Page 4 of The Spring Promise
Will looked shocked, and for the first time, actually met her eyes. “Don’t say that, Molly,” he begged her. He sat down beside her and took her hands. They were as limp as dead fish, as bereft of vitality as the rest of her, but he squeezed them as if trying to bring life back into them.
“We have been friends for as long as I can remember. You are the one person I can rely on. Always.”
He looked flushed yet hopeful, his blue eyes shining, and Molly felt more than just a little sick. She was sure her smile had gone seriously awry. But once again, he did not appear to notice.
“What do you want me to do?” she said reluctantly.
“I had hoped you could distract Hunter. You are pretty, and he is a terrible flirt. You would have no trouble capturing his attention. And then, when Celeste sees his affections are so easily turned, she will realise that I am the better prospect.”
It was a decent plan, she supposed. If only it didn’t sting so much. Molly pulled a face, trying to tug her hands from his, but he held on tight.
“Please,” he begged, sounding desperate in a way she had never heard before. “Help me this once and I will…I will…” He chewed on his lip as he tried to think of a suitably tempting lure. “Please, I promise whatever you want from me will be yours! I swear it.”
Whatever I want from him?Except the only thing she wanted was the very thing he was about to give another woman. But she couldn’t tell him that. He would stare at her in guilt and dismay, and then in pity. Bad enough he had been oblivious to her feelings for him for all these years, but she could not bear for him to feel sorry for her.
“How do you know Mr Hunter will find me to his taste?” she said at last.
Will laughed. “How can he not?” Then, with a sly grin, “So you will do it? Help me?”
What could she say?
No! She could sayno. Sheshouldsay no!
But Will had been her friend forever and explaining to him now that she didn’t want any part of his plan because of her feelings for him would only break them apart. And then he wouldknowabout her feelings for him, and then he and Celeste would discuss it between them, and then they would shake their heads. The poor girl Molly. What a pity. What a foolish little girl…
No, justno.
“I will help you, Will,” she said quietly.
He almost bounced up from his seat. “Thank you,thank you, dear girl! I am engaged for a picnic with Celeste and her uncle on Saturday.”
“A picnic?” she repeated. “The weather has been so uncertain this spring. What if it rains?”
“Ah, it is a picnic in the conservatory. Sir Reginald wants to show us some rare plant he’s found.” He grimaced. “Will you come with me? Abby will be there.”
Molly smiled. Will’s sister was almost as dear to her as Will was. If things went awry, then she could stay close to Abby and ignore everybody else.
“You’ll see, Molly. It won’t be so bad. You might even enjoy yourself. And thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.”
He went on about his plans, but Molly had stopped listening. She was considering what she would wear to the picnic. Making Mr Hunter become infatuated with her seemed unlikely, but if she played her part, then at least Will could see that she had tried.
While the man she loved wooed and proposed to Celeste Morton.
He had made a promise to Molly—anything she wanted. And though she could not ask for the one thing she truly wanted—his heart—she would always have his trust and friendship.
Perhaps that promise would come in handy one day.
CHAPTERFOUR
The day turned out to be dreary outdoors, but inside the conservatory it wasalmostcosy, though far too steamy for Will. The lush vegetation that surrounded them seemed as threatening as ever, and he eyed a particularly large plant with serrated leaves that he imagined was preparing to attack him. Meanwhile, the other guests cooed as they admired the array of botanical treasures that Sir Reginald had collected over many years.
Will tried to look interested. He even asked a question, and thought he was hiding his boredom and discomfort quite well. It would be different if he was in the kitchen garden at Starling Hall, where he could have named every vegetable and how it was best served. He also knew the names of all the roses in the walled garden and which ones had the sweetest perfume.
Butthis… He found no pleasure in it at all. As much as he longed to become the person he needed to be for Celeste’s sake, he struggled. It was as if he was trying to force himself into a shape he did not fit, and it frustrated him that no matter how he tried he could not seem to do it.
Molly was silently laughing at him. Will could see it in the malicious sparkle in her green eyes, so at odds with her polite expression. Just as well Abby wasn’t here yet or they would both be teasing him. His sister was helping their mother with some last-minute household matter or other and had told Will to make her apologies to the Mortons.
“I will be late,” she had said, “but I’m sure I won’t be missed. Not byyou, anyway.”
