Page 25 of Emma & Edmund

The first buds of doubt began to be watered in Emma's mind. Edmund never asked for her help, and the last time they parted felt like a goodbye. Perhaps, despite his previous polite flattery, he had never wanted to see her again.

If that were the truth, he did a superb job of hiding the fact when his face burst into a beaming smile. Even without a bright light, the clear happiness seemed to shine from him.

"Miss Emma," he began breathlessly, "I don't even know what to say. This is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"I seem to remember a particularly nice tenth birthday-"

"And Anthony," Edmund continued, turning to his man, "thank you for allowing this meeting to happen."

If it were a bit brighter, Emma wondered if the pleasure of the acknowledgment would be as plain on Anthony's face as it was in his tone. "It was necessary business, after all." Again, Emma chose not to mention his fervent denial before her baseless threat.

"You have five minutes, Miss Thompson." Spinning on his heel, Anthony's straight back faced them, his hands tucked together just above his tailbone, nose stuck in the air, but he did not move any further. It was almost laughable that it should be considered privacy, but that didn't stop Emma from turning excited eyes to Edmund.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" Edmund's brows shot into his hairline, confusion coloring his face.

"Well, what should I ask her? What should I say?"

"How in the heavens would I know?" Emma was almost taken aback by the genuine bewilderment.

The cough Anthony suddenly cracked only barely managed to hide his guffaw.

"Is there anything you can think of that would make her believe me? Any word or phrase their kind uses? You have been searching for a while now, yes? There must be something you've learned that I can use."

Bewilderment turned to pondering, a large hand coming to cup an equally massive jaw as his eyes hit the ground, brows knitted together. A hum escaped his lips, and Emma had to divert her eyes from his face in an effort to stop being endeared by it.

That didn't stop the blushing memory of her dream, though, where those damn lips played a main role.

"Three minutes, Miss Thompson."

"If you'll show some grace, Mr. Anthony-"

"I've got it!"

From the corner of her eye, Emma saw Anthony jump at the sudden exclaim, but she only mirrored it in her own surprise.

"It's simple. All you have to do is be nice."

Emma's hope, and mood, plummeted.

"I beg your pardon?"

Edmund only shrugged in response, his face not showing a lick of acknowledgment of the disrespect he just poured over her.

"It should work well enough."

"That's not exactly what I had in mind, Edmund. I meant some sort of familiar word or a specific question-"

"One minute."

"Therein lies the rub, Emma," Edmund acted as if she hadn't been interrupted, "I don't know any."

"You have spent months on this, and there's nothing you know that will help?"

He shrugged. "Rather than perfecting my knowledge of the fringes, I simply rely on my skill of catching flies with honey."

"Is that so? Is that why I'm the only person you know whom you don't actively employ?"

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