“I can carry that, my lady.” Ginny rushed forward to take the heavy platter of sandwiches Lady Mariah was presenting to a group of grubby-faced children. “You shouldn’t be lifting things in your condition.”

Lady Mariah laughed. “There are plenty of reasons I shouldn’t be lifting things, and the baby is the least of them.”

The two of them shared a laugh, as they moved down the row of eager children and their mothers who had gathered for the free lunch following Mr. Adler’s speech. Ginny supposed she should have remembered much more about the speech itself, but thoughts of Australia filled her head instead.

“How long do you suppose it takes to sail to Australia these days, my lady?” she asked as they worked.

“Months, I suppose,” Lady Mariah answered. “Although now that most ships use steam power instead of the wind, I suppose it doesn’t take as long. Why do you ask?”

Ginny would have shrugged if she hadn’t been carrying the tray. “Mr. Adler says he’s heading to Australia after finishing up with Lord Dunsford’s new mine.” Mr. Adler had said a few other highly interesting things too, but Ginny still couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t had a man show interest in her in years. Well, not unless she counted Harry. But that was a kettle of fish she wasn’t sure she wanted to open.

“Is that what you and the surveyor were talking about?” Ginny’s American friend, Millie, asked.

Ginny had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t seen Millie standing with the families waiting for their lunch. The moment she saw her, though, her face lit up.

“Why Millie Llewellyn, you’re positively glowing today,” she said.

Millie laughed modestly, glancing to the tiny baby wrapped in a knit blanket that she held. “I give all the credit to Lowry here.”

Ginny craned her neck to get a look at Millie and Owen’s little girl. She had brought so much light and life to her parents’ life. It made Ginny especially happy to know that Millie was blessed with so much joy and peace after the trauma of her younger years.

“Oh, I’m forgetting my manners. Lady Mariah, have you met my dear friend, Millie Llewellyn?” Ginny made the introduction.

“I don’t think I have.” Lady Mariah smiled in Millie’s direction as she continued to hand out sandwiches.

“Oh, my lady, I’m so sorry.” Millie quickly curtsied, a pink flush coming to her cheeks. “I can never remember who I’m supposed to talk to and who I need to hold my tongue around. It comes from being American I suppose. I’ll find Ginny and speak with her later. I’m so sorry, your ladyship.”

Lady Mariah laughed. “I’ve only been a lady for four months, so I forgive you, Mrs. Llewellyn. Please don’t let me interrupt your conversation with Ginny.”

Millie turned a wide-eyed look to Ginny, as though she couldn’t believe a countess would allow the two of them to converse in front of her. Ginny answered with a proud grin that she hoped conveyed her affection for Lady Mariah, as a mistress and as a friend.

“We can talk some other time,” Millie insisted. “I was just wondering what Mr. Adler could possibly have been talking to you about.”

“I was wondering the same thing myself,” Lady Mariah said.

“Oh.” Ginny felt the heat rush up her neck to her face. “I had no idea so many people saw him come over to talk to me and Harry.”

“It wasn’t Harry Mr. Adler was interested in,” Millie said. “At least not the way I saw things.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Lady Mariah agreed.

Ginny moved on when the tray of sandwiches was empty, carrying it back to the nearest refreshment table, but Lady Mariah and Millie followed her.

“I think Mr. Adler is introducing himself to all of the mining families,” Ginny said. She twisted, scanning the dispersing crowd, until she spotted Mr. Adler talking to Owen and Mr. Sinclair. “See?”

Millie made a skeptical noise. Lady Mariah arched an eyebrow and rubbed a hand over her stomach. “It looks as though he’s only conversing with a few people who are important to the mines,” she said.

“And you, my friend, have nothing to do with the mines,” Millie added. “But he seemed to make a point of introducing himself to you.”

“That’s all he did,” Ginny insisted. “Introduced himself.” She paused, growing more and more self-conscious as both Millie and Lady Mariah studied her. She could have made light of one or the other woman’s doubt, but dubious looks from both of them was beyond her ability to feign indifference. “He also asked if I would be interested in walking out with him,” she confessed at last.

“I knew something like that was going on,” Millie burst, then added, “My lady,” with an odd curtsy.

