Page 80 of The Trouble with Anna

“Oh, just hand me the reins!”

Julian’s lips twitched, but he did. Anna flicked the whip andcaught it, just to show how well she could, and he laughed outright and tipped his hat.

Oh, dash it!she thought several minutes later, the pair trotting neatly out in front of her. Had she let the dratted man distract her again? He took such glee in ferreting out all her secrets, yet he shared so few of his own.

“Julian, how old were you when your father died?”

“Must we talk about my father on a glorious day like this? I’d much rather talk about your excellent driving. All the other earls will be jealous.”

“It’s just that you must have been quite young to carry all that responsibility. Were you seventeen when you became the earl?”

He sighed. “I was fifteen.”

“Did you have someone to help you with the estate?”

“Mmm.”

It was more sound than answer, but Anna persisted. “I suppose you had your Gran to confide in.”

“Gran was busy with Charlotte.”

She frowned. “But Charlotte’s mother was there. Surely she saw to—”

“It’s old history, Anna,” he said curtly. “Leave it.”

“All right.” Anna’s voice was small, but her mind whirred.

It felt as if they were building something big and solid together, but how could it stand if there was a whacking great hole in the middle? Except—Anna frowned—towers were hollow and they stood perfectly well. Also domes. Oh, dash it again! She knew even less about architecture than she did about romance, but she did know that Julian kept a big part of himself separate.

It seemed so terribly lonely, for both of them.

Anna took a deep breath to steady herself. The sun was shining and the length of his leg pressed against hers, warm and solid.

Trust takes time, she reminded herself. They were like twohedgehogs trying to find a way to fit together without poking the other to pieces.

“Oh, look! The road’s clear!” Anna shook the reins and the horses broke into a canter. She let the blue sky and the wind blow all misgivings from her head.

CHAPTER34

ON A WET, GUSTY DAYtwo weeks later, Anna and Charlotte were at Gunter’s, perched on rattan chairs at a small marble-topped table and toying with their ices.

Charlotte pushed hers away. “It’s too cold to eat this.”

“The real problem is that you chose bergamot.” Anna took a bite of her ice and allowed it to melt slowly over her tongue. “You always have to try the strangest flavor when dependable pineapple calls out, ‘Eat me! I’m reliably sweet and delicious!’?”

“If you plan to gloat about your ice, I plan to toss it at you.”

Anna nudged her glass toward Charlotte. “Share with me?”

Charlotte wrinkled her nose. “I’d rather we got to work.”

They’d chosen Gunter’s because between Julian haunting the Dowager’s townhouse and the constant stream of callers, it was becoming increasingly difficult to have a private chat. Gunter’s was normally packed, but the day was chilly enough to keep the crowds away. Besides, Charlotte seemed restless, even more restless than usual, and Anna was determined to dig the reason out of her.

“We’ve lost money this last week, quite a bit of it.” Charlotte eyed her pink notebook with displeasure. “None of our bets at the Downs came through. Anna, you really must concentrate! We’renever going to get anywhere unless you stop mooning over my brother and pay attention to the horses again.”

“I picked last week’s horses as carefully as I picked all of the others! I’m not infallible, you know.”

“Yes, you’ve proved that. Conclusively.”

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