Grabbing him by the upper arm, Griffin pulled him back into the room. “Do sit down. You, too, can help my sisters choose their new evening dresses.”
“Choose dresses?” Tris echoed dubiously. But he sat, arranging his rangy form on a sofa.
Alexandra would have sighed if she wasn’t afraid it would draw too much attention. In the past week, for her own comfort and to mollify her brother, she’d done her best to avoid Tris. Happily, that had proved a simple matter, since he’d been feverishly working on his scheme to save the vineyard.
Tris had taken to rising at dawn and breakfasting before Alexandra, an early riser herself, even ventured forth from her room. He spent most of his daylight hours in the temporary workshop Griffin had set up for him off the quadrangle between the laundry and the dairy, effectively hidden from where her family lived on the two upper floors. And when he wasn’t in the workshop building his contraption, he was at the foundry visiting workmen or out in the fields directing construction. Alexandra rarely saw him except at dinner.
Though all of that made things a little easier, she was impatient for him to finish and return to Hawkridge. For now, she decided, she would simply ignore him.
At least he was focused on Griffin at the moment, rather than her. “It’s dark in here,” he said.
A twinkle in Griffin’s eye was apparent even in the dimness. “Did you not know,” he drawled, “that dress material is best selected by candlelight, lest something pale yellow in the daytime appear black by night?”
“Black?” Tris crossed his arms. “What sort of addlepated—”
“We can open the curtains now,” Juliana interrupted. “We’ve all chosen our fabrics.”
“Look at mine.” While Griffin went to pull back the draperies, Corinna held up a swatch of the palest pink. “It’s called blush.”
“It’s lovely,” Tris said. Although Alexandra was busy ignoring him, she couldn’t help but observe his amusement at the goings-on.
“And Alexandra,” Juliana announced with a long pause for dramatic effect, “will be wearing amaranthus.”
“Amaranthus?” Tris sounded even more entertained.
“A bright shade of purple with a pinkish tint.” As a painter, Corinna was good at describing colors. “Show him, Alexandra.”
Alexandra didn’t want to show Tris anything. She wanted to smack her sister, but she supposed A Lady of Distinction wouldn’t approve. Instead she reluctantly held forth a piece of the silk, which shimmered in the newly admitted sunlight.
“Hmm,” Tris said.
Corinna grinned at her sister while addressing the room in general. “Can you believe it?”
“Believe what?” Griffin asked.
“That she would wear such a color. She always wears blue.”
“Does she?”
“Her room is blue, the ribbons on her bonnets are blue, her shoes are blue—”
“Are they?” Griffin asked, looking perplexed. He stared at Alexandra’s blue shoes where they peeked out from beneath her blue skirts. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“He’s such a boy,” Juliana said to no one in particular.
Corinna shrugged. “Madame Rodale showed Alexandra a stunning swatch of bishop’s blue—”
“I’m tired of wearing blue,” Alexandra interrupted. “I wish to wear a different color. Many different colors,” she amended. “A new color every day.”
The old Alexandra would have opted for blue, but then the old Alexandra would have spent weeks or months languishing after Tris as well. And she was quite over him.
She just wished he’d go home.
“You all made lovely choices,” Tris said. “But, Griffin, we really must be off.”
“Tristan has finished the pump,” Griffin explained. “We spent the morning overseeing its installation. A perfect installation, I might add.”
“We hope.” Tris didn’t look quite as confident as her brother. “Now that it’s been running a few hours, I’d like to inspect it once again before I leave.”
“You’re leaving?” The words tumbled out of Alexandra’s mouth before she had a chance to think.
“This afternoon, assuming everything continues well.”
“Oh,” she said. He was leaving. Her wish was coming true.
So why did she feel as though all the air had quite suddenly been sucked right out of her?
Juliana slanted her a glance. “The pump must be very impressive,” she said to Tris. “May we all come along and see it?”
His gaze slid to Alexandra and back before he answered. “There’s really not much to see.”