Lady Mariah sent Millie a reassuring smile and said, “I came to the same conclusion. He seemed quite taken with you as far as I could see from where I was standing.”

“And he is quite handsome,” Millie added.

Ginny put her tray on the table with a heavy sigh. She turned to Millie, planting an impatient hand on her hip, but with Lady Mariah standing right there, she shifted to standing more respectfully. Except that meant she didn’t know what to do with her hands. Just like she didn’t know what to do with the roiling restlessness inside of her.

“Mr. Adler is handsome, I suppose,” she admitted. Although not as handsome as a certain sandy-haired, dark eyed stableman she knew. A stableman who wasn’t interested in asking her out to lunch, or anything else.

“So are you going to take Mr. Adler up on his invitation?” Lady Mariah asked.

Ginny’s brow rose at the mischief in her mistress’s smile. “I don’t know, my lady. My duties to you keep me awfully busy.”

“I can do without you for an afternoon,” Lady Mariah said, stopping to hand one of the last tea cakes to a shy little girl who had wandered up to the table looking for the last of the treats. “Here you go, sweetheart,” she said, giving the girl the cake and a kiss on her forehead. She stood straight and watched the girl run to her mother, and touched a hand to her stomach again.

Ginny felt a surprise flash of envy. She wondered if she’d ever be in a position to look forward to the birth of a child, the promise of a family. It startled her to feel the pull so strongly. And yet, when she searched the clearing yard for Harry, wondering if he felt the same way, and if she could ever be the woman he looked forward to that life with, he was nowhere to be seen.

Mr. Adler, on the other hand, had paused his conversation and was looking in their direction. As soon as their eyes met, he broke into a wide smile and raised a hand to wave at her. And even though Lady Mariah, a countess and the wife of the man who had employed him, was standing only a few yards away, he didn’t seem to see her.

“Oh my,” Millie said, bringing Ginny back to the conversation. “He most definitely has his eye on you.” She peeked at Lady Mariah, winced, and said, “My lady. Again. I’m sorry, I’m just so not used to addressing my betters.”

“I promise you, it’s all right,” Lady Mariah laughed. “And I agree with you. I know what a man looks like when a woman has caught his eye, and that’s it.” She grinned at Ginny.

“Do you really think so?” Ginny wanted to study Mr. Adler across the expanse of the yard, but she wasn’t sure she dared to catch his eye again. Not if it meant she was encouraging him.

Then again, maybe she should encourage him. Maybe it was time she set aside dreams of romance and passion, and settled for travel and a man who actually wanted her. And in truth, that wasn’t really settling at all, she supposed.

“I think you should take Mr. Adler up on his invitation,” Millie said as she helped Ginny and Lady Mariah gather the empty plates and platters scattered across the tables with one hand while balancing little Lowry against her shoulder with the other. “You’re not getting any younger, you know.”

“And what about Mr. Pond?” Lady Mariah whispered as the three of them converged near the center of the table.

Ginny blushed hard, and Millie gasped. “Lady Mariah knows about Harry?”

“Not everything,” Ginny warned her friend through a clenched jaw.

“There’s more to know?” Lady Mariah asked, as much mischief in her eyes as though she, Ginny, and Millie had all worked scrubbing dishes in the scullery together at one time.

“Lady Mariah knows that Harry and I are friends,” Ginny explained.

“Lady Mariah suspects there is more between the two of them,” Lady Mariah whispered.

“Lady Mariah would be right,” Millie whispered back.

“But not the way you think.” Ginny stood straight and let out a frustrated breath. “Yes, Harry and I have kissed a time or two,” she confessed, unable to look at either woman for fear that she would reveal more than she intended to. “But that’s as far as it’s gone.”

Lady Mariah arched a brow as though she didn’t quite believe her.

“That’s a good point,” Millie said, her expression resolved instead of titillated, like Lady Mariah’s. “If Harry hasn’t declared himself or taken thing further by now, will he ever?”

“Has he really had a chance to take things further?” Lady Mariah asked. “Forgive me, I’ve only been here a short time, and I feel like I’ve picked up a book and turned straight to the middle, but have the two of you ever discussed what it is you each want?”

