Page 39 of The Best-Kept Secrets
“And what effect is that?” Eve asked.
“Huntresses don’t retreat,” he said.
“Oh, but wedo.All the time.” It was, after all, one of the battle tactics Artemis had taught them, and it had proven remarkably useful over the years.
Colm looked over at Nia. He stopped himself from saying whatever he’d been about to say and made what sounded like an almost unintentional change of topic. “Are you feeling well, Miss Nia?”
“This journey has been more taxing than I expected it to be.” Nia’s answer was a little quieter than was usual for her.
“Then, our very first order of business upon reaching the drawing room will be to procure you a place to sit.”
Color crept up Nia’s neck and to her cheeks. “Thank you.”
Either she truly didn’t feel well and was embarrassed, or she was every bit as in awe of this elegant home as Eve was. It was hard not to be a little embarrassed in thrice-mended gowns when in a house that could, without warning, host royalty.
As they walked away from the entryway, Eve glanced back at Duke. He was, yet again, in the middle of family tension. Colm had been offered an escape, but Duke hadn’t been. Was he ever offered one?
Duke glanced at her, and she gave him a look very much like the one he’d given her in the carriage, one that silently and subtly asked if he was in need of anything. He answered with a tiny shake of his head. He might have added something to it, but her path to the drawing room turned a corner, and she could no longer see him.
“Duke was nervous about your grandmother coming here,” Eve said.
“With good reason, I’m afraid.” Colm sounded as happy as ever, but with a hint of dismay underlying his words. Was any member of the Seymour family not weighed down by the difficulties among them? “You will, I hope, not think me unfeeling if I say that I hope Duke’s parents and our grandmother do not remain long.”
“Far from unfeeling,” Eve said. “Family connections can be complex, and I suspect that with the Pack and the Huntresses here, things are complicated enough already.”
Colm nodded his agreement, though his gaze was on Nia again. She was being very quiet. Even he, who hadn’t known them overly long, must have realized how odd that was for her.
They stepped into yet another undeniably elegant space. On the silk-draped walls hung large portraits, clearly painted by masters of their art. The furniture was of the highest quality. The rugs stretching over the polished wood floor were vibrant and intricately patterned.
“At last!” There was no mistaking Artemis’s voice, though she’d spoken only two words. “I was moments from assembling a hunting party and rushing out in search of you.”
The inarguable leader of their band of friends pulled Eve and Nia without apology or hesitation away from Colm and hugged them each in turn. Though she could at times be dramatic to the point of theatrics, her treatment of the Huntresses was imbued with sincerity.
Her husband, Charlie, was well-known for being both friendly and mischievous, and one of the best-hearted people anyone could possibly meet. He stood among the others gathered a little farther inside the room but turned to look at Eve and Nia. “What happened to delay you?”
“All the rain washed out a bridge on the road,” Eve said.
“Good heavens.” Daria pressed a hand to her heart. “While you were on it?”
They’d not have arrived at all if they’d been on the bridge during the deluge. Daria had a tendency to ask questions with obvious answers. Some in Society were unkind about that. The Huntresses, however, delighted in everything about her.
“The bridge was ahead of us on the road, and we were forced to stop and wait for it to be passable again,” Eve said.
Artemis pulled them over to the group, where they were inundated with words of welcome and hugs and friendship. It was little wonder Eve’s and Nia’s time among London Society had been as pleasant as it had despite their low standing, country of origin, and utter lack of resources. With friends like these, a person was wealthy indeed.
Toss, Daria’s husband, assumed the look of an unrepentant troublemaker. “Anyone care to place a wager on who was grumpiest about the delay?”
In perfect unison, the Pack, except for Colm, said, “Duke.”
Eve laughed lightly. “I will have you know, Duke was not grumpy.”
And standing a bit apart from them all, a woman said, “Of course he wasn’t. My Dubhán is always very helpful and considerate.”
“Oh bother,” Charlie whispered. “I’d forgotten they were in here.”
Theyproved to be a couple of likely the same age as Mr. and Mrs. Greenberry, with the husband bearing something of a resemblance to their hostess and a strong resemblance to Duke. These were, no doubt, Duke’s parents.
Borrowing a page from Duke’s book, Eve struck a note of conciliation. “He was more than merely helpful in the unexpected difficulty,” she said to his mother. “He was very competent and calm. I don’t know what we’d have done without him there.”
