Page 13 of The Best-Laid Plans

“I see the Huntresses have re-formed here in Bath.” Mr. Hughes looked to Charlie and explained. “Miss Lancaster and her cohorts are quite famous in Town.”

“Infamous?” Charlie spoke the incorrect echo with a look of feigned innocence.

Artemis did not rise to the bait but simply stood and waited.

Charlie turned his attention to Ellie. “Have you been conscripted, Miss Ellie?”

“I have joined the brigade willingly,” she said. “Unlike Mr. Hughes, who was most certainly conscripted.”

Newton smiled a little, more than he usually did but less obviously than most people. “My participation is entirely willing as well.”

“And are you terrified?” She allowed her enjoyment of their slightly absurd conversation to show, something she never permitted. Somethingher mothernever permitted.

“On the contrary,” he said. “I find myself increasingly delighted.”

Ellie enjoyed being able to speak so openly and genuinely with someone without having to hide behind the facade her mother had invented for her. During the time she spent with Newton, she would be permitted the freedom to be herself in a way she seldom was.

The group continued on, Daria walking beside Charlie, Artemis and Gillian forming a second grouping, and Ellie and Newton walking side-by-side.

“If we are to make our scheme believable,” Newton said, “we would be well advised to learn a little about each other.”

“I agree,” Ellie said.

“What would you like to know about me?” he asked.

Ellie didn’t have a ready answer. Young ladies were not permitted to be so forward as that. Mother’s warning echoed in her ears, but she pushed it aside. Worrying about disobeying Mother on that matter seemed rather ridiculous when she was disobeying in a much larger way.

“Allow me to begin,” Newton said. “It may be easier that way.”

Ellie nodded her agreement. They passed under a particularly large tree, its expansive branches creating a pattern of dappled light on everything beneath it.

“How old are you?” Newton asked.

Ellie found she could almost laugh. It was such basic information, yet they didn’t know that about each other. “I am nearly nineteen.”

“I am recently turned twenty-one,” he said. “I have also recently finished my time in Cambridge.”

“I am afraid I cannot claim an alma mater,” Ellie said. “I did attempt to slip past the gates of Oxford and gain entry, but it seems my dress and bonnet gave me away. I was tossed out quite unceremoniously.”

Far from being horrified at her ridiculousness, Newton laughed. The laughter did her a world of good. Comments such as the one she had just made had earned her any number of punishments and lectures from her parents. He, however, seemed to appreciate her.

“And what do you mean to do now that you have finished your time at University?” Ellie asked.

“That depends entirely upon whom you ask.”

“Do you always answer questions with riddles?”

He smiled, again that barely discernible smile. “The sad result of not enough practice, I suppose.”

“I have noticed your tendency to keep your peace,” she said.

A little hesitation entered his expression. “Do you consider such to be a failing?”

She adjusted her arm, set in the crook of his, so she walked a touch closer. “Not a failing at all.”

He did not speak again for several long moments, but it was not an uncomfortable silence nor an offended one. Though nothing about him changed outwardly, Ellie felt certain he was more relaxed, more at ease.

“What are these varying views on your post-University pursuits?” she asked.

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