The Unlikely Lady (Playful Brides #3)(32)
“We’ll be along,” Lucy replied simply, studying her gloves.
“Yes.” Cass nodded rapidly.
“Good.” Garrett made his way to the door as quickly as he could without looking as if he were trying to be quick about it. He had no desire to answer more questions from these two busybodies. Not today.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the drawing room door shut behind him. What did they know? Or did they only suspect? He sent up a prayer to the heavens, hoping it was merely conjecture.
*
After the door shut behind Garrett, Lucy turned to Cass and raised one eyebrow. “We have just been lied to.”
Cass took a deep breath. “It does appear so, yes.”
“And not just by Garrett, but by Jane as well,” Lucy added.
“Do you think it’s possible they each don’t know it was the other? They were both wearing dominoes, and Janie wasn’t wearing her spectacles.”
Lucy tapped a finger against her cheek. “It’s possible, I suppose, but if they didn’t know, they wouldn’t be working so hard to keep it from us. Garrett might, as he’d hardly be one to kiss and tell, but Janie, no. Janie is deliberately keeping this from us.”
Cass’s eyes were wide as saucers. “You don’t suppose they kissed, do you?”
“I don’t know. I can’t imagine it. But I do wonder what they did together after they sneaked off. Obviously something they don’t want either of us to know about.”
“Perhaps they’re embarrassed to tell us because we’ve always known they can barely tolerate each other. They can hardly admit to sneaking off together.” Cass gulped. “But you don’t honestly think—”
“As difficult as it is to believe, I do think so. They kissed.”
Cass gasped. “No.”
“I admit it’s difficult to conceive of. But the signs are all there.” Lucy counted off the points on her fingers. “They were incognito. They left together. They were alone for a time in the upstairs drawing room, and neither will admit they were there together.”
Cass pressed her palms to her cheeks. “But if neither of them will admit it, how will we ever discover what happened?”
Lucy paced in front of the windows, tapping her cheek. “This calls for a plan, Cass.”
“Oh, no. Not a plan.”
“Yes. A plan! To get to the bottom of this, to flush them out. If Garrett and Jane did sneak off together and kiss, they cannot be half as indifferent to each other as they pretend.”
“Yes, but— Oh, Lucy, you know what happens when you come up with one of your plans.”
“Yes! Things get done.” Lucy’s eyes gleamed. “Are we not about to celebrate your wedding? An event that came about as a direct result of one of my plans?”
“I cannot argue with you there, Luce.” Cass pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’ve already come up with this particular plan, haven’t you?”
Lucy’s catlike grin had returned. She rubbed her hands together with obvious glee. “Of course I have, and we’re going to need Daphne and Owen to help us.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A picnic was the last place Jane wanted to be. Sprawling on the grass in the sun was not her sort of a pleasant time. She preferred the quiet coolness of a house and the sturdiness of a table and chair, but Cass wanted a picnic, so a picnic she would have. So Jane put on her favorite day dress, the white one with small flowers embroidered on it, and made her way downstairs.
The truth was, Jane had hidden. She’d hidden in the front drawing room until the large group of picnickers had all assembled in the foyer and then dutifully trotted out to the gravel drive in front of the grand manor house. They were to follow the trail to the left of the house into the meadow. While Jane intended to accompany them, she also intended to ensure Upton was at the front of the line and she at the back. She couldn’t be certain how she would react in his presence. She needed time to think, and staying carefully away from him at the picnic was quite a good start.
She’d watched through the window until Upton had got safely on his way—with Mrs. Langford simpering on his arm, Jane noted with a bit of pique—then Jane counted twenty and marched out of the salon, through the front door, and onto the gravel drive.
“Janie, there you are!” Cass exclaimed the moment she appeared outside.
“I told you I’d make it to the picnic,” Jane replied with her own smile. “A lady has to eat sometime, doesn’t she?” She opened her white parasol and waited for Cass and Julian to precede her down the path. The day was beautiful, and the smell of freshly scythed grass and bluebells wafted along the slight breeze.
“Where’s Lucy?” Jane asked as she turned to hear a ruckus behind her. Lucy brought up the rear, her handsome duke of a husband accompanying her.
“What took you so long, Lucy?” Cass asked.
Lucy shrugged. “I was just … planning a few things.”
Jane glimpsed Daphne Swift and Owen Monroe coming out of the house. They all followed Cass and Julian down the path.
Jane didn’t have time to wonder what her friends had been up to. She was far too preoccupied as she kept her eyes trained ahead for any sign of Upton. If the man doubled back, she might be forced to jump into the hedgerow and explain herself later. Thankfully, Upton remained far ahead during the entire stroll to the meadow.