He did not doubt that she’d suffered from a disease of the lungs, and in hindsight it helped explain why she’d been so insistent on sitting out every dance, every garden stroll...every activity she’d once enjoyed.
How had he not noticed it before?
But then again, maybe he had. At least, he’d known something was different upon his return, but every time he’d tried to gain her confidence, she had pushed him away.
He muttered a curse under his breath that had Griff pausing once more. When he spoke again, his friend’s voice was laced with amusement. “I’ll admit, I did not think it such an arduous favor to ask, but if you are so put out by the idea…”
Merrick stared at his friend, dragging his mind out of the past once more. “My apologies, I seem to be distracted this morning.”
Griff laughed. “Now that is an understatement.”
Merrick glanced away from the questions in his friend's eyes. Questions he refused to answer. “What was this favor you asked?”
“It’s actually more of a favor for Daisy,” Griff started.
Merrick smiled. “Then consider it done.”
“Our hosts have insisted on throwing a dinner this evening in our honor. Daisy will be sitting by me, obviously, and she’s worried that her friends...you know the ones. The fellow flowers?”
“I know the ones,” Merrick muttered. Lily appeared to be haunting him this morning. In his every thought, and now even the topic of conversation.
“Yes, well…” Griff gave a little grimace. “If you wouldn’t mind using some of that legendary charm of yours to ensure they are having an enjoyable evening, Daisy and I would appreciate it.”
Merrick tipped his chin in acknowledgement. “Of course. It would be my pleasure.”
Griff’s brows arched a bit at that. A pleasure? That was a bit of a stretch by anyone’s way of thinking. He’d just become a chaperone for two outcast wallflowers.
But the truth was more difficult to explain. He wasn’t happy to be stuck with Lily as his responsibility. He had no doubt she would be irritated at the very thought of having him nearby. But…then again…
He had questions. And if he was by her side she could not avoid answering them forever. And besides, keeping her close would mean sussing out just how sickly she was...and just how worried he ought to be.
By the time they reached the stables, his brooding guilt, confusion, and fear had been replaced by something else altogether.
Determination.
If Lily thought she could keep her health concerns a secret from him, she was sorely mistaken. They might not be friends any longer, but he was still friends with her brother and a friend of the family.
Surely that made her his concern.
Just as they reached the stables, he spotted a distinctive head of red hair, slipping away from a group of ladies down by the pond, a petite brunette in tow.
Oh yes, this willful, stubborn young lady was definitely his concern.
And tonight he planned to get answers.
Later that night, as dinner was coming to an end and the games about to begin, Merrick was no closer to gaining any fruitful insights into his former friend’s health.
Though he had managed to get under her skin.
“Really, my lord,” Lily said with a smile that was more like a grimace. “Your attentions are kind but unnecessary.”
“I insist,” he said as he escorted her to the veranda under her mother’s watchful gaze. There were plenty of people around them this evening, which made an open discussion impossible, but gave him every opportunity to stay by her side.
Being by her side was helpful to his investigation in its own way. How had he not noticed how frightfully thin she’d become? When exactly had she lost that rosy glow? He eyed her now in the moonlight.
Surely she was too pale.
“Please stop.” Her voice was a cold snap in the otherwise warm evening air.
“Pardon?”
She bristled, her gaze darting about until she spotted Daisy, cozily close to the duke on the far side of the veranda and Marigold standing nearby with her parents. Only then did she turn her attention back to him. “I know what you are doing.”
He arched his brows. “Please. Enlighten me.” Despite his worries over her health, this evening had been...delightful.
She narrowed her eyes.
He was having fun at her expense. She knew it. He knew it. But he could not quite bring himself to stop. All evening it had been like this. Like nothing had changed.
Or like everything had changed.
He couldn’t quite explain it. There were moments when it felt as if no time had passed. Like they were still the best of friends. Like they each knew exactly what the other was thinking. There were moments when he got an inexplicable surge of happiness out of seeing that glint of laughter in her eyes.
Or anger, which was the case at this particular moment.
“Stop pestering me,” she said, her lips now thinned into a firm line.
“I’m afraid I am under strict orders from His Grace to ensure your satisfaction and enjoyment this evening.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Then by all means, leave me be.” She flashed him a brilliant and false smile. “Nothing would make me happier.”
He choked on a laugh. Her ire was entertaining. It always had been, though in the past that had been because he knew it would not last long. Her temper had always been like a storm at sea. Sudden, fierce, and passing just as quickly as it began.
These days…
Well, he no longer knew how long this might last, but he planned to enjoy her irritation to the fullest. After all, it served her right for keeping such a monumental secret all these years.
And he still had no idea the extent of it. As he glanced over his shoulder and saw her mother hovering with a friend nearby, it occurred to him that he could just ask her. Lily’s mother had always adored him.
He turned back to a glaring Lily.
But where would be the fun in that?
She held up a gloved hand and began to tick off her grievances. “First, you insisted on staying by my side before dinner and making interminable small talk with those...those…” She waved a hand dismissively toward the crowd of young ladies who’d suddenly found Daisy’s closest friends worthy of interest.
Or rather, scrutiny.
“I rather thought you might appreciate my interference there,” he said. “Or did you wish to answer Miss Pearson’s litany of questions about your modiste?”
Lily’s nose wrinkled in answer. They both knew Lily would die of boredom if she were stuck alone with the likes of Miss Pearson. “Fine,” Lilly said with a shrug. “As I said, your kindness was appreciated earlier and during dinner as well, but now I am quite capable—”
“Then allow me the honor of attending to you a little while longer.” He spoke over her protests and the growling sound that escaped from her nearly made him laugh out loud.
Not for the first time this evening he found himself ready to burst with this urge to laugh. How long had it been since he’d enjoyed an evening so much?
He could scarcely remember.
She huffed, looking away from him as she no doubt tried to think of another strategy to escape his persistent attentions. The thought should have wounded him, but instead he found himself grinning like a fool.