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Inwardly, she chastised herself. She would not respond to that complete cad of a man. Her spine straightened and she turned away, determined to tell her sister that she needed a private word.
But Tillie had already sat next to Juliet.
Grabbing a plate, she began blindly placing food on the patterned dish until she looked down, realizing she couldn’t eat everything she added in three meals.
With a small shake of her head, she sat down at the table, keeping her chin down as she picked at her food.
She didn’t dare glance up as she took a small bite of her poached egg, wishing for the meal to be over as she tried not to make eye contact with anyone. This was going to be a very long day.
She managed to make it through breakfast, though with her chin tucked into her chest, her sister and Juliet left before Millie noticed. She tried to catch up as they stepped out to the carriage house, but Juliet and Tillie were already being handed into the first carriage. Lord Smith, her mother, and Lady Greenburg joined them, which left Millie to use the second.
Her brother offered his hand and she climbed in, sitting in the forward-facing seat. Then he entered and Lord Rangeley followed him inside.
Why? She wished to cry as she turned her face toward the window. The two men began to discuss farming practices as she did her best to fade into the seat. She should have known that wouldn’t last.
“Millie,” her brother asked. “What do you think?”
Her gaze snapped to her brother’s, but much as she attempted to avoid Lord Rangeley, their gazes collided for a second before she managed to focus in on Benedict. “I beg your pardon?”
Her brother smiled. “About the chance of rain today?”
She looked out the window, not a cloud dotting the blue sky. “A storm is brewing for certain,” she answered, not looking back at either man.
If her brother thought her behavior odd, he didn’t say, but he also didn’t attempt to ask her any more questions as they finished the short drive into the village. They unloaded, Tillie and Juliet waiting for them.
They began in the milliner’s shop, Millie pretending to eye several ribbons as she secretly tried to catch her sister’s gaze. They needed to break away from the party and have a bit of time alone in order for Millie to share the truth. And confess.
Millie pushed down the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach as she stepped around her mother, to try and reach Tillie.
“Millie, dear,” her mother called. “This ribbon here, don’t you think it would go perfectly with that muslin we chose yesterday?”
She made a noncommittal sound as Juliet and Tillie disappeared behind a shelf of bonnets.
Two more stops resulted in no better results until finally, Millie realized her sister and Juliet had managed to disappear altogether.
With a huff of breath, she craned her neck, searching the street, just in time to see the back of Juliet’s dark hair as she disappeared into the bookshop.
Making a snap decision, she followed, lifting her skirt with one hand as she stepped out the door, crossed the street, and entered the dim light of the shop.
Her sister’s voice, muffled from the volume of books sounded from the back. “Oh, this one categorizes various crustaceans.”
Crustaceans?
She started down an aisle, easily finding the two women huddled over a large volume. “Tillie?”
The book snapped shut, as her sister spun, clutching the work to her chest. “What is it?”
Juliet looked at Millie too, her own features taut with guilt but Millie couldn’t even think on it, now. Her thoughts were already full.
Millie wasn’t a fool. She might have to confess to the near kiss and she wouldn’t blame Tillie if she never spoke to Millie again.
But she’d prefer not to make that confession in front of an audience. “I need to speak with you. Privately.”
Tillie shook her head, as her eyes slid to Juliet. “All right. Find me in my room later.”
Millie frowned. When had her sister ever denied her. “It’s important.”
“Important?” Tillie’s brow furrowed as she clutched the book tighter. “Does that mean time sensitive? I’m in search of a few…things and I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to make it to the village again.”
