Page 29
“And there is no need to mention them.”
The footman looked faintly offended. “Of course not, miss.”
Within half an hour, every servant at Blackthorn would know. When at last she went upstairs to change for dinner, she selected her least becoming brown gown as armour. She kept the cap firmly on her head.
When Judith entered the dining room, Major Baines stood beside Lady Dunsmore’s chair, listening to an impassioned account of Scottish history with the solemn attention of a schoolboy awaiting examination.
Blackthorn’s dining room had been built for a more formal generation, its dark mahogany table stretching beneath two crystal chandeliers and a ceiling crowded with plaster roses. Crimson damask covered the walls between ancestral portraits, while a silver epergne of hothouse flowers occupied the centre of the table and prevented half the company from seeing precisely whom they were insulting across dinner.
He turned as Judith entered. His gaze found her at once, moved briefly over the cap and brown gown, then returned to her face. His mouth twitched then broke into a smile.
Not the broad grin he gave Edward, nor the polished smile bestowed upon Lady Beckenham, but something slower and more private, as though there existed between them some understanding to which Judith had never consented.
Her pulse responded traitorously. She took her seat beside Sir Lionel.
Baines crossed towards her.
“Miss Finch.”
“Major.”
“Did you receive my apology?”
“Was it an apology?”
“The flowers.”
“I had thought flowers generally indicated admiration.”
“Do they? I shall be more cautious in future.”
“You ought to be.”
Lady Dunsmore looked between them with immediate interest.
“What has he done?”
“Nothing of import,” Judith replied.
Across the table, Baines coughed. He was evidently trying not to laugh.
“Do you require assistance, Major?”
“Desperately.”
“With what, sir?”
“Self-command.”
Lady Dunsmore gave a delighted cackle.
Judith reached for her drink. She would not smile under any circumstances.
“What did you do?” Lady Dunsmore persisted.
“I criticized Miss Finch’s cap.”
Judith nearly choked. “You did no such thing!”
