“An old acquaintance, eh?” She peered closely at Seraphina. “From your time before you took up residence on Synne?”
But Seraphina had become quite adept over the last thirteen years at deflecting unwanted questions about her past, and no amount of prodding, even by someone as skilled as Lady Tesh, would pry information from her that she did not wish to share.
“What was that? Oh, yes, I suppose so. But are those lemon and lavender biscuits? I do adore them. I don’t suppose you would mind if I helped myself to one?”
Without waiting for a response, she reached across the table, snatching one of the biscuits from the plate, plopping it in her mouth. If she had to, she would keep her mouth full for the entirety of her time here, preventing her answering a single probing question.
Lady Tesh, of course, was far from stupid. Narrowing her eyes in acknowledgment of Seraphina’s evasion of her question, she turned to spear Bronwyn, who was watching the proceedings with bright eyes behind her spectacles, with a severe glare.
“What was it you were asking me before your unexpected flight, Your Grace?”
Bronwyn, Duchess of Buckley, cleared her throat and pushed her spectacles more firmly up her nose. “Yes, I believe we were discussing Katrina. You said you have received a letter from her?”
Which was the one subject in the world that could succeed in distracting each and every woman present, Seraphina included. Miss Katrina Denby had been not only the fifth member of the Oddments, but also Lady Tesh’s companion. Now married to the Duke of Ramsleigh, she wasliving in domestic bliss with her husband up north. Which made her correspondence to them infinitely precious. While Bronwyn had married her duke and remained on Synne to further her studies of the local insects, Katrina’s move had been the first time their closely knit group had been altered. And while none of them would ever begrudge Katrina her happiness with her duke, that was not to say they did not all miss her, dreadfully.
“I will be glad to tell you everything,” Lady Tesh said. “Only do sit down, Miss Peacham. You are making my neck ache. Your girls are seeing to your patrons just fine,” she continued severely when Adelaide opened her mouth to refuse. “I’m certain they can handle things without you for another ten minutes. Especially considering you ran out of here without a second thought in pursuit of Miss Athwart here and her mysterious acquaintance.” Here she pursed her lips and glanced pointedly at Seraphina before, clearing her throat, she opened her reticule, pulled out a letter, and began to read.
Some time later, when Katrina’s letter had been read and reread, and the tea had been drunk and the biscuits eaten, Lady Tesh grabbed her cane and pushed herself to standing. The rest of them followed suit, Bronwyn fetching the woman’s dog, and they all accompanied the dowager outside to her waiting carriage. There was much fussing on their part over the dowager as they settled her within the equipage; despite her abrasive ways, they all cared for her and had taken to filling in some of the gaping hole that Katrina’s departure had left behind. When they would have turned away to go about their days, however, the dowager called Seraphina back.
“Miss Athwart, a word, please.”
Seraphina silently cursed herself for letting down her guard. She could pretend she didn’t hear the woman, of course, and just keep walking. Or she could claim to have a prior engagement, or that her presence was required at the Quayside.
But knowing Lady Tesh, that would not matter a bit. The woman was frighteningly single-minded when it came to that terrifying curiosity of hers.
Sighing, she turned back around and stretched her lips into a stiff smile. “Yes, my lady?”
She expected a barrage of questions about the mysterious acquaintance that her friends had saved her from. Bracing herself, her mind spun wildly, trying to come up with a believable explanation for it all.
What she did not expect, however, was the look of kindness on the dowager’s heavily lined face.
“I hope you know, Miss Athwart,” she said in quite the softest tone Seraphina had ever heard from her, “that if you have need of anything, anything at all, I am here for you.”
Seraphina blinked in incomprehension. “I’m sorry?”
The woman smiled, an expression not often seen on her face unless it was in mischief or self-satisfaction. Now, however, it was almost gentle. “I know I am harsh and opinionated. That does not mean, however, that I am not the soul of discretion when need be. You are entitled to your privacy and secrets, of course. Not that I won’t vehemently deny that should you tell anyone I said that.” Here her smile turned mischievous, a twinkle entering her sharp brown eyes before her expression sobered once more. “But should you ever need help, please know you can count on me.”
Seraphina was never without words. She prided herself on leaving emotion at the door, at being prepared for justabout anything, at moving forward and doing what needed to be done with no help from anyone.
Yet in that moment, confronted with a surprising amount of kindness from the dowager, she found she truly didn’t know how to respond.
“Er… thank you, my lady,” she finally replied.
Which was apparently enough for Lady Tesh. That woman nodded before, lifting her cane, she rapped sharply on the carriage roof. In an instant the equipage was rumbling down the street, heading back to her home. Leaving Seraphina alone and perplexed, staring after her.
But she was not alone for long. Within moments Honoria was back beside her, tucking a plump arm through hers.
Miss Honoria Gadfeld, eldest daughter of Synne’s vicar and currently living above the Beakhead with Adelaide, thrived on gossip. It was an interest her father had tried to break her of for years, an interest Honoria herself had never tried to curb. And so Seraphina tensed once more, fully prepared for a barrage of questions from her voluble friend.
Despite the bright interest in her hazel eyes, however, Honoria merely asked, “The Oddments are meeting as usual tomorrow at the Quayside?”
If Seraphina had been touched at Lady Tesh’s kindness, she was doubly so now. Her friend had never been one to hold herself back from getting involved or pushing her nose into places where it did not belong. Yet here she was, doing just that, holding back, though it was all too obvious from the frustrated questions in her gaze that she wanted nothing more than to learn just what was going on with Seraphina.
For the first time in more years than she could recall, tears prickled hotly behind Seraphina’s eyes. Not that shewould let them loose. No, she had not cried for thirteen long years, and she wasn’t about to start now.
But that did not mean the urge was not there.
Squeezing Honoria’s arms, she replied, “Yes, tomorrow as usual.”
