Page 106 of Scandalous Heiress
Chapter 19
Numb, Ada retired to their suite and sat before the fire all through the night.Tears did not come.Logic either.To be so summarily dismissed was a loss too deep for movement or expression.Soon after dawn, her new maid, a young woman aged twenty-two, knocked.Ada dismissed her and said she’d ring when and if she wished her presence.Wu-lai appeared at her door soon after.Ada told her to take the girls to the square.The day seemed sunny and she had no idea if Victor planned activities for them.But she would.After noon, she reached for the bell pull and requested a bath and her walking suit.
“Breakfast downstairs in an hour.Tell Powell I wish a carriage soon after.”
Her father and step-mother had adjourned to their Brighton country home after her wedding.But her sister Lily and her brother-in-law Julian remained in London in mourning dealing with the aftershocks of the earl of Carbury’s death.Ada’s first visit would be to Lily.She sent round a note that she would call at two.
At Seton House, the mood was subdued.The butler, glum.Lily somber in dove gray, her pregnancy slowing her gait.She greeted Ada heartily though, then whisked her into the salon.They commiserated, each with the other’s problems, and Lily was utterly dumbfounded by Ada’s.
“Oh, my dear.”She hugged her and sat her down.“You haven’t cried.I can tell.”
“Tears can’t cure this.”
“You’ll find what does.”
I will certainly try.“I’m here to ask a favor.”She measured out her words, fearful if she gave in to emotion, she’d shatter like glass.
“Anything.”
“I know that Julian devotes himself to his sister in her crisis, but if he might call upon me at his convenience, I must speak with him.”
At Lily’s agreement, she rose and left.
Her next call was to the countess and earl of Ware and their daughter, her friend, Lady Jessica.Their expressions of support touched her heart and when she asked their help, they readily agreed.They would appear at her home for tea three days hence.Ada assured them she would personally invite Lord Billings—Freddie, as Victor was fond of calling him.
That afternoon, she penned another note to Victor’s other friend she’d heard him speak of.Sir Arnold Meachum—Arnie—was invited to tea as well.
At tea time, she called in Vivienne and Deirdre.The three of them enjoyed what she often had as a child—time to converse.Though Ada’s mother had died when she was five, she had memories of snippets of their conversations about flowers.Not knowing what these two girls recalled of their mother or of what delights they might have shared with her, Ada wished to make their lives richer, if she could.With Victor’s intent to take them back to China with him, Ada had a little time to enjoy them.And she would.
Stuffed with cucumber sandwiches and cream and strawberries, Ada requested no dinner and retired to her rooms.She heard her husband climb the stairs at twenty past eight and retire to his new bedroom down the hall.She fell asleep in the chaise, a book unread in her hands.
The following afternoon, she called upon her new mother-in-law in Upper Brook Street and took the girls with her.
“I’m honored you have called upon me, Ada.”The woman had dark circles under her eyes.The sign of her sleeplessness could mean many things.Ada had to know precisely what that might be.
She sat in the drawing room surrounded by portraits of past dukes and duchesses of Brentwood, the splendor of the Regency decor soothing her dismay.With Vivienne and Deirdre present, they could not speak frankly.But then, Ada counted on the duchess to respond to her presence with an openness that did not require words as much as the visible signs of her acceptance of Ada.
“I trust you can and will help me understand my current circumstances, Your Grace.”
“I will.I wish to see you both happy…and together in Brighton and elsewhere.My husband wishes the same.”
“Thank you.I came for that assurance and I will ask that you and your husband tell that to all you know.”
“I plan it.A dinner party next week.My husband is too ill to travel but I have invited my two daughters and their husbands.”
Ada had met Victor’s two younger sisters and their husbands at their wedding.“I look forward to getting to know them better.Will others attend?”
“Twenty-two more.I will not allow this to—” She halted with a sidelong glance at the girls who chatted between themselves.
“I am grateful.”Ada offered her the smile that should have been an embrace.But she lowered her voice to ask, “Have you any idea if Victor accepts?”
The woman drew to her full height.“He knows that he must.”
That night, Ada sat down to her dinner table and gave the nod to Powell that he might serve her.She was finishing her soup, when Victor appeared.
“Good evening,” he bid her, his gaze assessing if she might accept his company.“Do you mind if I join you?”
She inclined her head and allowed the course to be removed.Then she waited until the butler and the footman had left them alone.“No.”
