Page 6 of To Know Miss May

Miss May nodded, backing away after a furtive glance toward August.

“Oh, Miss May,” Ophelia called out.

August breathed a sigh of relief. Finally. His sister must have remembered her manners. She would no doubt ask Miss May to reconsider or invite her to another activity.

“Ye’ve still a few leaves in your ’air,” she said, motioning to Miss May’s head with a gloved finger. “There and there. And there. Also there.”

Those hadn’t been the words of kindness for which August had been hoping.

Miss May’s blush increased. She attempted to pull them out, though four or five remained. “I s’pose they wished to hitch a ride,” she mumbled.

August smiled at her joke, but his sisters didn’t respond.

“’Ave I managed to find ’em all?” Miss May asked.

“Oh, indeed,” Ophelia lied.

Portia stifled a laugh, and August frowned. Was this typical behavior from his sisters, teasing and laughing at other people’s expenses? Or was it just to Miss May? Obviously, they had adopted this poor conduct in the years he’d been absent. There was no possible way Mother and Father were aware of it. They would not allow it to continue if they were.

“Well, we shan’t keep ye from returnin’ to your father any longer, Miss May,” Ophelia said.

Emma averted her gaze as Ophelia latched onto Nicholas, who had remained silent through the ordeal. Such was typical for him, though. He’d always been the most soft-spoken of August’s friends. The last to wed, as well. Excepting August, of course.

“Come, Mr. Cuff,” Ophelia continued. “We must be on our way to see more windows. Good day, Miss May.”

Then she and Portia turned on their heels, not waiting for Miss May to respond.

“Readin’ in the bushes,” Portia said in tones she clearly did not intend to hush. She attached herself to Nicholas’s other arm. “Can ye imagine such a thing?”

Ophelia laughed. “She reads everywhere else, why not in bushes, too?”

Nicholas did not respond, clearly unamused with the comments, though caught in the middle with no way of escaping. Emma watched them walk away before turning an apologetic gaze at Miss May.

August’s stomach pinched. He looked to Miss May, as well, attempting to soften what had just occurred, but she was already backing away. “Thank ye again for your service, Au—Mr. Moon,” she said, stumbling over her words. “Good day.”

August opened his mouth, attempting to stop her, but her footing was quick.

“Miss May,” he called out.

She stopped, turning to face him, though she remained a few feet away. “Yes?”

He scrambled for something to say. An apology? Not with the streets filled—that would surely add to her embarrassment. Should he tell her she still had leaves in her hair?

But as he noted how charming she looked with those leaves bespeckling her locks as enticing as any emerald jewels, how innocent she appeared with those stunning eyes and bedraggled hair, he simply didn’t have the heart.

“I…I believe me family ’as invited your father to dine with us this evenin’,” he said instead. “I ’ope ye will join us, as well.”

He hoped his parents wouldn’t mind. He hadn’t even thought it was strange until that point that Miss May hadn’t been invited to come along with her father, but they had clearly stated that morning that Mr. May would be joining them, not Mr. May and his very attractive daughter. But, why?

Miss May’s brow rose in surprise at his invitation. “Oh, I…yes.”

What exactly she was saying yes to was a mystery to him, but he nodded all the same, smiling as he bowed. “It be wonderful to see ye again after so long. Good day, Miss May.”

She curtsied in silence, then scurried off in the direction of the causeway, leaving August to watch her until she disappeared from his view.

“She be a peculiar girl.”

August looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Emma still standing there. He thought she would have gone with the others by now. He came to stand beside her, looking back at the causeway, though Miss May was no longer in sight.