She nodded.
Did he like the kiss? He seemed to, but he’d regained his control awfully quickly. Perhaps he’d never lost it.
“Lily,” he said as she turned to walk away, “the answer is yes.”
“I didn’t ask a question.”
“You did, lass. It’s there in the uncertain, blue pools of your eyes. I did like the kiss. Now, for your second question—”
“I haven’t asked it either.”
“The answer is I liked it a lot. It was a damn great kiss.”
She smiled an openhearted smile. “I thought so, too.”
“And to answer your last question, no one else.”
She laughed. “What? No one else can kiss you into raptures as I did?”
“No, lass.” His voice was tender and husky, and his brogue more pronounced as it often was when he was other than calm. “No one else can kiss you into raptures as I did.”
***
Rose and Laurel were already in Daisy’s bedchamber assisting the midwife by the time Lily and her twin arrived. After giving Daisy a hug and a kiss, she and Dillie remained in the background, running whatever errands were requested of them, then quietly returning to the bedchamber. They simply wanted to be close to Daisy, all five sisters together, as though the strength of their love would make everything turn out right.
“Where’s Gabriel? How is he holding up?” Daisy asked, obviously worried about her husband as her contractions continued into the evening.
“He’s pacing downstairs. Graelem’s with him to lend support. So are Mother, Father, and Uncle George. He’ll be fine,” Laurel said, her words more reassuring for the hell she had survived during her first childbirth last year. Her husband, Graelem, had been mad with fear, as had the entire Farthingale clan. Even now, Lily wanted to reach out and hug Laurel, just to be sure she was alive and well, and not a ghostly vision.
When the midwife stepped out of the room during a quiet moment, Rose turned to Lily. “You’ve been distracted all evening. Out with it. What’s on your mind?”
Lily knew she ought to keep silent, for this was Daisy’s moment and nothing should distract them from that. But Farthingales never seemed able to keep quiet on any topic, even ones they knew very little about. It was the family curse. Except for Uncle George, who always knew precisely the right thing to say... or not to say... and at just the right time. But Uncle George wasn’t here to stop her, and she wasn’t used to being this confused. She simply hated the feeling. Hadn’t experienced it since she was a toddler. “Ewan kissed me.”
Even Daisy sat up with a start. “He did?”
Lily winced. “I started it, but he took over rather quickly.”
Rose and Laurel were grinning. Smug, womanly grins. Obviously, they understood what she was talking about. Good. She needed help to sort this out. Daisy broke the smiling silence with a sharp gasp. All eyes turned to her. “Forget it. Just a contraction. Go on, Lily. Tell us more.”
“Tell us everything,” Rose added.
Well, she wasn’t going to do that. Just the confusing details. “He’s very good at kissing. He was quite thorough about it.”
Ugh, her sisters were all grinning at her again. “And how did it feel to you?” Laurel asked.
Amazing. Breathtaking. “Good.”
Laurel persisted. “Just good? Or spectacular-knock-your-stockings-off good?”
Lily felt her face heating. “Yes, the latter choice. Spectacular. Better-get-a-chaperone-into-the-room-fast good. If Dillie hadn’t knocked on the library door just then... well, thank goodness she did.”
The grins now stretched so broadly across her sisters’ faces, one would think they were fillies at a horse auction, waiting to have their teeth inspected by potential bidders. “Oh, Lily! Don’t you realize what this means?”
“If I did, Daisy,” she said, trying not to sound as irritated as she felt, “I wouldn’t be asking all of you.”
Rose reached out and hugged her. “You’re in love.”
Lily shook her head and laughed. “Oh, no. No, no, no. At best I’m infatuated. Interested. Moderately attracted.”
“Love,” Laurel insisted.
She glanced at her twin. “Dillie, please rescue me. I feel outnumbered.”
“What can I do? I’m still young and innocent. But it seems as though our older and wiser sisters know what they’re talking about.”
“They don’t. It isn’t the same at all.” She placed her hands on each side of her waist and stared at her three married sisters in accusation. They were in love with their husbands and wanted the same for her, no doubt. Being in love was likely a wonderful feeling if the other party reciprocated. “Your husbands love you back. Ewan doesn’t love me.”