Rolling her eyes, Lady Louisa returned to ignoring Phineas, which was generally sound advice. Again, she took a painful step toward Tobias. “Well? What do you intend to do?”
“You should have a doctor look at your ankle,” Tobias advised, equally determined not to discuss his plans with Lady Louisa. The woman was as intrusive as Phineas. Why the two of them didn’t get along was beyond him.
“Don’t try to distract me,” Lady Louisa hissed, annoyance darkening her face. “You−”
“I’m not trying to distract you,” Tobias insisted. “However, I do believe you’re in significant pain. You should−”
“He’s right,” Phineas exclaimed, and without another word, he swept Lady Louisa into his arms and marched back toward the house.
Tobias couldn’t help but laugh as the lady protested not only loudly, but also with severe-looking smacks to his brother’s upper body−anything within reach! Phineas, however, seemed to find her reaction deeply amusing as his hold on her never wavered.
Perhaps Anne was right. Perhaps those two would either kill each other before the year was out or fall madly in love.
Tobias sighed, “Anne,” he whispered to himself, loving the sound of her name for it conjured her beautiful face. “Will you marry me?” he mumbled, imagining what it would be like to have her by his side for all the days to come.
Would she say yes?
“Truly, Leo, I’m fine,” Anne told her cousin after they’d returned to her chamber. “I’ll probably have a bit of a bruise on my hip, but other than that I suffered no injury.”
“I’m glad,” Leonora replied, both of her hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea as they sat in Anne’s chamber, trying to warm up. “I admit it looked quite horrifying the way she crashed into you.”
“That’s Louisa for you,” Anne remarked with a smile. “She never does anything half-heartedly.”
Leonora grinned. “No, she doesn’t. Sometimes that worries me for I fear that−”
“You foul-mouthed oaf! Put me down this instant!”
Both cousins froze, their eyes widening as they heard Louisa’s booming voice echo through the closed door to Anne’s chamber. “What is going on?” Anne asked as she hurried to cross to the door, then pulled it open.
“Miss Thatcher, Lady Leonora,” Phineas greeted them with a smirk on his face as he walked by, a struggling Louisa in his arms. Ignoring her protests, he carried her a few steps farther, then pushed open the door to her chamber and walked inside.
“What happened?” Leonora asked, her eyes wide with concern as both cousins hurried after them.
“He won’t put me down!” Louisa snapped, once more shoving against Phineas’s chest. “This poor excuse for a man won’t−”
“She twisted her foot with that little stunt of hers,” Phineas explained over his shoulder. “I asked to send for a doctor, but I suggest you cool her ankle until he arrives.”
Leonora nodded and immediately darted off.
“Put me down!” Louisa hissed yet again as Phineas moved to settle her upon the bed. However, another one of her abrupt shoves against his chest promptly made him lose his balance.
Anne stared as Phineas with Louisa in his arms tipped forward and they both fell onto the bed. Phineas barely managed to catch himself with one outstretched arm, their faces now close enough for a kiss. “If you wanted me in your bed,” Phineas whispered with a grin, “all you had to do was ask.”
Anne bit her lip to keep a grin from showing on her face for the look in Louisa’s eyes spoke only remotely of annoyance. Indeed, there was something there that whispered of temptation and desire held in check. Perhaps Anne was not the only one hesitant to admit where her heart truly lay.
“Get off me!” Louisa hissed, once she’d recovered her wits. “Or I swear I will end you!”
Chuckling, Phineas rose to his feet, “Charming as always, dear Lulu.” His gaze moved to her ankle, and the expression on his face sobered. “For once, take care of yourself.” Then he turned, smiled at Anne and walked out the door…
…right past a very curious looking Grandma Edie.
Pushing herself up into a seated position, Louisa glared at the door. “That man is despicable! He had the nerve to−”
“To carry you to your chamber all the way from the lake,” Anne interrupted as she came to sit beside her cousin. “Is that not so?”
Closing the door, Grandma Edie settled into an armchair in the corner, her pale eyes watchful. “He carried you inside?” She chuckled with a glance at the door through which Phineas had left. “Perhaps he discovered some manners after all.”
“I didn’t ask him to!” Louisa snapped defensively. “Quite on the contrary, he refused to set me down!”
“But it was kind of him to do so,” Anne insisted, sharing a bit of a complicit look with Louisa’s grandmother. “To carry you back to your chamber.” She marveled as she glimpsed a moment of contemplation flit over Louisa’s face. However, it passed before it could linger.
“Who knows why?” her cousin hissed. “I have no doubt he’ll mock me about it endlessly.” Her teeth ground together before she finally managed to shake off the thoughts that riled her. “Let’s forget about that odious man and talk about our dear Mr. Hawke.”
Anne inhaled a deep sigh, “I promised I would speak to him and I shall.”
Leaning back against her pillows, Louisa reached for Anne’s hand. “He loves you. He all but admitted as much.”
Anne tensed as a sense of foreboding washed over her. “What did you do, Louisa? Please tell me you didn’t…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words, but her head moved from side to side as though the movement could undo what Louisa had so foolishly done.
Louisa patted Anne’s hand. “I’m sorry, dearest, but it slipped out.” She sighed, “Truly it had to be said.”
Anne stared at her cousin. “You told him I loved him?” she asked in horror.
Grandma Edie chuckled. “Well played, my girl.”
Louisa cast her grandmother a warm smile before her gaze returned to Anne. “Why don’t you want him to know?”
“Because…because…” Lost for words, Anne knew not what to think, let alone say.
“I can see that you’re afraid,” Louisa replied, her hands settling on the mattress before she pushed herself back against the pillows into a more erect position, “and I understand why you would be. But if you allow that fear to hold you back, you’ll spend the rest of your days dreaming of a life with Tobias instead of living it. Is that what you want?”
Anne closed her eyes. “But what if he doesn’t love me?”
“He does,” Louisa insisted.
“He does,” Grandma Edie agreed as she settled deeper into the armchair, her head coming to rest against the upholstery.
“How do you know?” Anne demanded, looking from one to the other.
Exhaling another exasperated breath, Louisa grasped Anne’s hands anew, a rather impatient insistence in her grip. “Have I not been right about this from the start? Why are you so afraid to trust me? To trust yourself?” Her blue eyes looked deep into Anne’s. “When he kissed you, what did it feel like?”