“Seth, I... I...”
He shook his head and stepped toward her. He placed one hand on the back of her head, and before he lost his courage and hid behind the safety of his self-imposed walls, placed a kiss on her forehead. His lips lingered on her skin for only an instant before he let go and moved away.
“Take good care of yourself and return quickly,” he spun around, stalked across the room and turned his back to her so she would not see the elation—and confusion—written all across his face. Her footsteps retreated, and after a while, he knew he was alone. Seth watched as Winnifred left through the large French doors and stepped out into the road.
She stood, waited for the carriage, and then, just before entering, turned.
Their eyes met, and suddenly, Seth knew one thing more clearly than anything else. The feelings so long repressed had burst to the surface, and there was no way he could deny it anymore. He loved her. He always had and always would.
Chapter 15
Victoria rummaged through her sister’s dressing room and grew more and more nettled by the moment. She stood with her hands pressed against her hips and glanced around the room.
Winnifred was an exceedingly tidy young woman, something she never failed to rub right into Victoria’s nose. Vicky knew that she was a rather messy person, but her sister’s devotion to tidiness bordered on the obsessive.
“And yet,” she said under her breath, “I still cannot find what I have come here for. Where is it?”
She pulled open the armoire and pushed aside one beautiful gown after another, as her eyes narrowed.
“What a piffle.”
She rushed out of the dressing room and was about to cut across Winnifred’s room and into the hall when she stopped in her tracks.
“Mary?”
The maid glared at her, suspicion written all over her plum-red face.
If I ever end up having a face as puffy as hers or as red as hers, I shall die of mortification.
“Miss Victoria, I did not expect you here, in your sister’s chamber. Are you lost?”
Sarcasm dripped from every word. Victoria knew that Mary and her sister were close. Closer really than Victoria and Winnifred, a circumstance that sometimes made her a little sad. But it was one of the things that could not be helped. She and Winnifred were so different they would never be friends.
Of her siblings, Leo was the one Victoria was close to. His absence was deeply felt by them both, although Winnifred made much more of a spectacle of her feelings than Victoria.
In truth, Victoria was entirely out of her mind due to her brother’s disappearance. She even traveled to Clerkenwell to meet her Uncle Ezekiel—and she never ventured to that part of town. To be seen anywhere but in the city, especially in the suburbs, could be damaging to a young lady’s reputation. At the very least, one would surely end up with anon-dit. And besides, Clerkenwell was so awfully dull.
She still could not believe Winnifred hadn’t even told their aunt and uncle about Leo’s disappearance. But then again, both of her siblings had a great dislike for Uncle Ezekiel and Aunt Anna. Victoria did not quite understand why—she was always very close to them, and they both cared about all three of them. Especially since the death of their parents, Victoria spent a lot of time with them.
“So? Are you?”
Mary’s voice drew her out of her thoughts, and she blinked at the maid.
“Am I what?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head to one side.
“Lost. Are you lost here in your sister’s chamber?”
Vicky sneered. If it was up to her, Mary would long since have been let go. She never liked her, not even when Mama and Papa were alive. For a maid, Mary was highly impertinent and not at all amiable in nature, as though she were somehow better than everybody else. Even though Vicky had it on good authority that Mary didn’t even know how to read and write, unlike Vicky’s maid, Hester, who was not only literate but even spoke French.
“I am not lost. I am searching for my shawl. My sister took it, pray, have you seen it?”
“Is it the pink one? The pink silk one with the silver embroidery?”
Vicky nodded her head. “Yes, that’s the one. It’s meant to be worn with this gown.”
She motioned down towards the gown currently on her person. It was a beautiful light pink round gown with a silver sash tied underneath her bust. Small red roses decorated the grey lace hem of the gown and the edges of the puff sleeves. The shawl brought out her pretty blue eyes.
“It surely is,” Mary said and blinked at her. “I also believe both belong to your sister.”
