“I am not marrying Lord Rycliff,” Susanna insisted. “I don’t know what would cause you to say such a thing.” And she wished the older woman would stop saying it so loud. The man was still on the grounds of Summerfield, and there was no way of knowing when he might wake. He could be awake now.
He might be stretching, flexing those powerful limbs beyond the edges of the mattress and yawning like a grizzled lion.
“Lord Payne has not shown me any particular favor,” Diana said. “Honestly, I don’t wish him to.”
“Pish. The man asked you to cut his hair! He’s titled, handsome as the devil, and rich besides. Pretty as you are, he’ll no doubt offer for you soon. See if you can’t contrive to be trapped in a cove with him. A kiss would do the trick, I warrant.”
“Mama!” Diana and Minerva spoke in unison.
“What is wrong with all of you?” Mrs. Highwood asked, looking from one to the other. “These men are lords. They are powerful, wealthy. You ought to encourage them.”
“Believe me, encouragement is the last thing that’s needed.” Upon speaking the words, Susanna instantly worried. Would Bram take their encounter last night as encouragement? Did she wish him to? They understood each other now, on a level that went more than skin-deep. Assuming he retained some memory of the conversation when he woke.
“Lord Rycliff is not looking for a wife,” she said firmly. “And neither is his cousin. If we were so foolish as to ‘encourage’ them, we would risk not only our own reputations, but the reputation of Spindle Cove.” She looked from woman to woman around the group. “Do you all understand me? Nothing is going on here. Nothing.”
“But, Miss Finch—” Minerva objected.
“Minerva.” Susanna turned to her, hoping her new friend would someday understand and forgive her this harshness. “I am sorry to say it, but you are mistaken in what you saw, and your persistence is becoming wearisome. Lord Rycliff did not attack me yesterday, or any day. Nothing improper has transpired between us. In fact, he only made that jump from the cliff because he thought you had drowned and he hoped to save your life. To impugn his character after that brave, albeit misguided action seems most ungracious. My part in this conversation is concluded.”
Minerva blinked at her, clearly hurt. Susanna felt horrible, but the future of their community was at stake. Where would Minerva hunt her fossils if word reached London of spinsters gone wild, and the Queen’s Ruby was forced to close its doors?
“We’ll be called to tea shortly.” She picked up her basket and headed inside. “Until then, I’ll be in the stillroom, pounding herbs. I’m running low on liniment.”
Kate followed her. “I’ll help.” As they neared the house, she whispered, “How was it? The kiss.”
Susanna suppressed a little cry of frustration.
“You can tell me,” Kate said, propping open the stillroom door. When both had entered, she swiftly shut and locked it behind them. “Miss Finch, you know I won’t tell a soul. I have nowhere else to live but here. Spindle Cove’s fate is my fate, too.”
Susanna leaned against the door and closed her eyes.
“Was it wonderful?”
“Wonderful” wasn’t the word. There were no words to describe the wild, breathless flood of sensation.
And there was no way she could keep it a secret one instant longer. She gave a tiny nod and whispered, “Yes.”
Kate clutched her arm. “I knew it. You must tell me everything.”
“Oh, Kate. I can’t. I shouldn’t even have admitted that much.” She began taking bottles down from the shelves and snipped a bundle of dried St. John’s wort from its string. “And it won’t ever happen again.”
“Don’t you think he means to marry you?”
“Absolutely not. And I have no plans to marry him.”
“I don’t mean to pry,” Kate said. “Truly, I don’t. It’s just my only chance to know. I mean . . . It won’t ever be me, kissed in the cove by a lord.”
Susanna let pestle drop against mortar. “Why wouldn’t it be you? You’re beautiful, and so talented.”
“I’m an orphan of unknown family. A nobody. What’s more, a nobody with this.” She touched the birthmark at her temple.
Susanna set aside her work entirely and placed both hands on her friend’s shoulders, looking her square in the eye. “Kate, if that little mark is your greatest imperfection, then you are surely the most lovely and lovable woman I know.”
“Men don’t seem to agree.”
“Perhaps you’ve been meeting all the wrong men.”
At the echo of Bram’s words to her, Susanna bit back a rueful smile. No matter what happened, life would always be a bit different now. Because at last, Susanna knew what it was to feel desired, flaws and all. She felt the unexpected warmth of it lighting her from the inside, and she wanted Kate to experience the same.
“Your admirer will come along someday. I’m sure of it. But in the meantime . . .” She tugged one of her friend’s chestnut curls. “This is Spindle Cove, Kate. We base our self-worth on our qualities and accomplishments, not just the opinions of gentlemen.”
“Yes, I know. I know.” A sheepish look stole into Kate’s eyes. “But it’s impossible to stop thinking about them, just the same.”
Yes, Susanna silently agreed. It was. And with their leader indisposed upstairs, she suddenly worried what trouble the rest of the men were finding today.
In the shadow of Rycliff Castle, Colin Sandhurst regarded his troops.
They were his troops for the day, he presumed, since his fool cousin remained unconscious. Colin had warned him not to take that ridiculous dive off the cliff, but did Bram ever listen to him? Oh no. Of course not.
He’d half expected the whole militia business to be over after that show of absurdity. But apparently the lure of eight shillings and the promise of high entertainment had brought the recruits back for another day.
He clapped his hands together. “Right, then. Gather round, fellows. Over here.”
Nothing happened.
Thorne shot him a smug look. “Fall in line!” he barked.
The men fell in line.
“Thank you, Corporal Thorne.” Colin cleared his throat and addressed the men. “As you all know, our stalwart commander is currently flat on his back, nursing a head wound. A wound, I might add, given him by a little nothing of a girl. So today, as your first lieutenant, I am in charge. And we’re going to have a different sort of drill today.”