Page 8 of A Maid's Fateful Courtship
“Here, let me carry that basket for you,” Ethan offered, but Josephine pulled it away with sudden speed.
Whatever is he thinking? “I fear not, my Lord. It will not be fitting for you to be seen carrying a servant’s burdens, will it?” Josephine declared, averting her eyes so she would not see the hurt in his, but he had to face the truth.
Josephine once again picked up the pace. She had allowed this to go too far but she had been so delighted to see Ethan that she almost forgot her manners. Picking up the pace again, she walked slightly ahead of Ethan and Lettie.
“Owww!” she heard Ethan cry out behind her, and she turned to note pain etched on his face.
Panicking, she dropped her basket and backtracked to see what had happened to him. As she got closer to Ethan, she knew something was wrong.
“Ethan! Ethan!” she called out. “Whatever has happened?’
Arriving by his side, she noticed he was holding onto his right hand. Taking the greatest of care, she took his hand in hers to look to observe what had happened.
Realising the truth of the situation, she almost burst out into laughter. “Oh, dear me! You have only been stung by an insect. Stop making such a fuss, young Ethan. You should not have tried to take the basket.”
“I wanted to help but I can see my offer was unwanted,” Ethan said. “Besides, this thing hurts!"
“You always had a low tolerance for pain. I do recall, though, you were once stung as a child and your arm puffed up. Then again, you would make a fuss if you scraped your knee, or caught a thorn in your hand,” she chided.
As he pulled his hand away from hers, Josephine wondered if it annoyed him that she was making fun of him.
“I am not a child anymore, Josephine,” he pointed out in a deep voice. She could tell that she had hurt his pride and that he was not too pleased about it.
Josephine could see by the scowl on his face, and it told her she had gone too far. “I am sorry, Ethan, I should not make fun of you now that you are a man. but I was right about you having a strange reaction when you were stung as a child,” she reminded him. “You were ill for days and—"
Ethan raised his arm up to cut her short. "I have said that I am fine,” he emphasised. Josephine was surprised that she could still manage to hurt his feelings after all this time.
Josephine had a sudden feeling of panic. "Thinking how bad your reaction to that bee sting was back then, I think we should hurry back to the house. I fear history may repeat itself,” she told him, feeling bad about making fun of him.
She went to collect her fallen basket, not even bothering to pick up the straggling wildflowers that had spilled out. All she could focus on was getting Ethan back to the house where help was at hand.
“Lettie," she called out, "I want you to hurry ahead and warn the Missus that the lord needs urgent assistance.”
Now was not the time for niceties, she wanted Lettie to make haste and get help fast.
Josephine realised that she was now alone with Lord Ethan, but she had no time to care about etiquette.
“I am feeling rather queasy,” he told her. “Though, I have to say, Josephine, I do not think it anything to do with the sting. My sudden ailment is more to do with seeing you again.”
“I make you feel ill?” Josephine questioned with a wide-eyed stare.
“No, I do not mean it like that,” he answered, grinning at her. “From the moment I recognised that blue bonnet, I could not wait to be by your side. And then I discovered how beautiful you have grown. It has stirred feelings in me that I have never—”
“Shh, Lord Ethan,” Josephine hushed him. “You are delirious from the poison of the insect.”
He gave her a cheeky grin. “I assure you that you are making a fuss over nothing. But whilst we are alone, can we not speak more freely? I was so much looking forward to seeing you again, did you not feel the same way?”
For a moment, Josephine almost answered his question with an honest reply. Then she caught her words before they left her mouth. She would never tell him how she had longed to see him again.
How her heart had yearned to be by his side, and how she thought about him every night before she slept. No… she could never tell him the truth of how she felt about him.
“Goodness, Lord!” she declared, knowing how cruel her words were as she watched his smile fade. "We have both been far too busy following our lives. I am sure neither of us had the time to waste on childhood dreams. Now, come along, this is no time to dally. You must return to the house and let the Missus check on your injury.”
“It is hardly an injury, Josephine,” he assured her, showing her his hand, which was now reddened with swelling. As soon as he saw it, he hid it behind his back. “I am more injured in my heart at how you rebuff my friendship.”
Josephine almost gave in. She was easily ready to spill out her heart out to him. But she was stopped by the upper house servants dashing to meet them. As soon as one of the stewards arrived, he took over the care of the injured lord. She watched as they led him towards the house, wrapping his hand in a vinegar-soaked cloth.
The sour stink of the cloth matched the ache in her heart as she watched him depart. That would no doubt be the last time she would ever be alone with him again. Left standing alone, she felt the solitary sense of his departure as if half of her soul had been ripped away
