Page 12 of An Icy Christmas Engagement
Louisa only smiled. “Let us continue this conversation in the drawing room, shall we? I’m sure you must be weary after your long trip and I have prepared tea.”
Louisa was very good at engaging others and Elizabeth was no different. Caroline watched with a mixture of relief and dread as her mother was carted off to the drawing room. The only thing shewanted to do was go to her writing desk and get to work. With her mother here, she doubted she would be able to get anything done at all.
With leaden feet, Caroline followed after them.
“How was your trip, Lady York?” Louisa asked companionably, settling on the sofa across from her. Caroline chose to sit next to her best friend, facing her mother. She hoped the distance would help a little.
“It was long and tiresome,” Elizabeth sighed as she plopped spoonful after spoonful of sugar into her tea. “You know how much I dread travelling long distances, especially when there is snow everywhere. It is such a hazard, you know. I never would have done it if I had any other choice.”
“You did have a choice,” Caroline couldn’t help but say. “You could have waited until I came to you.”
“And let the worry send me into an early grave? I think not.”
“Mother, I’m sure you will be worrying about me for the next thirty years, until you are old and feeble.”
“As long as you know it.” Elizabeth sipped her tea, paused, and then nodded in acceptance. Caroline kept stirring in her one spoonful of sugar, waiting for the inevitable question.
“Why did you decide to remain in London for a while longer?” Elizabeth asked her. “Do you not want to spend time with your mother? We see each other so little as it is, especially after you moved back here.”
With a sigh, Caroline set her tea down. Louisa remained quiet next to her, nibbling on a cucumber sandwich.
“Mother, it has nothing to do with you. I had agreed to do volunteer work at the orphanage and I did not wish to disappoint them. That’s all.”
“So disappointing your mother is better.”
Caroline could already feel a megrim climbing up the back of her head. “My trip was only delayed a few weeks, Mother. The snow will still be adorning the streets when I leave here.”
“I am simply concerned about you, that is all,” Elizabeth sighed. “I’m sure you can understand my plight. My only daughter decided to live so far away from me so soon after her husband’s death, and I said nothing about it.”
Caroline and Louisa exchanged looks. Caroline could distinctly recall the hysteria her mother displayed when she’d told her of her plans to live with Louisa, but she declined to bring that up.
“And you agreed that you will write to me often and come to see me on special holidays.”
“And I have upheld my end of that agreement, have I not?”
“If I recall correctly,” Louisa chimed in. “This house feels particularly empty on holidays.”
Elizabeth looked back and forth between them, clearly realizing that she might be acting unreasonable. But her mother was not one to apologize unless she was backed into a corner and had no choice.
“Very well,” she sighed with a theatrical air. “You have caught me in my ruse. I suppose I must be forthright and confess the other reason that prompted my visit.”
Caroline’s spine went straight with apprehension. “You mean you were not just worried about me?”
“Of course I was. Even more so now that I know that you prance about London without any company on your own two feet. It only proves to me that you need protection.”
Oh Heavens, she didn’t mean…
“What do you think about getting remarried?” Elizabeth asked.
Caroline felt the blood drain from her face. Even Louisa stilled.
“I, for one, think that it is a splendid idea,” Elizabeth went on, completely unaware of how still the ladies sitting before her had become. “You are still so young, Caroline. You did not have long to enjoy your marriage before your late husband, may he rest in peace, left you. And with very little, I might add. And you remain as enchanting as the day you first graced society. I have no doubt you shall encounter no difficulty in securing another suitor.”
Caroline was at a loss for words. She could only gape at her mother, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.
Louisa cleared her throat. “You’ve seemed to have given this a lot of thought, Lady York,” she said.
“I have,” Elizabeth responded excitedly. “As a matter of fact, I have been considering hosting a dinner and I have already invited a number of bachelors for Caroline to consider. All men who are up to my standards, of course, so you needn’t worry about that.”
