Page 48 of Snapdragons
Her pursuit of him, undertaken as it was with an aim in mind rather than the result of actual affection or unbiased interest, had made him uneasy. But he’d not ever thought she was cruel or heartlessly dishonest or any of the things she’d applied to herself.
“She asked if we could start over again, this time as friends,” Niles said.
“How precisely did she phrase her request to be... friends?” Digby posed the question in a way that told Niles there was significance to the answer.
“She acknowledged that the beginning of our acquaintance had been uncomfortable and suggested we should make a new start.”
Aldric didn’t seem to entirely believe that. Or perhaps he disapproved of the changed approach.
“Do you—Do you think this is simply a new courting strategy of hers?” Niles hadn’t thought that before, but he was wondering a little now.
“I don’t know,” Aldric said. “But I think we all ought to pay attention in case that is precisely what this is.”
I’m not cruel. And I’m not dishonest, at least not intentionally.She’d seemed to him to be entirely sincere.
“If sheisin earnest about beginning over,” Niles said, “do you think I’d be unwise to accept her friendship?”
Aldric shook his head without hesitation, which was reassuring.
“Are you certain friendship is actually what she wants?” Kes asked.
“Do you think she doesn’t? She seemed honest in her request.”
Digby dropped a hand onto his shoulder. “When a lady suggests she beonlyyour friend, that can mean a few differentthings, Puppy, especially if she was interested in something more.”
“Like Miss Hanover changing her tune so suddenly a few years ago?”
Far from embarrassed by the memory, Digby raised a single eyebrow in a show of palpable pride. “I will have you know, she wasdevastated.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Aldric said.
“She traded the possibility of Digby Layton for the reality of Wilbur Garner.” Digby twisted a pearl cuff link. “How could she be anything but devastated?”
“The Garners seem very happy,” Henri countered.
“She is bravely soldiering on,” Digby insisted.
From his writing table, Lucas snorted.
“Monarchs execute jesters with alarming regularity.” Digby’s threat might have held more sway if not for the laugh he was clearly stifling.
Kes was generally a source of reliable information, so Niles turned to him. “What was Digby initially trying to warn me about?”
“A lady saying she wishes to claim merely friendship when that did not previously seem to be her wish can indicate she no longer has any romantic interest, or she never did and has grown weary of pretending otherwise, or that she does not actually wish to be a fellow’s friend but hasn’t thought of a kind way to say as much.”
Niles swallowed. “That’s a long list.”
“Or,” Kes continued, “she actually does wish to be something more than friends but is hoping that by being a little coy or by being less obvious in her wishes, she’ll have greater success.”
“Oh.” Niles tried to sort it in his mind. “So, either she does, in fact, wish to be my friend, or she doesn’tevenwant to be my friend, or this might simply be more of her attempts at courtingbut is disguised as a truce?”
They all nodded.Oh bother.
“Which do you hope it is?” Aldric asked.
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does. How we proceed will be guided by what you want.”
