Cass pressed her palms to her cheeks. “But if neither of them will admit it, how will we ever discover what happened?”

Lucy paced in front of the windows, tapping her cheek. “This calls for a plan, Cass.”

“Oh, no. Not a plan.”

“Yes. A plan! To get to the bottom of this, to flush them out. If Garrett and Jane did sneak off together and kiss, they cannot be half as indifferent to each other as they pretend.”

“Yes, but— Oh, Lucy, you know what happens when you come up with one of your plans.”

“Yes! Things get done.” Lucy’s eyes gleamed. “Are we not about to celebrate your wedding? An event that came about as a direct result of one of my plans?”

“I cannot argue with you there, Luce.” Cass pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’ve already come up with this particular plan, haven’t you?”

Lucy’s catlike grin had returned. She rubbed her hands together with obvious glee. “Of course I have, and we’re going to need Daphne and Owen to help us.”

Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A picnic was the last place Jane wanted to be. Sprawling on the grass in the sun was not her sort of a pleasant time. She preferred the quiet coolness of a house and the sturdiness of a table and chair, but Cass wanted a picnic, so a picnic she would have. So Jane put on her favorite day dress, the white one with small flowers embroidered on it, and made her way downstairs.

The truth was, Jane had hidden. She’d hidden in the front drawing room until the large group of picnickers had all assembled in the foyer and then dutifully trotted out to the gravel drive in front of the grand manor house. They were to follow the trail to the left of the house into the meadow. While Jane intended to accompany them, she also intended to ensure Upton was at the front of the line and she at the back. She couldn’t be certain how she would react in his presence. She needed time to think, and staying carefully away from him at the picnic was quite a good start.

She’d watched through the window until Upton had got safely on his way—with Mrs. Langford simpering on his arm, Jane noted with a bit of pique—then Jane counted twenty and marched out of the salon, through the front door, and onto the gravel drive.

“Janie, there you are!” Cass exclaimed the moment she appeared outside.

“I told you I’d make it to the picnic,” Jane replied with her own smile. “A lady has to eat sometime, doesn’t she?” She opened her white parasol and waited for Cass and Julian to precede her down the path. The day was beautiful, and the smell of freshly scythed grass and bluebells wafted along the slight breeze.