As Seth closed the door, the glass fogged with condensation once more, cocooning them from the outside and sticking to her skin. Far too warm for her blanket and cloak, Seth removed them from her shoulders without a word and hung them both on hooks by the door.
Cassandra walked forward, stopping in front of a row of strawberry bushes in terracotta pots. Rummaging through the leaves, Seth plucked a strawberry and handed it to her. The fruit melted on her tongue, ripe and tart. With a soft smile, he remained a few steps back and kept his hands in his pockets. He watched her as she moved through the aisles, as if mentally cataloging every graze of her fingers over glossy leaves, every flower she took an interest in.
Soothed by the combined scents of domesticated nature around her, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
It almost felt like being home.
“Do you like it?” Seth asked.
She turned to smile at him.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
“Neither have I,” he whispered.
She stopped and met his gaze, not looking at their surroundings, but at her. Every moment she was with him, everything started making more sense. Seth cared for her. He knew she would find comfort in a garden at midnight, with a blanket around her shoulders. He had seen her back at Cooper House, but never made a move like this. Never crossed that line, even when he had ample opportunity.
Why now?
“Seth?”
“Yes, sweetheart?” The endearment rolled off of his tongue easily, as if he hadn’t the slightest inclination to hold himself back.
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked, maybe too quiet, as he didn’t respond.
He only stepped closer, a step away from her arm’s reach. Instead of answering her question, he gave one of his own, “Why were you on the hunt this morning?”
She swallowed.
“Matthew asked me to go. He’s worried about you.” Cassandra skimmed her hand along a variety of mint, worrying a velvety leaf between her finger and thumb. “We’re… family. He thought that if both of us are around, you’ll feel more comfortable.”
“A lot of good that did,” Seth ground out.
She flinched.
“Are you angry?”
“Not at you.”
“At Matthew?”
“He needs to stop. The more he tries to manage me the worse it gets. I’m starting to think that half of the reason he brought you here is to keep me in line.”
“To keep you inline?”
“It’s not the first time he’s put you in my path as a distraction,” he told her. “Since we arrived, he’s been meddling—”
“Did Matthew force you to dance with me?” she blurted out.
Seth furrowed his brows.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Lady Samantha mentioned it the other day.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You had to be asked multiple times—”
“I asked you to dance because I wanted to. Nobody would ever have to force me to—”
“Because you wanted to stop Colonel Bishop from dancing with me, more like,” she accused.