Page 11 of Finding Hope
“From the Duchess?” Hope could not stop the question from escaping her lips. She knew the Duchess did not care for them.
“From Rotham, actually,” the Dowager said. “But I have known the Duchess since her first Season. If you do not wish to go, I understand.” She gave her a sympathetic, motherly look.
“Do we have any other options?” Patience asked curiously.
“I had only begun to give thought to the matter of what we would do next. As a general rule, I attend a house party and spend part of the summer at Taywards.”
“Is Davenmere very grand?” Joy asked.
“It is purported to be the most glorious estate in all of England,” the Dowager said. “It is certainly the largest I have been to.”
“I remember reading about it inThe Traveller’s Guide,” Patience said.
Hope remembered it well. She used to dream about meeting a prince and living in a castle like Davenmere. “Will it be a large party?”
“The invitation does not say, but in the past there have been two or three dozen guests.”
Grace gasped.
“The house boasts forty guest chambers,” the Dowager remarked.
“It sounds like a palace.”
“It is as good as one,” the Dowager agreed.
“Oh, please can we go?” Grace asked.
“I am surprised the Duchess would invite us there,” Hope said out loud.
“I suspect she was given no choice.” The Dowager looked pointedly at Hope with a twinkle in her eyes.
That filled Hope with a glimmer of optimism, but on the other hand, she did not want to be hated by Rotham’s mother. She wanted to see his home more than anything, even knowing how hopeless was the whole situation. What was it about human nature that made one torture oneself so?
“Will I be able to bring little Freddy Tiger?” Joy asked.
“I am certain that could be arranged,” the now Dowager Viscountess said with a kind smile. “I am sure Rotham will not mind, and if he does, we will simply ask for forgiveness later.”
“When will we go?”
“I will send our acceptance now and then we will begin packing. The invitation says as soon as it is convenient.”
Hope felt both a mixture of excitement and trepidation. If only she knew who would be there, and what she would be facing.
With the way things had been, she would be forced to watch a formal betrothal announcement and be subjected to all that entailed.
The Dowager left to begin making arrangements.
“Do you think there will be other eligible gentlemen there?” Patience asked.
“I could not begin to say, but I would think Rotham would invite his friends.”
“It is too bad their regiment is not to be stationed nearby.”
“There could always be another,” Joy said with her usual enthusiasm.
“It will not be the same,” Patience moaned.
Hope had to agree but didn’t say so. Nothing was the same since Faith had married.
