Page 7 of The Spring Promise
So, there was still a chance Will might be able to change her mind. And when Will was determined on something, there was very little that could dissuade him.
CHAPTERFIVE
Molly was finding the outing surprisingly enjoyable. She had expected to be miserable, watching Will woo his lady love, but she could see that Celeste wasn’t paying any more attention to Will than she was to Mark Hunter. In fact, after watching Celeste for a time, Molly concluded that the other woman was not partial to either of them—she flirted with them equally, yes, but she had seen the woman give that same coy smile of hers to the footman who’d carried in the tea things. So yes, Molly was enjoying herself.
Then Celeste and Will disappeared together.
Molly grew annoyed, and worried, but she could hardly follow them. Not without making matters awkward. So she remained with the others and refused to think about what might be happening with Will and Celeste. Well, shetried, but her mind would not obey.
Were they holding hands and sharing secrets? Or worse, kisses? Was Will proposing to her at this moment, and she saying yes? Would they return all flushed and excited to share the news?
Sir Reginald waxed poetic about the various plants in his collection, where they had come from and what made each special, but Molly’s spirits only sank lower. She wondered if she should make up some excuse and leave. Perhaps she could say she was feeling ill, and that was close enough to the truth.
Molly then realised that Mark Hunter had joined her. Not only that, he had spoken to her and she hadn’t heard a word.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t?—”
“I asked if you were a keen botanist, Miss Lacey?” There was a smile in his brown eyes that she suspected held more than a hint of desperation. Hunter was also staring at the door, as if he also wondered what Will and Celeste were up to. It seemed Molly was in the company of a fellow sufferer, and it did help.
“I wouldn’t call myself a botanist, Mr Hunter, but I like to sit in the garden and smell the roses. Although I do not know their names.” She was about to add that Willdidknow their names but stopped herself. Instead, she inquired, “Are you interested in botany, Mr Hunter?”
Hunter cleared his throat, suddenly self-conscious. “I am, and no one is more surprised by that fact than me. I have even started my own collection in my grandmother’s greenhouse.”
Molly widened her eyes. “I am in awe.”
He gave a soft laugh, his gaze fixed on hers, and she realised that he was a very attractive man. “Allow me to bore you with the particulars of some of my treasures,” he offered, and proceeded to do just that.
He wasn’t boring. Molly found the subject interesting. Or, more accurately, Mr Hunter made it so. The long lectures by Sir Reginald on the contents of his conservatory had bored her, but Mr Hunter’s stories were amusing and interesting.
Then, just as Hunter had finished a story about the perils of importing exotic seeds, Abby Starling arrived—late as usual—and came to join them.
Will’s sister looked flustered, and Molly wondered if she had forgotten to brush her hair. “I saw my brother and Miss Morton on the roof,” Abby said.
Hunter did not seem to understand the significance of this, but Molly did. “Was he… Are you sure?” she said. “On theroof?”
Hunter looked from one to the other, curious. “There is a fine view from up there. It can get a little chilly. Is that a problem for your brother, Miss Starling?”
“Oh no. I mean yes,” Abby stammered. “He has a delicate chest, you see.”
Molly almost groaned aloud. Will had a cast iron constitution. He was never ill and was immensely proud of it. Abby made him sound like one of those invalids who were always coddling themselves with mustard plasters when everyone could see Will was a healthy young man. She wondered whether he would have preferred they share his fear of heights with his rival, rather than a ‘delicate chest’. But then she told herself it was Will’s fault they were in this position. Why had he gone up onto the roof anyway when he had such a morbid fear of heights? Was hethatkeen on Celeste? If anything could prove it, then it was this act of bravery on his part.
Perhaps Will really was lost to her.
Just then, Will and Celeste returned.
Molly could not see any signs of an impending engagement upon their faces. In fact, they didn’t look happy. Apart from being paler than usual—that would be because of the roof—Will wore his stern face, which he used whenever he was hiding his hurt feelings. As for Celeste, she was even more vivacious than before, but now it seemed like a performance for the sake of her guests.
Molly tried to catch Will’s eye, but Mark Hunter began another amusing story about his plant collection. One that turned out to be so amusing that she couldn’t help but laugh. When next she had the opportunity to look at Will, she discovered he was frowning at her.
Well,thatwas odd. Wasn’t she doing exactly as he had asked her to? Amusing Mark Hunter and allowing Will to be alone with Celeste?
Goodness, had Will and Celeste had a falling out?
Molly tried not to get her hopes up. Perhaps it was just a lovers’ tiff, or Will was still recovering from his experience on the roof.
“It’s snowing!” Celeste declared, surprising everyone.
Molly moved with the others to peer out of the windows, wiping away the fog on the glass. There really was snow falling! The younger Starlings liked nothing more than to play in the snow. The last time they had gone out tobogganing, and Molly and Will had taken turns to steer the little ones safely down the hill. They had all ended up happy but exhausted, and Will and Molly had sat together by the roaring fire in Starling Hall. They had taken off their shoes and stockings and wriggled their toes on the hearth.
