of her little half-boots sunk into the damp earth as she walked.
No one was really talking. They all walked in silence, for the most part. It had been a late night and Lucy felt a little sleepy, even after two cups of strong tea with toast.
As they all walked in a large group, Mr Sweet kept attempting to sidle up next to her. She was able to keep putting another person between them, but in order to do so, she had to be on the alert at all times. Mr Sweet was quite determined to proclaim his affections for her, yet again. She had to keep steeling herself. His presence was intoxicating, and if she didn’t watch, she’d end up engaged to him by accident.
Dinah slipped her arm into Lucy’s. She leaned in to whisper to Lucy happily. “Reginald just told me that he’s going to ask my father for his permission!”
“Oh, Dinah! That’s wonderful news!”
Dinah was beaming, clearly thrilled. She squeezed Lucy’s arm. “This weekend has been the best of my life,” she said. “Not only have I met my future husband, I believe that you and I shall be good friends.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Lucy confirmed.
“After you leave, I will be happy to write to you,” Dinah said, hopefully.
“I would expect nothing less.” The idea of continuing her friendship with Dinah pleased Lucy. The two of them had similar tastes and opinions. Their letters would be food for thought.
“Do you have any prospects?” Dinah asked her. “I saw you dancing with several gentlemen last night—all of them unmarried!”
“No.” Lucy’s stomach did a flip as she recalled the night before. Too much had happened, and all of it she wished she could make go away. If she could do that night over, she would have stayed by her aunt’s side and refused all offers of dancing.
Dinah frowned, though the corners of her lips were quirked upward. “Oh, come now, Lucy. Don’t you want to be wed?”
“What’s the point?” Lucy asked, raising her voice so that Mr Silas Sweet could overhear and, perhaps, be deterred. “Unless you must, for financial reasons. I don’t need to. I’ve got a comfortable home and inheritance.”
“For love,” Dinah replied, nudging her gently with an elbow.
Lucy sighed, shaking her head. She had been down that road once before and she knew how it ended. “Men cannot be trusted.”
“Not all men or gentlemen are the same,” Dinah argued.
“I cannot be swayed,” Lucy told her. “Not when my experience has always been so.”
Dinah’s brow was furrowed, but she relented. “Very well. Although, I hope, for your sake, that someday you are proven very wrong, and some man loves you, as you so richly deserve.”
Lucy’s throat tightened. Her friend’s sentiment moved her. It also caused her a very sharp pain, for she knew that it would never happen. No man was capable of loving her as she ought to be. It wasn’t possible. She was too opinionated and headstrong.
They had arrived at the berry patch, which was right up against the woods. Lucy and Dinah began to set to. Lucy had never picked fresh berries before and she began to fill her basket, marvelling at their sweet scent.
Beside her, Dinah laughed. “I like to sneak one every now and then,” she confessed, winking and then popping a berry into her mouth. Lucy laughed, then turned back to her task.
Lucy picked one particularly large berry, then, glancing around to see if anyone was watching, she popped it into her mouth and bit into it. She closed her eyes as the sweetest, warm juice spread across her tongue. Lucy loved berries, but she had never had a berry fresh from the vine before. It tasted of sunshine.
Further back, under the cover of the trees, Lucy found a particularly thick patch of them, and fixed her sights on it. The berries were dark jewels, set against the green leaves. Lucy was determined to recall the colours and the way that the berries clustered for a painting for later.
She began to pick, following the patch deeper into the woods. In the shade of the canopy, it was cool and dark. Her mind was so intent on her task, she didn’t realize that she had gotten away from Dinah, or even the rest of the group.
As she plucked berries, she found herself thinking of Silas’s lips, and how soft they had been, pressed against her own. She thought of how her whole body had seemed to open at the feel of his hand on her lower back, pulling her close to him. She had felt his warmth through her thin peignoir and nightgown, and the hardness of his muscles underneath her hands.
Suddenly, there was a hiss from near where she had just placed her foot. Jarred from her thoughts, she looked down in time to see the adder, which she had nearly stepped on.
It was large and dark, with a zigzag pattern along its back, coiled up underneath one of the blackberry bushes. It reared its head back, its black eyes glittering.
Lucy screamed, jumping back just as it struck. It barely missed her right leg, as she continued backing away from it. Her heart was pounding in her chest. As she moved back, she bumped into someone behind her. A hand steadied her, gently taking her arm.