“We could bring a picnic!” Corinna gestured outside the bright windows. “It’s a beautiful day.”
“Yes, please.” Juliana turned to Griffin. “We haven’t picnicked in months. As a matter of fact”—she paused for effect—“we haven’t done anything at all as a family in months.”
Juliana sounded so sincere, Alexandra wondered if perhaps she truly did want to picnic, rather than just wanting to throw her together with Tris for an afternoon.
But on second thought, both her sisters looked entirely too expectant. It was definitely a ploy.
A ploy their brother was falling for.
“Perhaps we could picnic,” he said, looking to Tris.
Tris raked a hand through his hair, messing it up as usual. “I was planning a quick ride out, a quick look, and a quick ride back.” A picnic would mean a carriage, considering they’d have to bring baskets and blankets and other assorted paraphernalia. None of which brought to mind the word quick. “I was hoping to get home before dinner.”
“You could have dinner back here before you leave.” The look Griffin shot his friend was a mixture of pleading and apologetic. “The days are long this time of year, so you’ll still have sunlight should you ride home later.” When Tris shrugged, Griffin turned to Alexandra. “What do you think?”
Her poor, misguided brother was just trying to make his sisters happy. Which meant there was no way she could get out of this without looking like a cantankerous crab, even though agreeing would mean hours shut up in a carriage with Tris.
Well, at least they wouldn’t be alone, she told herself, forcing a smile to curve her lips. “Why, I think it sounds delightful.”
“Mesdemoiselles.” Madame Rodale cleared her throat and held up a large scrapbook filled with fashion plates. “You have yet to select your designs.”
Griffin strode over and took the book from her hands. “They can choose during the drive. You won’t mind, will you, Madame?” He unleashed his charming, crooked grin. “If you’ll but wait a few hours, I should be tremendously grateful.”
Madame, who was old enough to be his mother, blushed to the roots of her graying hair. “Very well,” she murmured, forgetting her fake French accent.
Griffin’s charm could be lethal. No wonder he had so many friends.
“It’s all settled, then.” He turned his smile on the rest of them. “Girls, you have half an hour to wheedle a picnic lunch out of François and change your clothes should your feminine sensibilities require that. What does one wear to a picnic? A carriage dress? A walking dress?”
“A garden dress,” Alexandra informed him, forgiving him his masculine ignorance.
When he was nice like this, she wanted to kick herself for telling him he should leave.
Chapter Fourteen
“That was delicious.” In the shade of a large elm atop a rise overlooking the grapevine-covered slope, Tristan leaned back on his elbows, stretching his legs out on the red blanket Griffin’s sisters had packed along with the picnic lunch. He glanced into the empty basket and feigned good-natured surprise. “What, no famous Chase sweets to complete the meal?”
Sitting across from him, Corinna finished her last bite of cheese. “Griffin didn’t give us enough time.”
“Don’t go blaming me,” Griffin protested. “As though you, of all people, would volunteer to spend hours in the kitchen.”
�
�My talents don’t lie there.” She put her dainty nose in the air. “A Lady of Distinction said that whatever is worthwhile to do, is worthwhile to do well.”
“She was talking about dancing,” Juliana said with a roll of her eyes. She looked to Tristan. “May we see the pump now, please?”
“Certainly, at least what little there is to see of it.” He rose to his feet and stretched, gazing down to where Alexandra had her own nose buried in Madame Rodale’s book of fashion plates.
She’d barely looked up to eat; in fact, she hadn’t looked up at all during the long drive out here in the carriage. She’d positioned herself safely between her sisters and kept her eyes on the scrapbook, discussing each engraving in such detail it had made him want to scream.
While it was true he’d done his best to avoid finding himself alone with her, there was no reason for them to ignore each other in company. Once, years ago, he’d considered Alexandra a friend, one of only a handful of girls he’d ever really talked to. Perhaps she hadn’t seen it that way—she seemed to think he hadn’t noticed her when they were young. But he’d always watched her, and listened, and responded—in a proper, respectful way, of course. And he’d thought of her as a friend.