Ginny winced and glanced down, gathering a few used serviettes from the end of the table. “Not in so many words, but Harry has been pretty clear about what he wants from the beginning.”

“And what is that?” Lady Mariah asked.

“A home here in Cornwall,” Ginny said. “A good wife who matches his station. And a parcel of children.”

“But that sounds ideal,” Lady Mariah went on. “You’d make a perfect wife.”

Ginny sent her a wary look. She didn’t couldn’t possibly confess that she wasn’t exactly good and certainly not the kind of woman who could be content staying at home all the time. “I don’t know.”

“Well I do,” Millie said with a surprising certainty. Both Ginny and Lady Mariah turned to her. “Harry had his chance and he did nothing,” Millie explained. “This Mr. Adler seems like a perfectly reasonable and eligible man. The two of you would certainly have things to talk about. So why not accept his invitation to lunch? I think it sounds like fun.” She glanced to Lady Mariah, then bobbed a quick curtsy and said, “My lady.”

Lady Mariah sighed and shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. “I suppose Mrs. Llewellyn has a point. Mr. Pond is lovely, but you can’t wait for him forever.”

Ginny chewed her lip, glancing from Millie to Lady Mariah, then off into the distance. She would wait for Harry until the end of the world if she thought that he’d ever declare feelings for her. There was only one way she could find out if that was ever going to happen, though.

“I’ll think on it,” she said, gathering empty plates into her arms. “But for now, there’s work to be done.”

“Come talk to me if you need to,” Millie said, squeezing Ginny’s arm as she passed, then curtsying to Lady Mariah and heading off to join Owen.

“You’re always welcome to speak to me about these things as well,” Lady Mariah said, moving all of the dirty serviettes onto one of the platters.

“Thank you, my lady.” Ginny smiled.

“Oh, my lady, don’t carry that.” They both turned to find Poppy rushing across the grass toward them. “I can—oh!”

Arms flailing, Poppy fell like a sack of bricks the same way she had earlier in the day.

“Poppy, what are you doing?” Nick Parsons, Starcross’s gardener, said in a deep, rich, laughing voice as he strode up to where Poppy had spilled.

“It’s these shoes,” Poppy sighed. “They’re too big for me, but I can’t afford—” She gulped as Nick hooked his hands under her arms and hoisted her to her feet.

Not that it did any good. Poppy twisted to face him, falling against Nick’s broad chest. She glanced up at him with a look of pure longing in her eyes. Nick had to put his arm around her to keep her upright, but he didn’t seem to mind. He laughed, brushing the lock of hair that had fallen out of Poppy’s mobcap back behind her ear.

“Easy now,” he said. “Shoes or no shoes, we wouldn’t want you breaking your ankles.”

“Yes,” Poppy sighed. She blinked and stiffened, standing on her own power, and turning bright pink. “I mean no. No, we wouldn’t want that.”

She stared at him for a few more moments, then glanced in Ginny and Lady Mariah’s direction. As soon as she realized she was being watched, she let out a high-pitched squeak and ran off in the direction of the house. Nick glanced to Lady Mariah, bowed and removed his cap, then strode on to where some of the household staff had begun carrying tables inside.

“Well,” Lady Mariah said with a laugh. “It seems as though romance abounds at Starcross Castle this summer.”

“So it would seem,” Ginny agreed. Although she would have done anything to have her love life be as simple as Poppy and Nick’s. The sooner the two of them got together, the better. “I’m going to take these to the kitchen,” Ginny told Lady Mariah, then headed off toward the path that would take her around the house to the kitchen.

She was halfway through the courtyard when Harry stepped out of the stable, leading Lord Peter’s favorite horse, Charger, with him. He was frowning, and when he glanced up and saw her, instead of melting into a smile, his frown deepened. A shiver hit Ginny’s heart that she couldn’t shake. It wasn’t like Harry to be out of sorts. She didn’t like it, and she was determined to do something about it.

“Cheer up,” she said as she approached him. “It might never happen.”

“What?” He blinked as she and her armful of plates came to stand in front of him.

“Whatever has you looking so down in the mouth,” she said. “It might never happen.”

