“No need to shout.”
“I did not shout,” she shouted again.
Hugh smiled his maddening smile.
“Allow me to guess; ladies do not shout?”
Louisa squeezed her head at her temples again.
“Hugh,” she began as though talking to a particularly dim child. Which he was. If an overgrown one. ”Remember that we are both concerned about our respective siblings. I cannot stand idly by and allow my sister to be hurt by your brother.”
“Why do you assume he means to hurt her?”
She wanted to feel his forehead to see if he were feverish but she couldn’t trust herself to touch him without tackling him to the ground and ravishing him, so she kept her deviant hands to herself.
“Considering you and your brothers have wanted nothing more than to hurt all of us, all our lives, I rather think my assumption is an accurate one.”
Hugh swallowed hard and Louisa averted her eyes from the muscles in his throat lest she do something crazy like press her lips to them.
“I think,” he said rather gruffly. “I think it’s possible that Lucas is starting to genuinely care about your sister.”
Louisa felt a pang of shock.
She had been thinking that Meredith was starting to care for Lucas as well, especially in light of their carry on at breakfast.
But she wouldn’t believe it. No good could come of it. She had thought that Hugh had cared about her three years ago when he had kissed her, and look how that had turned out.
Steeling her heart against any sort of compassion for either Lucas or her silly, innocent sister, Louisa raised her chin and made sure to look absolutely fierce.
“Stuff and nonsense,” she said with a laugh. “Your brother is as incapable of caring about a woman as you are.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Only that your brother may act as though he cares about her but he is as heartless as the rest of you.”
She could practically see the wheels turning in his pretty head, trying to work out where the bitterness that she could not disguise was coming from.
“What is this really about?” he demanded, his voice low.
Louisa huffed out a frustrated breath. This wasn’t how she had wanted this conversation to go. They were supposed to be discussing how to keep their siblings apart. Now, he was questioning her motives. And that was a question she really didn’t want to answer.
Raising a brow and making every effort to appear utterly nonchalant, Louisa gave another, brittle laugh.
“It is about stopping Lucas and Meredith from making a colossal mistake. I thought we both agreed on that.”
For a moment, it looked as though he would argue with her. But, finally, he sighed, the sound wearier than any she’d ever heard from him and shook his head.
“We do agree. It would be a mistake. For many reasons. So, what do we do?”
CHAPTER FIVE
IT WAS EXHAUSTING, LOUISA decided hours later, planning strategies of war with her sisters whilst all the while planning strategies of distance with Hugh.
Sara and Meredith had both seemed terribly suspicious of her earlier, and it had taken all of Louisa’s strength to act as though everything were normal.
When Sara had mentioned seeing Louisa and Hugh in the garden area, Louisa’s heart had fluttered with panic. Thankfully though, her gossipy younger sister had only seen them walking. The kiss remained a secret.
But her siblings were suspicious, Louisa knew. And it had taken all of her talent for avoidance, and the promise of her new pink evening gown for Sara to drop the matter.
Her sisters were even more suspicious when they saw what she intended to wear.
Her dress, she could admit, was probably better suited to a royal affair than a garden party in the depths of the winter. But Louisa cared not. The pale green satin made her eyes appear greener than usual, and she knew green was Hugh’s favorite color.
He had hurt her three years ago, and then he had infuriated her earlier today and ignored her for the rest of the afternoon.
Well, she thought as she adjusted the band of diamonds in her hair and tugged on the rather low neckline of her satin dress, he would bloody well pay attention to her tonight.
She had been snapping at Sara and Meredith all afternoon, and they at her. The Mayford brothers had certainly succeeded in pitting the sisters against one another. But Louisa was ready for action.
If Lucas thought he could drag her sister off into the middle of the maze and ruin her, he had another think coming.
Louisa just prayed Hugh would actually help her.
He hadn’t seemed as enamored with the idea earlier as she would have liked.
The bell sounded for dinner and Louisa took one final glance in the looking glass.
The determined glint in her eyes gave her the confidence boost she needed. She appeared sophisticated and ready for battle.
Let the game commence.
“IS THE FOOD NOT to your taste, my lord?”