Page 4 of The Best-Kept Secrets
“Am I correct in assuming you’ve brought this directly to me because you’re wanting me to make the decision?” she asked.
“We wanted you to have the option to make the decision.” ’Twas a small clarification, but one that filled the approach with consideration and kindness. “If you feel it’s not something you’d like to decide, we’ll not be the least upset with you, and we’ll sort it out between the two of us.”
“There’s no need.” Eve leaned toward her mother. “Nia needs to be the one who goes to London. She has a better chance of success than I do.”
“I wish we didn’t have to make this choice,” Mother said.
Eve squeezed her mother’s hand. “And I am simply grateful that we managed the Seasons we did with both of us in London, and I am doubly grateful that the boys can continue their schooling. Economizing is never a painless endeavor, but this family weathers every storm. We’ll certainly manage this one.”
Mother looked relieved, which lifted some of the weight from Eve’s mind.
“And who knows?” her mother said. “We might, between now and the start of next Season, find ourselves with the income we need. Unlikely, perhaps, but I’m not willing to declare it impossible.”
“I don’t know, Mother. I’ve met your children, and I’m not certain they’re well-behaved enough to qualify for such a drastic miracle.”
Mother smiled, and Eve laughed lightly. The coming months and years would likely be difficult and, at times, a disappointment, but they could most certainly make the best of life, as they always did.
“We’ve one more thing to ask of you, Eve,” Mother said. “And we’re aware ’tis a difficult thing.”
“What is it?”
“We’d rather Nia not know yet. Not that she ought to be lied to, mind. But we know she’d worry about this, and we’d rather it not dampen her enjoyment of the house party. And we’d rather you not spend the house party arguing with her about which of you’s to remain home from London.”
“I’ve not kept secrets from her before.” The very idea made Eve uneasy.
“It’ll not be forever. Only until you’ve returned home. That’ll afford us time to explain to her, settle her worries, and make all the arrangements we need to take her to Town in the spring.”
“If you and Father think it best, I’ll not tell her.”
After a fierce hug, Mother took the single step required to reach the door and slipped out.
Alone in the small space, Eve released a tight breath. Without a London Season anywhere on her horizon, her chances of making a match were sinking as fast as an ill-fated linen-laden ship. And an unmarried, unlikely-to-ever-be-married daughter of a household was a perpetual drain on a family’s finances.
Marriage, love, and a home of her own seemed no longer her future.
Then, what was?
Chapter Two
Writtlestone Manor, Lancashire
Dubhán Seymour, known to everyoneother than his parents and grandmother as Duke, had completed his studies at Cambridge mere days earlier. He’d left that venerable institution with an admittedly pointless knowledge of Latin, a completed study in moral philosophy that promised to be equally as useless, and a group of friends who had utterly changed the course of his life for the better. It was on their behalf that he had already packed a small traveling trunk and was, in less than a half hour, leaving for Ireland.
“Must you depart so soon?” His mother had been in his bedchamber as he’d put a few things in a small bag to keep with him in the carriage despite the excessively early hour. “You only just returned home yesterday.”
“I need to be in Dublin the day after tomorrow,” he reminded her.
“Why could not one of the others fetch the O’Doyle sisters? You ought to be here with us for a few days more, especially as you will not be here at Christmas.”
Duke set the last of his traveling things in the bag, then moved to sit on the bed beside his mother. “I amsorry to be missing Christmas, especially our annual gathering of greenery.”
Mother leaned a little against him. “Who is going to help me choose the greenest branches and the reddest holly?”
“Father has an excellent grasp of color,” Duke said.
“But gathering greenery has always beenourspecial tradition, Dubhán. It will hardly feel like Christmas without having that time, just the two of us.”
He put an arm around her shoulders. “Those are some of my favorite memories, Mother. I will miss that.”
