Page 55 of Snapdragons
Penelope leaned closer to Niles and, in an overly loud whisper, said, “He’s a grumpy horse.”
Niles sighed dramatically. “Alas, grumpiness is an inseverable aspect of his character.”
“Not unlike the remaining hints of my Irish accent.”
“Except,” Niles said, “your accent is beautiful. His grumpiness is tiring.”
“Do you truly like m’ accent?” Penelope asked. “So few in England seem to think well of it. We’re taught from so young to affect an English manner of speaking, though I never entirely managed it.”
“Few in England care for a Cornish accent, so I can empathize.”
She smiled softly. “You don’t have a Cornish accent.”
“I do now and then.”
“Truly?” Her eyes pulled wide. “Could I hear it sometime?”
“You want to hear me talk West Country?” He couldn’t imagine why.
She set her hand lightly on his arm. “I would love to. I really would.”
The touch of her hand sent a tingle of awareness through him. Ladies had set their hands on his arm before—when being led out for a dance or when taking a turn about a room with him—but the experience had never resulted in anything butindifference. He didn’t think poorly of those young ladies, nor did he think them unworthy of being thought well of. He’d simply discovered as a young man that he was not the sort of person who grew infatuated easily. He sometimes wondered if he was doomed to never fall in love. He wanted to. He knew he could be happy if he finally met someone his heart could be that wholly attached to. But he’d never even come close.
Until now.
A lifetime of feeling lonely and a little broken, then this Irish whirlwind arrived in his life, upending everything and making his hands tingle and his heart pound. It was exhilarating, yet somehow terrifying.
“I’m sorry there’s nowhere for you to sit,” he said, falling back on civilities while his mind was spinning. “This outbuilding is entirely empty.”
She shook her head, still smiling, though no longer touching his arm. “No matter. I like being on my feet.”
“So do I.”
“So do I,” Lucas enthusiastically called over to them.
It was both funny and a timely reminder that there were other people around.
Niles said to Penelope, “Lucas is far less obnoxious when Julia is with him.”
She laughed as she turned to Violet. “We should explain why we’re here.”
“Yes, of course.” Violet stood with Kes’s arm around her, though she spoke to them all. “Mr. Seymour has declared that he and his sister will depart for Ireland the day after tomorrow.”
Though Niles felt certain he kept his expression neutral, the only way to describe what he felt in that moment was panic. He’d waited all his life to feel even an inkling of what the Gents had described when they’d experienced various adorations over the years, a tenderness that, according to those among themwho were now married, had intensified and deepened as they’d fallen ever more in love with their now-wives. After a lifetime of wondering if he ever would, he felt the first minute whispers of that, and the lady who’d inspired it was leaving.
Violet continued on, oblivious to his anxiety. “Penelope has decided she doesn’t want to go to Ireland; she would like to remain. But being a woman and laws and expectations being what they are, she can’t simply stomp her foot and refuse to go.”
Penelope wanted to stay. Hope began to glimmer once more.
“So, to give her time to sort everything out, we decided to borrow a page from Julia’s book of ingenious strategy and utilize the same approach that kept Nicolette from being required to return to France whenherbrother made a similar declaration.” Violet was one of the most enthusiastic people any of them had ever known. She was genuinely happy and optimistic, even more so now that she and Kes were building a life together. “As Julia is not here to make the offer, I would like to do so.” Violet looked at her husband. “This impacts you, so we’ve come to ask if you have any objections. It wouldn’t be a permanent arrangement, only until she can determine what is needed for her to take up residence at her property in Surrey.”
“Of course,” Kes said. “We’ll do whatever we can to make certain her options remain open.”
Violet turned to Penelope once more. “Shall we move forward with our plan, then?”
Penelope nodded eagerly. “Thank you,” she said to Violet and Kes.
She was remaining for a time. Shifting from unspoken panic to soul-deep relief was proving exhausting. Niles had long bemoaned his lack of infatuations and adorations, but he was now beginning to suspect he’d unknowingly avoided years of swinging on an emotional pendulum.
