Page 93 of Duke of Emeralds
“I hope so. I…” Hester caught herself. “Thank you for bringing him so quickly. I know the request was sudden.”
Mrs. Smith straightened. “It’s no burden, Your Grace. Better for the house to have a child in it than all the new upholstery in London.”
Upstairs, laughter rang out: Arabella’s then—surprisingly—Noah’s brittle voice.
There is hope yet…Hester stood for a moment, uncertain what to do with her hands or her heart. She was glad for the children, and she told herself it was enough.
But she looked toward the door, wishing, not for the first time, that a different shadow might be waiting on the other side.
“You cannot stay home tomorrow, Hester; I forbid it,” Nancy declared, waving a silver fork with enough force to launch her peas onto the tablecloth.
Hester set down her glass and made herself smile. “I will try to drag myself to the end of the lane if only to avoid a visit from the constables when you come to collect me.”
Anna, seated two places down, arched her brow. “It is not Nancy you need fear; she is all threat and no follow-through. It is I who will appear at your doorstep, carriage or no carriage, and physically carry you to my drawing room.”
Fiona, pressing a napkin to her lips, said, “She would, too. And she would not care who saw.”
“I would care,” Nancy put in. “But only because the world deserves to see such drama. We have a duty to Society to keep them entertained.”
Hester, flanked by Patience and her brother, Leonard, watched the exchange with a blend of bemusement and fatigue. The dinner, meant to be cheerful and restorative, instead felt like an elaborate performance staged for her benefit. Her friends knew what had happened; her family did not. The pressure of so many eyes—solicitous, worried, expectant—made the walls of the dining room seem closer than usual.
Patience, whose appetite had returned along with her color, dabbed delicately at the corners of her mouth. “Are you ladies discussing an event?” she asked.
“A soirée,” Anna supplied. “Tomorrow at my house. All the best people will be there, of course.”
Nancy jumped in, “And your daughter will be the queen of it. We have arranged for the most outrageous charades, and I expect her to lead the charge.”
Patience beamed at Hester. “You must go, my darling. You have been indoors too long.”
Leonard, barely hiding a smile, added, “If you refuse, we will all die of boredom.”
“That would be a pity,” Hester said. “There are so few of you left, as it is.”
She felt the conversation drifting, the current of camaraderie meant to carry her with it. But beneath the laughter ran a deeper tension: a question waiting to be asked.
When the second course was served, Patience set down her fork with a decisiveness that silenced the table. “Where is your husband, Hester?” she asked. “I have not seen him in days.”
Nancy’s hand paused mid-reach for the decanter. Anna’s glass hovered an inch above the cloth, Fiona went very still. Leonard kept his face carefully blank.
Hester met her mother’s gaze. “He is at the estate in Dorset, Mama. There was urgent business with the tenants. I expect him to return within the week.”
Patience seemed to accept this, but her eyes lingered on Hester’s face a moment too long.
“Men are always chasing something,” Patience pronounced at last. “It is their nature. But they always return to the hearth in the end.”
Hester looked down at her plate. “I am sure you are right, Mama.”
After dinner, as the table was cleared, the women withdrew to the smaller drawing room. The fire was already burning though the evening was mild; Anna and Nancy flanked Hester on the settee while Fiona stretched out on the rug, content to be nearer the warmth.
Patience joined them with Leonard trailing a respectful distance behind.
“Will you really come tomorrow?” Anna pressed, lowering her voice so only the three of them could hear.
“If you are so desperate for my company, I will appear,” Hester said. “Though I cannot promise to be the life of your party.”
Nancy reached over and squeezed her hand. “We do not need a performance. We just need you.”
Fiona sat up, legs tucked beneath her. “Arabella is welcome as well. The child is a delight.”
