“Yes, exactly.” She leaned up to whisper, “He will keep believing that you hurt me unless I speak to him alone. And someone has to make sure he does not say anything to your brothers.”
Heath conceded that with a glance. “You’re right as usual, Giselle. I’ll check for spiders.”
“That’s a good idea,” Zack said. “I like to lean on the rails sometimes, and if a spider crawled on me, I might fall off.”
That arrested both Heath and Giselle. Heath stared hard at his brother. “On the rails? Do you mean, the rails around the observation deck?”
Zack nodded. “It’s my special place. I can see all of Longmead from up there.”
Giselle’s heart dropped.
“You mustn’t do that anymore, lad, do you hear?” Heath said, alarm plainly evident in his tone. “The observation deck isn’t stone; it’s wood. It might have supported you when you were younger, but it’s not sturdy enough now that you’re big.” He gripped Zack’s shoulders. “Besides, that wood hasn’t been maintained for years. And if you fell through it from that height …”
Heath shuddered, and Giselle shuddered along with him.
“Promise me you won’t lean on the rails anymore, or even walk on the observation deck,” Heath said earnestly. “You can view Longmeadfrom the stone entrance to the deck. There’s no need to risk your life.”
“But—”
“Promise me, Zack!”
The boy turned sullen. “I promise.”
Heath let out a breath. “Good. Now, why don’t you take Miss Bernard back to the house while I … er … search for spiders.”
The last view of Heath she had was of him sweeping a stick around a corner of the first-floor room. She stifled a chuckle. He clearly didnotlike that task.
But she’d had to get away from him.
Her amusement abruptly faded. When it came to Heath, she had no spine. She had spent too many years in Verdun dreamily imagining what it would be like to have him actually desire her, and now that it had happened, she could not get enough.
Noticing how Zack trudged sullenly beside her, she realized he was still smarting from how Heath had spoken to him. “You know that your brother just wants to keep you safe, do you not?”
Thrusting out his lower lip, Zack said, “I can take care of myself.”
“Of course you can,” she said quickly, “and it was very brave of you to try and protect me. But Heath was not hurting me, I swear. Just like he was not doubting your ability to navigate the deck. He was merely trying to be sure you understood the gravity of the circumstances.”
He gazed at her. “You talk funny.”
She smiled. “Because I am French. We do not speak like the English, even when we speak English.”
He digested that. “Well, I’m glad you don’t like spiders. But you’re a girl, and you’re not supposed to. Evan and Kit tease me becauseIdon’t like them.”
“Evan and Kit tease you a lot, do they?”
He shrugged. “They think they know everything because they’re older than me.”
“Older brothers tend to think that.”
“Do you have a brother?” Zack asked.
“No. But my mother does, and he was always trying to tell her what to do. And me.”
“Because you and her are ladies.”
And he was a tyrant.“Do you think gentlemen should always tell ladies what to do?”
Zack frowned, clearly considering the idea. “Cousin Yates said no. He said ladies should make their own decisions, even if the law didn’t think so.”