He looked like he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry.
“I suppose you did. Good night, Angelika.”
Chapter Fourteen
So, please tell me if I understand this Will situation correctly,” Lizzie said as she lay on a blanket on the grass beside Angelika. “Well, not the part regarding where he came from. Vic has promised not to create any new love interests for you until the situation is resolved.”
Angelika glared. “He took full credit for Will? Typical.”
It was a warm afternoon, and both women were barefoot in their muslin underdresses. Even prim, proper Will had stripped down to his sleeveless cotton undervest long before they had set up their afternoon-tea picnic, and the heavy muscle definition in his arms had caused both ladies to squeak and giggle in unison.
Now the sweat was running down his body, the vest dark and clinging.
“Even better than I remembered,” Angelika said, her voice garbled with desire.
“He’s been working hard,” Lizzie said, her tone deliberately bland, but she had eyes and was looking, too. Then she swiveled her head, scanning. “Are you sure Belladonna won’t bite my nose off?”
Angelika patted the broom she had brought along. “I shall protect you.”
Will was halfway through hacking away the ivy that had taken hold of the side of the house. In the background, a few local boys he’d hired were cutting, pruning, digging, and burning. There was even someone on a ladder, painting the window casings. From another open window, one of the new chambermaids was beating dust from a rug. From this exact spot, lying on the cut grass, Angelika could see the shape of the house reemerging, and it struck her as a kind of reclaimed dignity for the old building.
It also made her miss her parents.
“What’s this old book?” Lizzie asked, picking up the leather-bound book that Angelika had brought outside. She read the spine. “Institutiones Rei Herbariae by Tournefort. Oh. It’s botany.” She gave the pages a cursory flip to admire the illustrations of blooms, buds, and pods.
“It’s a present for Will. I’m taking a guess that it’s what he’s been searching for when he walks in his sleep. This is his passion.” Angelika took it back before Lizzie could read her inscription.
To my love: One day I will write your true name here.
With all that I am,
I am always,
your Angelika.
Will bent down to gather vines from the ground, but when he straightened he put a hand on the wall, the greenery dropping back down. His shoulders were rising and falling on deep breaths.
“Are you all right?” Angelika called, but he shook his head in irritation and ignored her. “He looks like he’s about to faint.”
Lizzie nudged her back to the conversation. “I know Will was your work, because Vic can’t do what you do. You’re more clever than you realize. Promise me if Belladonna trips me on the staircase and breaks my neck, you’ll bring me back, too.”
Will was still bent over and struggling in some way. Angelika laid the book aside and debated getting to her feet.
“There is a risk of total memory loss, be warned. You’d have to fall in love with Vic all over again. Maybe you’ll choose someone more normal next time around.”
Lizzie sniggered. “I doubt it. I could tell you things about your brother that would scar you. He is utterly . . .” She searched for an appropriate word for an uncomfortably long time, settling on: “Inventive.”
“I beg you, please, do not ever, ever elaborate. I don’t know how you bear to kiss his apple breath.”
Angelika was lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows. She was glad of Lizzie’s company, which only seemed possible when Victor was riding his horse in the forest, searching for his creation. And even then, Lizzie just wanted to drone on and on about her brother. People in love were tedious.
She watched Will resume work. Her chest was still tight from fright; was he often feeling dizzy? “What else has Vic told you about Will?”
“I can see for myself that he is very handsome. Oh, don’t get those sharp eyes with me.” Lizzie exhaled heavily on her new diamond ring and polished it on her neckline. It was apparently a frequent impulse. “Are you sure you don’t mind me having this?” She’d been awkward since Victor mentioned that the ring had previously resided in Angelika’s jewelry box.
“Quite sure.”
“Because I can give it back.” Even as Lizzie said that, her hand curled into a fist. It would be cut from her cold dead finger.