Page 56 of A Dare too Far

She jumped away from the hedge with a yelp. It rustled. Creatures lived in the bushes, but surely none big enough to make such a racket.

George’s hands appeared on the ground beneath the hedge, then his head popped through. As he braced his weight against the ground and pulled the rest of his body through, his face grimaced with the effort. His head and arm! She rushed to him and helped pull him to his feet.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

He dusted off his clothes. “There was a hole. It seemed more expedient. You favor practicalities, yes?”

“Did he push through the hedge?” Mr. Newburton’s voice.

“Not fair!” Mr. Quillsby.

“There’s a bigger hole now,” Jane said. “And my shawls are not in the best form, either.”

George shook them out and wrapped them around her shoulders. “A little dirt, a leaf here or there, will not keep you from getting warm.” He pulled the shawls tighter about her. “Now sit there.” He nodded toward the bench.

She would not sit. “You can go now.”

“Jane, I was trying to tell you something important when you initiated this farce. And now that I’ve got you cornered, I’m going to tell you. But first”—he lifted his face to the sky—“Quillsby, Newburton, Dour… Go away.” He bellowed over the hedge. “Everyone, actually. Leave!”

From beyond the maze, Jane heard Edmund shooing everyone inside. “Other things to see and do today. Go get warm. Wait a bit, where’s Newburton?”

“Still in this blasted thing!” the soap-maker answered.

“Hold a bit.” Huffing. “There you are. Follow me. Find Sharpy and tease him. Save Lord Devon from the drink. Just go anywhere but here. They’re all gone now, George!”

George leveled her with a dark green gaze. “You too, Eddie. Leave.”

Silence.

“You’re still here. I know it,” George said.

“Ow!” Edmund squealed. “That’s my ear, Kat! I’m not a boy. You’re going to rip it off! Let go! Fine, woman, I’ll go. Unhand me!”

“All right,” Katherine called. “He’s gone. And I am too.”

The sound of a door closing in the distance.

George smiled at Jane. “I think we’re alone now.”

Jane crossed her arms over her chest. “You ruined it, George. Not well done of you at all.”

“You ran from me when I was about to tell you something important.”

Jane sat on the cold stone bench and faced away from him. She did not want to hear anythingimportant. But if he’d crawl through a hedge to get to her, there was really no hiding. “I can see whatever it is you wish to say hangs heavy over you. And as your friend, I will listen.”

“Friend. A flat word. Tasteless. You taste better.” He was closer to her now, his body warmth seeping through her layers at her back.

She gasped and burrowed into her shawls, seeking their protective warmth.

“But perhaps it is better that way. Right now, I need bitter words. What I’m about to tell you, I’ve only told two other people. Edmund and the Duke of Collingford.” He dropped to the bench beside her, facing the opposite direction.

She did look at him then, at his elegant profile, hard and sharp, his jaw clenching with some emotion. She wanted to reach out to him, but she kept her hands folded in her lap. “You do not have to tell me.”

“My uncle lives with me. He was my guardian for most of my life after my parents died. And for almost as long as I can remember, he has made a habit of opium.”

Her lips parted, and she froze for several breaths before fluttering back to life. “Oh. I am sorry, George. I did not know.”

“Uncle Neville married a French woman before theirgloriousrevolution. I suppose it’s more accurate and pertinent to say he married a well-connected andtitledFrench woman. They had a child.”