Page 109 of To Know Miss May

“Would I know ’im?” he asked, attempting a light tone, though he feared his anger deepened his voice too greatly.

Livvy didn’t respond for a moment. Then she whispered, “Yes.”

His chest tightened further. So he knew the dastardly man, did he? Perhaps August could approach him. Tell him to keep away from the woman he loved. Perhaps…

He stopped, feeling Livvy’s eyes on him. Slowly, he turned to face her, and realization hit. She’d been speaking of him. Relief rushed through him, followed swiftly by a small degree of indignation when he saw the playful light in her eyes.

“Ye little pisky,” he said softly.

A stunning grin split across her lips. “It be what ye deserve after makin’ me wait to dance with ye all night.”

His smile faltered. “I be sorry ’bout that. Truly. But I ’ad to…” He hesitated. He knew he needed to tell her the truth. He had to tell her everything. But he’d already decided that that night was not the time, nor the place. His family was too close, as was Emma.

So he would keep it to himself for one evening more. And tomorrow, he would tell her the truth, beg her forgiveness, and pray that she might still feel for him how she felt for him that night.

Right now, however, he could speak the other truth burning within him, growing brighter and brighter with each moment he spent with her.

Drawing in another deep breath and pulling up the courage he’d felt before, August shifted on his seat to peer closer at Livvy.

“Truth be told,” he said, capturing her eyes with his, “I wanted to ask ye to dance from the beginnin’. And though I can’t tell ye now why I didn’t, I can say that the dance I shared with ye, though cut short, was the finest I’ve e’er shared with anyone.”

A blush brushed across her cheeks, and she looked away, though a soft dimple appeared as she smiled. “I don’t ’ave as much experience as I do as ye with dancin’, but I can say I felt the same way with ye.”

His heart skipped a beat, and he stared down at her bare hands held together in her lap, the gloves she’d worn resting on the table beside them. How he longed to reach out to her, to touch her, to hold her as he had during their dance.

“May I ask ye a question, Livvy?” he asked instead, staring at the fire dancing in her eyes.

She nodded in silence.

“’Ow did ye know I could sing?”

Her lips parted in surprise, then she shook her head. “Ye don’t give up, do ye?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “’Tis a blessin’ and a curse. Or so me mother says.”

She hummed, her smile fading away. “Ye’ll think I be e’en odder than ye already do.”

“’Tisn’t a bad thing to be odd, remember?”

She nodded, appearing deep in thought as she stared into the flames. “I used to watch ye when I was younger,” she whispered, even softer than before. “When ye’d tend to the flowers behind your ’ome. I used to sneak into me father’s room and watch ye from above.”

August had suspected as much. He only ever sang when he was alone. But to hear her admit to watching him lightened the burden he still carried round his shoulders.

“I ne’er did it for long, mind,” she continued. “Just long enough to ’ear a few lines. It was after me mother died, and listenin’ to ye, for one reason or another…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt comforted.”

August stared at her, tears pooling in her eyes like water clinging to sapphires. He’d longed to be some sort of comfort for this woman, to bring her peace in whatever way he could. So now, to hear that he’d done so without even realizing it, he could no longer keep himself from her.

Slowly, he reached forward, resting his hand over hers in her lap.

She stared down at his fingers, and he wondered if she felt the same energy, the same heat, surging through her skin as he felt upon his. She didn’t move for a moment, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath before she opened her hand further, allowing his fingers to curl around hers.

Finally, she looked up at him, a slight smile on her lips which he readily returned.

“Thank ye,” she whispered.

“For what?”

Had he done something more? His swirling thoughts and burning heart filled with love for this woman was muddling all of his senses.