He studied her for a moment, a strange sort of heat in his eyes. For half a second, she thought he would say something glorious, possibly throw the plates out of her arms and draw her into an embrace, no matter who was looking. But all too soon, he breathed out heavily and rubbed a hand over his face. “It probably will happen.”

It was her turn to ask, “What?” which she did with a tremble in her heart.

Harry shook his head. “I shouldn’t interrupt your cleaning.”

“That’s all right,” Ginny said. “We’re almost done anyhow. Although I should get these into the kitchen as soon as possible.”

“Don’t let me stop you.” Harry touched the brim of his cap, then led Charger toward the archway that opened out to the front of the house.

“Harry,” Ginny stopped him, her heart rate doubling. She had to know if there was a chance for anything between them. She had to hear from Harry’s own lips that he didn’t want her.

“Yeah?” he asked, turning back to her.

She panicked. She couldn’t bear it if she put her heart on the line and heard for certain what she was sure she already knew. So her question came out as a clumsy, “What do you want out of life?”

Harry laughed, but it wasn’t a humorous laugh. “I just want peace,” he said. “I don’t want to wonder about things anymore. I want to be certain, solid. That’s all anybody wants, isn’t it?”

Ginny swallowed, fighting the tears that stung at the back of her eyes. “Of course it is.” She faked a broad smile and shuffled her feet. “Well, I won’t keep you from your work.”

She turned and bolted for the house. She knew it. She could have saved herself the trouble of tears if she’d gone with her assumptions, kept her questions to herself. What else could he mean but that he didn’t want a wild woman like her?

“What seems to be the problem with you?” Mrs. Harmon asked as Ginny set her plates down on the counter beside the sink. The two harried kitchen maids jumped right to work, taking them away to the two huge sinks, which were brimming with soapy water.

“Nothing, Mrs. Harmon,” Ginny lied, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “I think some dust got in my eye as I was crossing the courtyard.” She did her best to smile and pretend what she was saying was true.

“Mmm-hmm.” Mrs. Harmon nodded, arching a brow at her.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Harmon. There are more dishes to be brought in.”

Ginny turned to head back to the courtyard. As she did, she glanced through the long window that lined one wall of the kitchen. Anyone who had been standing where she was a few minutes earlier would have seen her entire conversation with Harry. Anyone like Mrs. Harmon.

Cheeks heating with embarrassment, Ginny rushed out of the kitchen, through the courtyard, and back to the path leading to the yard. She took a moment when she was out of sight of everyone to breathe deeply and pull her thoughts together. She knew Harry didn’t want her. She was a fool to be taken by surprise by the knowledge. He wanted a certain, solid type of girl, not her. But that didn’t mean that her prospects were dim. No, in fact, her prospects were widening as she stood there feeling sorry for herself.

She pushed herself into action again, forcing a smile to her face as she marched back out onto the lawn. Poppy and Miss Victoria were now helping Lady Mariah with the tables, but that wasn’t where Ginny headed. She spotted Mr. Adler talking to some of the few remaining miners and turned her steps toward him.

Mr. Adler saw her coming and excused himself from his conversation, which was a relief to Ginny. She could do what she had to do without drawing attention to herself.

“Miss Davis,” Mr. Adler greeted her with a smile as she came to within a few yards of him, heart racing. “Have you finished with your tasks?”

“Not quite,” she said, pretending to be cheerful and casual. “Lady Mariah still has a lot of work for me to do. But you asked me a question, and I’m here to give you an answer.”

“Oh?” He perked up.

Ginny smiled, even as her heart broke. “I’d love to go for lunch and a walk with you, Mr. Adler. Just let me know when and I’ll be there.”

He burst into a gratified smile. “How about this Sunday afternoon? Servants have half days on Sundays, don’t they?”

“Yes, we do.” Ginny nodded. “I can meet you at the church and we’ll walk from there. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Very reasonable.” Mr. Adler laughed, then nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

Ginny smiled, nodded, then turned to go. As she marched away, her smile faltered, then collapsed completely. A man had asked her to walk out with him. She should be over the moon with excitement. But all she could think was that Mr. Adler wasn’t Harry.