Page 87 of The Wallflower Takes All

“How considerate of you,” she said.

“Poppy.”

“No, truly. Lord Ketterham wanted a placid household, and you protected him from the horrifying possibility that Mama might call him darling from time to time.”

“That is not fair.”

“Is it not?” She turned toward him, blue eyes flashing now. “You told him the truth. A truth he had every right to hear. A truth I have lived with for years. I understand all of that. But you might at least admit why you did it.”

“He did not deserve you,” Gabriel nearly shouted.

Poppy’s lips parted. Her eyes widened. She blinked at him in surprise.

“He wanted a housekeeper with a pretty face and a title suitable to his own. He admired your competence because he thought it might make his life more comfortable. The moment he understood that your life might require something of him, he withdrew.”

The words fell between them with no possibility of retrieval.

Freddie twisted suddenly, lunging toward the water as another duck appeared between the trees.

Poppy’s grip slipped. The puppy bounded from the curricle before either of them could catch him.

“Freddie!”

Gabriel reined in. His groom descended from the rear seat and took the horse’s bridle while Gabriel jumped to the ground. Poppy had already climbed down without waiting for assistance and was hurrying toward the path beside the Serpentine.

Freddie vanished behind a shrub.

A duck erupted from the greenery in a fury of wings and indignation.

“Freddie!” Poppy called again.

The puppy emerged a moment later, soaked to the knees and delighted with himself.

Poppy caught him before he could renew the chase.

“You dreadful creature.” She tucked the wriggling dog against her chest. “You cannot hurl yourself after every passing temptation.”

Gabriel stopped beside her.

Freddie sneezed water onto his coat.

Poppy looked down at the damp mark, then up at Gabriel. A laugh escaped her before she could prevent it.

Gabriel should have been annoyed by the entire debacle. Instead, he wanted to hear her laugh again.

She set Freddie on the ground but kept a firm grip on his dirty ribbon. The puppy became absorbed in a patch of grass, apparently satisfied that his work among the ducks was complete.

They stood on a narrow path screened from the avenue by trees and flowering shrubs. The curricle remained visible through the leaves. So did the groom. They were not alone.

It only felt too much like they were.

Poppy smoothed one hand over her skirt. Then again.

The gesture was small, instinctive.

Gabriel recognized it now. She put things to rights whenever the world refused to oblige her.

“I ought not to have said that,” he began.