Page 13 of The Spring Promise
“You look beautiful tonight, Molly.”
Startled, she blurted out, “Have we begun already?”
Will’s shoulders shook with contained laughter—he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t sure whether he was amused or had reached the limits of his sanity. “Do you want me to go outside and come in again?”
Colour flooded Molly’s face. “Be quiet. You never say those sorts of things to me, so how was I to know?”
Didn’t he? Will often thought them, but perhaps she was right and he rarely spoke the thoughts aloud. He wasn’t a verbose sort of person, and certainly wasn’t a sophisticated London gentleman like Hunter. After his failure with Celeste, he had given up pretending to be someone other than what he was. Plain, ordinary Will Starling, but with an added sting of sarcasm.
The orchestra began to play one of the more popular tunes of the day, and Will held out his hand again. “Shall we?” he asked, his gaze on hers.
She nodded and took his hand and allowed him to lead her out onto the floor to join several other couples. Breana was there, dancing with one of the Norris boys—to him they all looked the same—and he hoped she behaved herself. One never knew what might come out of her mouth when she was overexcited.
Next he saw his parents, who were watching him dance with Molly. They were smiling from the edge of the dance floor, as if the sight pleased them, which he supposed made sense. They had known Molly since the day she was born, and they all loved her.
After another turn around the room, he spotted Celeste and Sir Reginald, along with Mark Hunter. At least the cad wasn’t dancing with her.
“Ouch, you are squeezing my hand,” Molly whispered irritably. “Whatever is the matter with you?”
Will eased his grip. “Sorry. Hunter is over there. You wish to make the man jealous. Should I circle in front of him and show off my superb dancing skills?”
“Better not.” He could hear the warm amusement in her voice. “Wait a while, and then you can flirt with me where he can see us.”
Will thought for a moment. “How do I flirt? If my luck with Celeste is any measure, I’m not very good at it.”
Molly sighed. “No, I suppose you aren’t. Well, first of all, you smile and make promises with your eyes, Will.”
Make promises with his eyes? He tried to imagine what that even meant as they danced. It seemed Molly had caught quite a bit of male attention from the crowd, apart from Hunter, who was still speaking to Celeste and her uncle. Probably boasting about more of their ugly plants.
“That isn’t kind, Will,” Molly scolded him. Only then did he realise he had spoken aloud. “Just because they are not vegetables doesn’t mean they are not important. In a hundred years’ time, people will applaud Sir Reginald for his work.”
“In a hundred years’ time, my descendants will applaud mine,” he retorted. “I plan to make some great innovations in crop management next year, and the breeding program for my sheep is going very well.”
Her eyes were alight with laughter, and a smile trembled on her lips. Just for a moment, his mind went completely blank. He had called her beautiful before, and he realised she was—she put everyone else in the room to shame.
“Will, are you all right?” Molly sounded concerned and had a strange frown on her face. “Don’t worry, we don’t have to do this for long. Just a little flirting and you can consider yourself released from your promise.”
He nodded, swallowed, and found his voice. The dancing had stopped and it was time to enact their plan. “Of course,” he said. “Let us flirt.”
She giggled as he led her over to the Mortons and Hunter, who looked up at them in surprise. Hunter smiled at Molly and gave a practised bow.
“Miss Lacey! I was just telling Sir Reginald and Miss Morton about my latest acquisition.”
“A man eating cactus, is it?” Will asked.
Celeste frowned and Molly dug her elbow into his side.
“Not quite,” Hunter laughed politely. “ADendrobium densiflorum. It is a type of orchid from the Dutch East Indies, and very rare. I was lucky to hear about it from a botanist in Edinburgh.”
“Indeed you were, my boy,” Sir Reginald put in, eying Will with disfavour. “Verylucky. I think you should write to the gardens at Kew about it. They might want a look.”
“Assuming it doesn’t eat them,” Will said, not quite under his breath.
Hunter ignored him. “I might do that,” he said, but it seemed he couldn’t take his eyes off Molly. “Perhaps you would like to see it, Miss Lacey? My grandmother has reminded me to invite my friends to afternoon tea, and I have been remiss in not doing so before now.”
“We could all come,” Celeste said quickly. “I would certainly like to see this specimen.”
“Of course,” Hunter said, but Will thought he was perhaps less enthusiastic than before. “And what about you, Starling?”
