My heart leapt.
Could it really be him? After all these years of waiting, had the time finally arrived for us to reunite? A nervous sort of excitement filled my chest and warmed my cheeks. I could no longer resist the temptation and slid my finger under the seal and unfolded the paper. My gaze darted to the bottom of the page. It was signed,Lady Elizabeth Winfield.
Though the letter had not been penned by Oliver Jennings as I’d hoped, but rather his mother, there was not a doubt in my mind the correspondence had been made at his behest.
My dearest Hannah,
It has been far too long since I have written to you. Please forgive my neglect and know you have been ever present in my mind. I have missed you and your mother these past several years. How I yearn for summers long past. Which brings me to the purpose of this letter. It is my deepest desire that you will accept my invitation to visit Summerhaven. I should like for you to stay through summer, if it be agreeable to you and your father.
With Love,
Lady Elizabeth Winfield
My heart soared! To leave London. To see Ollie again. To ride the hills on horseback where Mama and I had once ridden. I could think of nothing in this world I wanted more.
“The color in your cheeks makes me think I must challenge someone to a duel.” Papa chuckled.
I protectively pressed the letter to my chest. “You will challenge him to no such thing.”
“Aha!” Papa said. “Your missiveisfrom a gentleman. You are discovered, my dear.”
“Actually, the letter is not from a gentleman, but rather a gentleman’smother.”
“Whose name is . . . ?”
I bit my lower lip. Revealing the name of the sender—Mama’s dearest friend—would cause Papa undue pain. Though our official mourning period had long since passed, reminders that she was gone still hurt him. I searched my mind for a way to avoid answering, some means of sparing his feelings, but there was nothing for it.
“Elizabeth Winfield,” I said quietly.
Papa’s gaze drifted to Mama’s vacant bench at the pianoforte. “What has she written?”
“She has invited me to visit Summerhaven until the autumn.”
“Nearly six weeks,” Papa said softly. “Such a long time.”
My elation sank like a skipped rock slipping beneath a river’s surface. I could not go. With Mama’s passing and Henry’s marriage, I was all Papa had left. No matter how much I disliked London or longed to be with Ollie, I could not abandon Papa. Not now.
“It was a kind invitation.” I folded the missive and set it aside. “But I think I will refuse.”
Papa’s bushy brow rose over the rim of his round spectacles. “Why would you do a thing like that?”
“As you said, six weeks is a long time.”
Papa’s gaze turned thoughtful. “Do you not want to go? Does the place hold too many sour memories?”
I reflexively touched the front of my hair, thinking of Ollie’s highbrow older brother Damon. As the oldest son of an earl, he’d seemed to delight in playing cruel pranks on me as a girl. Still, my happy memories at Summerhaven outweighed theunhappy ones.
“No,” I said. “It is not that. Summerhaven is just so far. And with Henry gone . . .”
“You do not want to leave me alone,” Papa surmised, his mouth turning downward.
“Perhaps next summer when we have had a little more time to adjust.” To being back in London, to Henry being married, to living life without Mama.
“My dear girl. You will never know how grateful I have been for your care of me, but I have been a poor companion.”
“Nonsense. You are the best part of my day.”
“And you are mine. But you must ache for a friend, for female companionship.”
