Page 81 of Bane Bloom

I brought my gaze slowly back round to her face. She paused, lips parted, eyeing me expectantly.

“You see clearly, Mrs. Foss,” I said. “And from the day you first came to Buttermere, you have been kind to me. So much so that others have begun to thaw. But what you seem to be suggesting . . . it’s not possible. For reasons you could not even guess at. I would never inflict such a fate on someone I care for.”

Her brows lifted slightly. “Perhaps Cricket should be allowed to choose her fate.”

Bared

“Here we are.”

Ham returned with my cider, and I drank half of it in one go.

He laughed. “I hope you’re not steeling your nerve for our dance.”

I forced a smile. “No indeed. I was parched.”

The musicians played a few opening bars, and couples began moving to the center of the room.

“Shall we?” he asked, reaching out a hand.

He led me to the floor as squares formed for a quadrille. I thanked heaven we wouldn’t waltz. I didn’t think I could hide my emotion well enough for that.

The violin and pipe, along with the many candles and the rustic charm of the old inn, lent the moment a timeless feel. It might have been the Middle Ages rather than a new age of industry.

As we began the dance, I noticed two things at once. The light outside was fading, and Thomas was no longer speaking with Annie, but opening the front door.

We spun and I missed my footing, but my capable partner saved me from stumbling.

I found myself blurting out, “Ham—forgive me. I must go.”

His brows lifted. “Now?”

“I’m afraid I must speak to Thomas before he leaves for the evening.”

We were slowing and had already caused confusion in our square. I could feel eyes on me. No doubt this was quite feral ballroom behavior, even for “the very wilds of England.”

“Of course,” he said falteringly, “if you must.”

His disappointment was plain, and it stung my conscience. He’d been nothing but kind to me. But I was determined to see Thomas, and unless I went now, it would have to wait at least until morning.

To one side of the floor, I noticed Annie murmuring with her mother-in-law, and then Mrs. Foss was moving to join us. “If you’ll allow me to mend the breach, Hamish?”

He took her hand as they swung back into position, though his eyes followed me. I paused when I reached Annie. “I’m so sorry,” I said.

“It’s all right, Cricket,” she replied, squeezing my arm. “Now be quick and catch up to him. I don’t like the idea of you wandering around alone on such a night.”

I flashed her a grateful smile, then dashed to the door and stepped out into the cool night air.

It was nearly dark, but the clouds had cleared and the moon peeked over the fells to the east, waning but still big and bright. Rounding the corner of the inn, I saw Thomas’s cart but no Daisy. Heart in my throat, I glanced up and down the road. I’ve missed my chance.

But then I recalled him mentioning he’d taken Daisy to the stable, and I noticed a tall figure striding past The Fish Inn—the last building before a faint track led toward the fields and the lake beyond.

I followed, and I very nearly called out to him. Yet when I imagined the conversation we’d have, I thought better of it. He’ll only send me back. Thomas had told me much, but he was still hiding something. It was the reason he kept pushing me away, I felt sure of it. And he was never, of his own free will, going to tell me what it was.

So I stumbled along in the moonlight, trying to keep him in sight without giving myself away. Wherever he was going, he seemed in a great hurry to get there, which was probably the only reason he didn’t notice my clumsy pursuit.

The track wove between stone walls and wooden fences toward the end of the lake opposite Pine Cottage. I thought he must be going to meet someone, but who at this time of night, when the whole village was at The Mill?

The first time he’d disappeared, I’d wondered whether he had a woman somewhere, and I wondered again now. He’d told me he’d refused Nyv’s invitation to become her consort, but it now occurred to me that it didn’t necessarily mean there was nothing between them. He might desire her without wishing to be bound to her forever. That could help explain—and perhaps justify—her jealousy. Also, why he might push me toward Hamish. I’d gotten the sense that he wished to be free of her, but maybe I had misunderstood. Maybe it was more complicated than that.