One Word From You: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation by Natalie Penna Page A

smooth it out, but Gideon took my hand. He kissed the back of it and assured me, “You look beautiful. I hardly recognised you.”
     
    “ Thanks, I think,” I said, realising that meant he usually didn't consider me attractive. Well, it wasn't like I actually tried.
     
    He chuckled, “How about we go somewhere to talk? We got interrupted earlier, after all.”
     
    Yeah, and I wanted to know if William's attitude had been soured because I was there, or because of Gideon. I nodded, and we weaved our way through the inebriated adults. Gideon kept a firm grip of my fingers, and I hoped they weren't getting too sweaty in his grip. It was strange that he could make me feel so self-conscious. I'd never cared about that sort of thing before. Crushes were bizarre, and I didn't know if I liked it. I mean, it was fun to think about someone I liked, but I knew that it couldn't happen. That definitely made for a disappointing weight in the pit of my stomach.
     
    Gideon wasn't as familiar with the house as I was, and once we were in the hall, he was at something of a loss. The garden would be quiet, what with October bringing colder nights. We walked to the little wooden gazebo which was happily situated in the midst of the neatly kept flowering shrubs. I perched upon the rail, and Gideon came to rest beside me.
     
    “ What did you want to talk about?” I asked, not wanting to bore him with anything that might be on my mind.
     
    Which was very little, as it happened.
     
    “ I thought I saw you – that is – I wondered if you were friends with the boys we saw earlier.”
     
    “ William and Charlie? I like Charlie, but William's annoying. I mean, he's so up himself, you know? He's looked down on me since the moment we met, and if it wasn't for Jenny and Charlie, I wouldn't so much as look at him. Why?”
     
    Gideon smiled. He looked relieved, in a way. I didn't quite get why until he said, “I've known Will for years.”
     
    “ Seriously? But he glared at you before.”
     
    “ Yeah, we don't get on. My parents worked for his, and we had a house on their estate. When my parents died in a car accident, his Dad let me live in the house, and gave me a good education. He's a good guy.”
     
    “ He sounds it. Does that mean William's adopted? Because I really can't see him doing that for anyone.”
     
    He laughed, “No, unfortunately he's a biological child. I think he was just a bit jealous. He was used to being the man about the house after his father, and then I moved in. His father died not long afterwards, so another kid taking the affection of his only remaining parent was tough to deal with.”
     
    “ That's still no excuse to be a total dick,” I said, “It's not like you asked to lose your own parents. And he should have understood if his Dad died.”
     
    “ Kids are hard to understand sometimes. His Mum let me go to school, and then paid for my university education. I got along with her, and with Amanda. That's his older sister. She's nineteen now. Amanda's a good kid.”
     
    “ That's not really a kid, is it?”
     
    “ Well... No, maybe not.”
     
    “ William needs to get over his issue, though. I mean, how long is it since all this happened?”
     
    “ Well, we're way more sensible than he is, obviously. William's childish, but he'll grow out of it. Still, he did go out of his way to get me thrown out of my last teaching position.”
     
    “ What? Why?”
     
    “ Spite, would be the why. The what, would be that he accused me of stealing.”
     
    “ Stealing what?”
     
    “ Money, naturally,” Gideon sighed, “I was lucky enough to get a job at his old boarding school. I was there a month before he saw fit to accuse me of stealing from the school's funds. What with his mother being who she was, they believed him. So I had to look for a new job, and William got his revenge. Believe me, when you're accused of being a thief, it's next to impossible to find an employer.”
     
    “ Is that why