‘Quite.’ She inclined her head and then twisted it pointedly to one side, focusing her attention back on Henrietta’s companion. ‘Now have you finished getting recommendations, sir, or did you only come to grace us with your presence again?’
‘Actually I’ve decided I’m not so hungry, after all.’ The irritant spun around with another wolfish grin. ‘However, I’ve just invited your charming assistant here for a walk, what with it being such a beautiful afternoon.’
‘So it is.’ Anna spoke quickly before her ‘charming assistant’ could agree to anything. ‘Unfortunately, as you may or may not have noticed, we have a business to run. Our customers can’t serve themselves.’
‘But we close soon,’ Henrietta interjected. ‘Couldn’t we leave just a little bit early for once?’
‘We still have cleaning up to do.’ Anna shot her a warning look.
‘Then perhaps I might wait and escort Miss Henrietta home? I’d be more than happy to do so.’
‘I’m sure you would.’ Anna gave a tight-lipped smile in return, reluctantly conceding that she’d been outwitted. Her own customer had already picked up his tin and tucked it neatly under his arm, though his expression was noticeably less triumphant than that of his friend. There was actually a small furrow between his brows as if he were displeased about something. It made a striking contrast to the way he’d smiled across the counter a few minutes before. No doubt that had just been a charming mask, one he felt able to drop now that his task as decoy was complete, but if he thought the matter was concluded, then he was very much mistaken. She wasn’t defeated yet!
‘Do you know...?’ She walked around the counter and across the shop floor to place a protective arm around Henrietta’s shoulders. ‘Now that I think of it, an evening stroll sounds most pleasant, after all. We’ll meet you in Sydney Gardens beside the grotto in half an hour, after we’ve tidied. That way we can escort Miss Gardiner home together.’
Samuel marched up and down a picturesque-looking pathway between rows of willow and ash trees, ardently wishing that he’d been out when his old friend had called to visit him that afternoon. As amusing as he’d found his encounter with the pretty and prickly Miss Fortini, his conscience was bothering him quite considerably. No matter how tedious he found life on shore, he should never have gone along with Ralph’s plan. It had felt dishonourable somehow, his behaviour that of a rake, or even worse, his father! This walk struck him as a monumentally bad idea, too, but he was involved now whether he liked it or not. To his own chagrin, it was too late to walk away.
‘I say!’ Ralph called out to him from the bench where he was lounging, arms thrown wide as if he hadn’t a care in the world. ‘Why are you in such a bad mood?’
‘Because I don’t appreciate being dragged into your romantic exploits, that’s why!’ Samuel practically exploded. ‘That whole scene felt underhand. You said it was just a little harmless flirtation, nothing about walks in the park.’
‘Well, I call that very ungrateful. Here I’ve arranged a promenade with two very attractive young ladies and all you can do is complain.’
‘An hour ago you described one of them as a termagant.’
‘Yes, she is, isn’t she?’ Ralph chuckled unrepentantly. ‘I thought she was going to spit actual feathers when I offered to walk Henrietta home.’
‘You don’t need me to be here, too. You and the termagant can squabble over the girl together.’
‘Don’t you believe it. If it’s just me then she’ll plant herself between the two of us and I won’t get a word, let alone anything else, in edgewise. You can just tell she’s the sort who wants to stop everyone else having fun because she’s an old maid.’
‘She’s hardly an old maid.’
Ralph made a snorting sound. ‘I doubt she’s ever had a day’s excitement in her whole life.’
‘Leave her alone.’
‘Why? Do you like her?’ His old friend draped one leg over the other and regarded him thoughtfully. ‘Well, she’s attractive enough, I suppose. If I wasn’t so smitten with my nymph, then I might have considered her for myself. After all, her name’s practically famous in Bath. She’d be quite a conquest.’
Samuel stopped pacing abruptly. Attractive enough wasn’t exactly the phrase he would have chosen to use. Exceedingly pretty was more like it, with porcelain skin, a stubborn chin and eyes dark and deep enough for a man to drown in, which given his nautical background was a dangerous metaphor indeed. They’d turned out to be an even darker brown than he’d expected, only a shade away from black, and sharper than Ralph had given her credit for. She’d known perfectly well what they’d been up to from the moment they’d entered the shop, her hackles well and truly raised from the start. He certainly hadn’t deceived or charmed her.
Truth be told, the experience had been somewhat galling. He’d never been much of a lady’s man, but he’d flattered himself that he still possessed a reasonable degree of charm, on the rare occasions he chose to display it, that was. He’d favoured Miss Fortini with his most dashing smile and she hadn’t been swayed for a second. Teasing hadn’t worked, either. She’d given as good as she’d got and more, rebuffing his advances with flashing eyes and a dry wit that had amused him considerably. Her protective attitude towards her assistant had impressed him, too. Her concern for the girl was both laudable and touching, making him feel even guiltier by contrast. She certainly deserved better than to have to spend her time guarding against men like Ralph. It was no wonder she behaved like a termagant. Which she wasn’t.
‘What do you mean, famous?’ he asked finally.
‘Mmm?’ Ralph paused in the inspection of his fingernails. ‘Oh, she’s Belle. The Belle. Annabelle Fortini.’
‘Annabelle.’ He felt inordinately pleased to discover her first name at last. ‘But aren’t the biscuits called Belles?’
‘Yes,’ Ralph yawned, ‘but they were named after her. The whole shop was, in fact. Her parents set up the place just after she was born, so Henrietta says, and they named both it and the merchandise after their baby daughter. It’s ironic really, such a sweet name for such a shrew.’
Samuel folded his arms, choosing to ignore the last comment. ‘What happened to her parents?’
‘Oh, the father died a few years ago, but the mother’s still around. She doesn’t work any more, something to do with ill health apparently, but she’s even more famous than the daughter. Notorious, actually.’
‘I don’t listen to gossip, Ralph.’
‘It’s not gossip, it’s fact. Do you remember the old Duke of Messi—?’
He was prevented from saying any more by the appearance of the ladies themselves, walking with varying degrees of enthusiasm along the footpath towards them. They were still dressed in their shop clothes, in matching yellow empire-line dresses, though now they both wore bonnets and shawls, too. The nymph’s headwear was pink, bringing out the slight strawberry tint of her hair, while Miss Fortini’s was light brown, contrasting with her dark curls to give her a coffee-and-cream appearance. Damn it if he didn’t crave a cup at that moment...
The younger woman walked straight up to Ralph with a small skip in her step, taking his arm with an enthusiastic smile. Too enthusiastic, Samuel thought privately, and certainly too trusting. Her yellow dress and hair gave her the appearance of a daffodil, her golden beauty blending in perfectly with the spring foliage around them. It gave him a twinge of unease. Such innocence could so easily be stamped on by the wrong kind of person. In natural