He prepared himself. “Tell me.”
“I have faith in you.” She kissed his cheek and slipped out of his hands.
A strange, cozy scene had formed outside. A huge bonfire was blazing, licking the stars above. Chairs with cushions and lap blankets were placed around it. Clara and Lizzie were seated and talking. Victor was holding a bitten apple in his mouth and was struggling to break a large branch over his knee.
“Trust Victor to casually ignite an inferno.” Angelika shook her head at her brother. “That’s enough, I think.”
“I’d best not sit too close to the orchard,” Victor said after swallowing his mouthful. “You never know who might come forth to touch my hair, which is even more irresistible than yours, Jelly.” The party only heard his joke, but Angelika knew he was deeply rattled by the incident.
Christopher was waiting for Angelika like a groom at an altar. She walked to him and before he could speak, she asked at full volume in front of everybody, “Are you intending on courting me?”
“Yes,” Christopher replied, steady and unflustered. “But I wanted to give your brother the courtesy of that conversation first.”
“Kwertesy,” Victor repeated scornfully with his mouth full of apple again, grunting with effort as the branch broke at last and he threw it into the fire. Bite, chew; he decided it was too sour and pelted the apple into the darkness. “It is only Angelika’s opinion that matters. But fine, I’ll play old-fashioned brother. I shall ask you three questions.”
Christopher nodded. “Please do.”
“Make them count, Vic,” Lizzie urged him with a saucy grin. Clara was either delighted or disturbed.
Victor held up one finger. “Are you a good, God-fearing Christian man?”
Christopher would not fall for this trap. “No.”
Victor was surprised, and he had not prepared a follow-up question. He thought for a moment. Two fingers went up. “Are you a gambler or a thief?”
“No.”
He held up three fingers with a grin, and Angelika knew they were in for trouble. “Are you especially talented in the bedchamber? I ask that as a favor to Jelly.”
Christopher answered him without so much as a smile. “Yes.”
Victor doubled over laughing.
Angelika’s stomach did a strange thing, even as she looked for Will. He stood in the shadowed doorway of the manor with his arms crossed. Angelika thought he turned to leave, and she could understand why he would. But when she blinked, he was walking over. She thought she saw him forming a fist. He wasn’t. This firelight was playing with her vision. Energy was radiating from him like a thundercloud.
“Sit down, Jelly,” Lizzie said. “You look a bit peaky.”
Victor held out his hand like a deal was struck. “All right, Chris. You may feel free to court her. I hope you do not live to regret that decision. Now, she’s cantankerous, especially on an empty stomach.”
“You make this sound like a horse sale,” Angelika protested as they shook hands.
“I am not your average man,” Christopher said, without any boast in his tone. “I am ready for the challenge of an exceptional woman.”
“Well, I’ll say she is. She’s a temperamental little mare,” Victor continued, “but if you gain her respect, she’ll try her heart out for you.”
“Wait,” Will said, and everyone’s laughter died. “I want to say something. I do believe you have noticed my evasiveness tonight, Commander.”
Christopher nodded. “I have.”
What Will said next surprised them all. “I am not Victor’s colleague. If we sit down, I will explain everything.”
Chapter Sixteen
What are you doing?” Angelika hissed at Will as they moved to the bonfire.
“It’s the only way,” he replied. When everyone was sitting and leaning forward in their seats, Will began what sounded like a ghost story.
“It was about one month ago that Victor and Angelika were out riding at night and they found me on the roadside. I was beaten and wearing not a stitch of clothing. Everything I might have had was gone. They brought me back here, and when I woke up, I had absolutely no memory. Angelika’s was the first face I saw.” His expression softened with affection as he looked to her. “She was telling me her name was Angelika, and I was at Blackthorne Manor. I was quite rude to her.”
She laughed. “He was, it’s true.”
“How utterly frightful,” Clara said to him with alarm. “My goodness. Have you recovered?”