Page 17 of Refining the Debutante
“I already know that. I want to know the day. Why can’t I know the exact day?”
“Because there is no definite return date.”
“So I am to be at the mercy of you and Jane for an undetermined amount of time? Excellent. Just excellent. You are far too busy, and Jane is far too dreadful.”
Ethan pushed his papers back. “Come, I will play cribbage with you.”
“Thank you!” Hannah said. She went directly to the small library table and pushed aside the chess set.
“Well, if you wanted to play a game so badly, you could have just asked.” Ethan mimicked the tone she had used on him only a few moments before. He grabbed the cribbage game from a nearby shelf and carried it over.
“All right. If I need only ask, why not tell me about Miss Withers?” Hannah cut the deck of cards and handed them to Ethan to deal.
Ethan shook his head in exasperation and took the cards from her. He had walked right into that trap. Taking a seat opposite his sister, he asked, “What do you want to know?”
“When is the wedding?”
“There is no such understanding...”
She gave him a dry look. “I have eyes.”
“I don’t have any immediate plans.” He gave them each six cards, then flipped the card over on the remaining deck. “I am taking things slow and doing things just right.”
“Because of Miss Bartley?”
Ethan scratched his head, then leaned forward on his elbows. “Love is like mathematics. The components need to add up. If one end comes out short, well, it can’t be a balanced equation.”
“Are we still talking about love?”
A stream of air escaped his lips. “Well, I’m trying to.”
Hannah thought on his words for a moment. “Miss Withers balances you?”
“She is the same as I am in nature and character.”
“And that is a good thing?”
“Yes. It’s exactly what I want.”
Hannah nodded like she wanted to understand but didn’t. “It’s been your move for several moments.”
“Oh.” Ethan quickly laid down a card and pegged his point.
A knock sounded against the frame of the open door. Ethan turned and saw both Jane and Miss Withers standing on the threshold. Heat seared the back of his neck and the tops of his cheeks. How long had they been standing there?
Miss Withers was grinning.
Ethan’s lips turned up as well, but only because this meant less time to play games, and he was thinking of courtship, not cribbage. When he returned from his trip to the boys’ school, he would make things official between them. Miss Withers finally seemed just as interested in him as he was in her.
* * *
Sarah found Miranda scrubbing the floors outside the dining room. “Need a hand?”
“I do not know why Mrs. Guttridge keeps punishing me,” Miranda growled. “If I even so much as breathe while she is around, she thinks I am being idle. She is a housekeeper, not a governess! She has robbed me of my self-respect.”
“I didn’t ask to hear all your problems—just to help you mop.” Sarah motioned to the bucket of suds.
Miranda threw her dirty rag at Sarah, who deftly caught it. “All right, I am sorry. And you do not have to help me. I know you have your own chores.”
