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“Henry says I will attract more interest if I am unattainable, and he hopes to make his love jealous with my company,” she replied without shame.
“If you two continue on like this, people will think you truly are to be engaged,” Theodore said to them.
Hathor and Henry looked to each other. “His point has merit. You should consider speaking to other young ladies, as well.”
“To then be seen as a rake? Or worse, desperate? Never. Besides, she would then know I only sought to make her envious.” He nearly cringed at the mention of it, and Hathor nodded as if she understood the absurdity.
“Do you not worry that you may come to fall in love with each other with all this proximity?” I asked.
They both looked at me as if I were mad.
“Verity, do not be ridiculous. This is real life, not a play.” Hathor huffed, turning her back to me and continuing on, her parasol twirling as she went.
I glanced at Theodore, and he merely shook his head at the sight of them before saying, “I do not know who is behaving more ridiculously, them or us.”
“It is most certainly them.”
“You are biased in our favor.”
“I quite like the words us and our.” I smiled, closing the gap that had formed between us and Henry and Hathor. Theodore was never out of step with me. He said not a word in return, which I had learned over the last few days meant he agreed with me but would not dare say it aloud.
We had spoken much over the past few days…and found ourselves kissing much more as well. I tried not to think of those moments, all of me flushing with warmth at the thought of his hands as they gripped me…as they cupped my breasts…how soft his lips were.
…No.
I pushed those memories out of my mind so I could think of the other things we spoke about. Like how I had learned of his time in university and his trips across the country in search of different doctors to learn from. And I shared about my time riding horses and walking in Everely. My world was much smaller than his, it seemed, but he listened as though I had traveled to some foreign land filled with intrigue. The thing I liked the most was his honesty. No matter what I asked, he was always sincere, pushing me to ask even more. I was determined to know more of him than anyone else in this world.
I glanced up at him in our silence only to see he was looking at me. I looked away so as not to smile.
“What are you thinking of?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“That is surely not true. Tell me.”
I looked to the pond, not wanting to say it to his face. “I was thinking how I wished to know you better than anyone else in the world.”
Silence again.
I knew what it meant, but still, I turned to look at him when he did not respond. However, he was looking not at me but at a dark-haired woman dressed in soft yellow in the far distance. She stood among a group of women speaking, though her eyes did wander to him as well.
“Do you know her?” I asked, but Henry was right beside him before I could even blink, turning him around playfully.
“I feel as though we have dragged these poor young ladies far enough, my friend. Why don’t we return?” He pretended to laugh as he took Theodore away from me.
“What has happened?” I looked to Hathor, as she was now at my side.
“The Marchioness of Whitmear is here,” she whispered despite our distance from the woman in yellow she was clearly motioning to.
Theodore’s stepmother. She was rather youthful and petite, with a round face and dark hair.
“How horribly awkward,” Hathor said as we began to walk behind them. “It might be best if he simply leaves.”
I frowned. “Why would he leave? It is not as though she owns the park.”
“Of course. However, with both of them here, there is sure to be even greater talk.”
“There shall be talk either way. Should he run, it would seem like he has done something shameful. Last I checked, being born illegitimate is not a sin of his making.”
“Why are you getting so upset?” Hathor frowned. “I am not the one who made the rules.”
I tried to calm myself. “I know. But it all seems…so unfair. I dislike it.”
“Yes, well, there is nothing we can do except never find ourselves in such a situation.” She shuddered at the thought. But then her mood brightened, and I thought it was because she had found some solution. “Should we take a boat out on the water?”
I was not in the mood for that. “With our luck, someone may very well fall in this season and need to be rescued.”