Though they could never give in to their troublesome attraction, he wanted that friend back.
He leaned down and shut the book. “Are you coming along?”
She looked up, startled.
“We’re leaving to see the pump,” he elaborated, his face still close to hers.
“Oh.” Her pupils grew large, darkening in her brandy-brown eyes. Clearly flustered, she glanced around him as if noticing for the first time that everyone else was standing. Her sisters were donning their hats. “Oh, yes. Of course I’m coming along.”
“Excellent,” he said, straightening and offering a hand to help her up.
She hesitated before putting hers into it, and when she did, he thought he felt her give a tiny jolt. He knew for certain that a surge of something unsettling swept through him. As soon as she’d gained her feet he dropped her hand.
It was a good thing he was leaving tonight.
The walk from the vineyard to the river was pleasant in the sunshine. Alexandra hurried ahead to join her sisters. From Tristan’s vantage point behind them, the three girls were a study in contrasts. By far the shortest, Juliana walked in the middle, flanked by her taller siblings. Juliana’s straight, dark blond hair was swept up in a flawless style, Corinna’s mahogany waves draped elegantly down her back, and Alexandra’s springy dark curls seemed determined to escape their pins.
They gracefully made their way across the downs in high-waisted frocks, Juliana and Corinna in white and Alexandra in pale blue. From the fragments of chatter that drifted back, he surmised they were discussing their evening gown selections yet again. Though she always dressed well, he’d never known Alexandra to be so enamored of clothing.
“The men have nearly finished testing all the stations that will water the different areas,” Griffin said, breaking into Tristan’s reflections. “Everything seems to be working perfectly.”
“You’re not surprised, are you?”
“That it would work? No. You’ve proven your reputation is well-earned. But I am surprised it came together so quickly. I didn’t believe you when you said you could do it in a week. I owe you my apologies—and my thanks.”
“You had a cooperative foundry.”
“Regardless, I appreciate your attention to the matter. And your…shall we say lack of attention to my sister.”
Tristan’s gaze went to Alexandra’s slender form. Her laughter floated back to him. “I made a promise,” he said.
A promise to keep his hands off. But he hadn’t promised to abandon their friendship, and he was determined to salvage it.
By the banks of the River Caine, all five of them gathered around the square pit Griffin’s men had dug, gazing down through the grille at the noisy gray metal pump. Rhythmic hissing sounds shimmied up through the air.
“I told you there’s not much to see,” Tristan said. “The workings are all hidden inside. I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“It’s very impressive,” Juliana disagreed tactfully. “How does it work?”
“That pipe there runs from the river down to the pump.” Everyone stepped back while he opened the hinged grating. “It provides the water, and the downwards motion of that water flowing into the pump creates the energy that the pump uses to send it back up.” He descended a ladder into the pit and stood there looking up at the rest of them. “This slender valve took me longest to adjust,” he said, indicating a shank that moved up and down with rapid precision. “It pulsates fifty to seventy times per minute—roughly once per second. Each of those pulsations provides half a pint of water.”
With each pulsation, a bit of water squirted out. “It’s losing water,” Corinna said.
“Not much, and that’s part of the design, not a leak. The vast majority of the water is sent into the main chamber here.” He laid a possessive hand on the vibrating machine. “Inside, there’s a flap to keep the water that goes up from coming back down, and air in the top forces it through the outlet and into the pipe that runs uphill to the vineyard.”
Although Tris kept talking, Alexandra wasn’t really listening anymore. She was thinking about how the pump looked exactly like the pictures he’d drawn in the library. He’d created this, and it worked to get a job done even when no one was here watching it.
She gazed down at him in the pit and thought about how he was so very intelligent. Intelligent and handsome and stunningly knowledgeable despite his few years. And honorable, too—never mind that momentary lapse when he’d kissed her.
