Page 61 of Crash Landing
“What are you thinking now, Florence?”
She looked so pretty in the soft lavender gown and her hair drawn back to show off the delicate features of her face.
“I am thinking that I love this,” she said with her eyes still closed. “Us. Sitting out here together and talking over problems.”
Despite his concerns, he smiled. “Me too. We’ve tossed out a lot of possibilities. Let’s set them aside for now, sleep on them, and let them sink into our heads. We can discuss the best ones while on tomorrow’s ride to Weymouth.”
She readily agreed. Yes, this matter of switching letters had both of them very much on edge.
“Hermia ought to join us tomorrow,” he added.
“Oh, I don’t think she will. It is too long a day out for her.”
But when they mentioned Weymouth later that evening at the dinner table—just the three of them present because his cousins were still off doing whatever stupid things all young men did to slake their thirst for drink and women—Hermia clapped her hands. “I would love to join you! What fun!”
Trajan grinned at the shocked look on Florence’s face. She was an incredibly pretty thing.
“Really, Aunt Hermia?”
“Yes, dear. I do still have a little life in me. Although I will admit that some of the spring has gone out of my step. Kindly do not place me in my burial tomb just yet.”
“Aunt Hermia! I would never—”
“There, there, dear,” she said, patting Florence’s hand. “Do not get all worked up. I shall come with you, and that is that…and then you will tell me what nefarious deed you have been plotting. Oh, do not dare deny it, Florence. You are working on something that obviously involves the Framptons. I can be useful, you know. People think I am old and doddering, so they do not pay attention to what I am doing.”
Florence stared at Trajan. He arched an eyebrow and calmlysipped his wine.
“Trajan,” she prompted him, obviously looking for assistance.
He turned to her aunt. “Are you saying you play up your feebleness? That you have been doing so all along and fooling even Florence?”
“Yes, dear boy.” Hermia raised her glass of wine to him. “But you saw through my subterfuge, did you not? Very little escapes your notice.”
He nodded.
“My mind happens to be as sharp as ever. But I find that I have grown quite impatient with age and easily tire of people. Have you noticed how dull so many of them are? Well, old age does have its advantages. Nobody questions you when you claim fatigue or start to dither. I have gotten out of many intensely boring family dinners and unwanted invitations that way.”
Florence gasped. “What a consummate actress you are! You had me completely fooled.”
“I know, and I am rather proud of it because you are quite a clever thing, too. But it seems even the sharpest of us are prone to seeing what we want to see.” Hermia cast Florence a chiding look. “Is that not so?”
“What do you mean?”
“You tried to do the same to me, Florence. Wanting to trick me by pretending this dear boy had been courting you all year long when you probably met him just that morning. Shame on you, child.”
Florence had the good grace to look remorseful. “I am truly sorry, Aunt Hermia. I did not mean to deceive you. But it wasn’t a complete lie. Trajan and I did know each other. We met last year at the Bromleigh house party. I hadn’t seen him until the other day when he brought me back to the Weymouth Inn.”
Hermia smiled at Trajan. “Have you been in love with Florence since last year?”
He laughed. “I would describe my feelings at the time more as aggravation. Your niece can be quite infuriating. However, our being in love might prove to be real in time. It is too soon to tell.”
“Oh, dear boy. Forgive me, but you are wrong. It is obvious to me that the two of you have that spark of magic, and this is a very rare thing.”
“Why do you say that?” Florence asked, obviously surprised. “Trajan is right. He and I mostly found each other irritating. But I did think he was quite handsome and wondered whether we might meet again. I did not think I had made any impression on him at the time.”
“But you had,” Trajan assured her. “You were constantly in my thoughts.”
She nodded. “I am finding this out now. I had no idea back then.”
