Page 123 of A Foolish Flirtation

“Hurt his feelings?” She faltered.

“You were rather cutting, dear,” Emmie said gently.

Pinky pressed her hands to her reddening cheeks and did not speak for a moment. “I was so upset, you see,” she said jerkily. “I confess, I do not altogether recall precisely what I said in the heat of the moment.” She lowered her hands. “I was so afraid for Teddy, and I had the greatest conviction that it hardly mattered what I said, for Colfax was not attending a single word.

“I could tell from the look on his face.” She sent a fleeting look at Emmie. “Men have looked at me with that expression all my life,” she said, startling her considerably. “Your father, Mr. Stockton, all of them. I knew Colfax was going to do what he thought was right, and devil take my opinion on the matter.”

Emmie sat back in her seat, quite startled. She had never heard her former governess speak of the devil in anything but biblical settings. “Perhaps you are right,” she heard herself say slowly. “He was certainly very sure of himself.”

“They always are,” Pinky replied with just a hint of bitterness, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere. They sat in silence for a moment. Then Pinky admitted fairly, “Though in this case, it turned out Colfax had good cause.”

“You should have told me Humphrey was dismissive of you, Hannah,” Emmie said, still shocked. She always knew, of course, that her father had thought Pinky a poor, insipid creature, but Humphrey! That was an altogether different matter.

“Oh, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary.” Pinky shrugged. “You and Teddy and, I think, Lord Faris are the only ones who have ever thought my opinion counts for anything.”

Emmie’s shoulders relaxed slightly. She remembered the flash of hurt in Colfax’s eyes before he had rushed from the room. “I think perhaps that Colfax cares about your opinion too,” she said carefully. “He has known Teddy far longer than us, and you have to admit his instincts were right in this instance. His reaction was likely so strong because he did not like seeing you so upset over it. He, well, my husband has mentioned to me previously that Colfax holds you in high regard.”

“Lord Faris said that?” Pinky asked, looking flattered. “Well, in that case, I will have to think of some way of making amends. It is true he has given up his precious leave to help tame my garden,” she added guiltily. “And I did berate and scold him as though he was one of my charges.”

Emmie gave a weak laugh. “You have never scolded me in anything but the mildest of tones, Hannah dear, and I’ll wager Teddy has never been berated by you in such a fashion either!”

Pinky blinked. “No, I suppose not,” she conceded sheepishly. “I can’t think what came over me.”

“Your protective instincts maybe,” Emmie suggested. “And perhaps you felt comfortable enough to give vent to your feelings with Colfax.”

Hannah smoothed her skirts but made no comment. “I should probably go and find him,” she said, “and get my apology out of the way before I start on Teddy’s lessons.”

“He’s not here this week, remember?”

“Oh, but surely he won’t have gone to work on the cottage after the way I treated him!” Pinky cried.

“I think you’ll find he has.”

“Oh! Oh dear…” her friend fretted.

“I am sure he will still be there this afternoon,” Emmie said with a smile. “And by then, you may have decided how to make it up to him.” For a moment she thought of the ghost in the red dress but pushed it from her mind. “Perhaps you could make him your famous seed cake?” she suggested. “Jeremy enjoyed it very much.”

Pinky brightened. “Yes, I could certainly try that,” she agreed. She cast a distracted eye over the painting Teddy had gifted to Emmie. “I must ask his lordship if he would lend me one of his books on ancient mythology,” she muttered. “Really, I am terribly ignorant on the subject. Do you know, the other day, Teddy charged across my lawn, launched himself into a pile of grass cuttings and yelled ‘I’m a snake-taming baby called Sophocles!’ I hardly knew how to respond.”

“Iphicles,” Emmie corrected her automatically.

“I beg your pardon?”

“The snake-taming baby. Its name was Iphicles, not Sophocles. Well,” she added conscientiously, “he didn’t tame them precisely.”

“What did he do, then?” Poor Pinky asked, looking quite bewildered.

“As I understand it, he cried.”

“Well, I must say, that seems a good deal more typical behavior for a baby.”

Emmie laughed; she couldn’t help it. After a moment, a little uncertainly, Pinky joined in.

Her friend had not long left her for the nursery when the maid Bridget tapped on the sitting room door. Emmie had just started on her second letter to the Hardimans and set this aside as the maid approached with a folded letter.

“This was sent over from the inn, milady.”

“The inn?”