She would have liked to kiss him again.
It was a good thing he was leaving tonight.
“Your lordship?” When a gravelly voice interrupted her thoughts, she looked up to see a man addressing her brother.
“Yes?” Griffin replied.
“The caps on one of the stations aren’t working properly.”
Griffin looked inquiringly at Tris.
“Go on,” Tris said, climbing back up the ladder. “It’s time for you to graduate. I won’t be here to solve any problems tomorrow.”
Griffin nodded. “I’ll meet you all back at the blanket.”
Alexandra watched her brother head for the vineyard with the man. “Griffin can handle it,” she said when their voices had faded away.
“I have no doubt.” Tris hopped out of the pit and turned to lower the grille. “Your brother is a very competent fellow. He led troops all over the Peninsula.”
“Sometimes I forget that,” Juliana said as they started back at a leisurely pace. “Sometimes he makes me furious.”
“Sometimes you make him furious, too, I’d wager.” Tris softened that with a smile. “Did you ladies finally choose your dress designs?”
“Oh, yes.” Corinna gave a little skip. “Mine will be covered with embroidery and pearls.”
Juliana hugged herself. “Mine will be off the shoulder, with puffed sleeves and silk flowers tacked along the hem.”
“And yours?” he asked Alexandra.
“Oh, it will be very pretty.”
She didn’t feel like discussing her dress. A dress Tris would never see.
Other gentlemen would see it. Wearing it, she would smile and flirt and dance, and one of the other gentlemen would end up her husband. She knew she should be excited about that, but at the moment she could hardly gather her thoughts with Tris walking beside her.
It was a really good thing he was leaving tonight.
Juliana met her gaze, her eyes sympathetic. Alexandra looked away. To the north across the hedgerows, fields were planted, but the rolling land beneath their feet was covered only by untamed grass. The air smelled fresh. A kestrel hovered overhead in search of prey.
“Will there be a famous Chase sweet to finish my last dinner?” Tris asked.
“Perhaps.” Corinna lo
oked to be considering.
“Strawberry tarts.” Suddenly enthusiastic, Juliana turned to him. “Do you fancy strawberry tarts?”
“Very much so—”
“François rarely keeps strawberries in the larder,” Alexandra pointed out.
“No matter,” Juliana said cheerfully. “There’s a patch of them over there.”
Corinna looked to where she indicated. “Wild strawberries!” Perhaps she had little talent for making sweets, but she was accomplished at eating them. “And this late in June, they ought to be perfectly ripe.” She sighed, looking down at her white garden dress. “A pity we have nothing to put them in.” Their skirts would surely stain should they use them to carry fruit.
“We have the empty picnic basket.” Juliana grabbed Corinna’s hand. “Let’s hurry and fetch it.”
Disconcerted, Alexandra watched her sisters run ahead. “That’s not very ladylike,” she muttered to Tris. “A Lady of Distinction wouldn’t approve.”
“Is that why you’re not going with them?”
“No. I’m…I cannot pick strawberries. They make me itch.”
“Even if you just touch them?”
She nodded. “If I eat them, my tongue swells and my throat starts feeling tight.”
And Juliana had known that, of course. She’d taken advantage of the fact in order to leave her sister alone with Tris. Juliana, who always knew what was best for everyone—one had only to ask her to be informed of that—had been trying to maneuver the two of them together all week.
Tris reached to touch Alexandra’s arm on the bare skin below where her blue puffed sleeve ended. When she jumped, he dropped his hand. “I’m glad you cannot pick strawberries.”
Her arm tingling, she stopped walking and turned to him. “You’re glad they make me itch?”
“I’m glad of the opportunity to talk with you.”
The little hairs on her arm were standing on end. “Talk with me about what?”
“Although it’s clear we’ve formed a romantic attachment—” He stopped when she opened her mouth to interrupt, and, raising two fingers, briefly touched her lips. “There’s no sense in denying what we both know.”
Love Regency Style Page 31
