“I am glad you told me that, Catherine. It helps me understand my situation better.”
Catherine squeezed her hand. “I wish for you to be happy.”
A maid walked in bearing a tea tray, and Anna wondered if Colin had instructed for it, or Mrs. Willis. It was something Colin would do. He would never admit it but he was very attentive to even her smallest needs. After the maid had set the tray down and left, Catherine turned to her with a more serious countenance.
“Mama told me that you have not been answering her letters.”
Anna’s defenses sprang up. “Yes.”
“Is there something going on that I should know about?”
Anna thought she could bend the truth a little. “Mama was displeased when she learned I proposed to the Duke. She is firm on convention and I broke it.”
Catherine considered that. “Oh, I see.” She took both of Anna’s hands and held them firmly. “Please do not be angry with her. Promise me you will forgive her and reply to her letters. She worries about you, and she wishes she could visit you but is unsure you will welcome her.”
Anna felt her shoulders fall a little as guilt pricked her. Maybe she was being unfair to her mother. Her words had been filled with remorse. Anna should stop ignoring her. After all, she was the only mother Anna had, and she wished to become a loving mother one day herself, too.
Nodding, she said, “I will write to her.”
Catherine drew her into her arms. “I reassured her that you would only need to be convinced of her love again. Mama loves us very much, Anna. You know that, do you not?”
Anna nodded, as tears pricked her eyes. Her mother’s love was an odd kind of love. “How long will you be staying?” she asked to change the course of their conversation when she pulled away.
“Only a week,” Catherine replied.
“Can you stay longer?”
“Wish that I could, Anna.” She stroked her cheek. “I have some engagements I must still tend to, but I will return in the fall. I promise.”
“You are here now, and that matters most.” Anna turned a teacup and picked up the pot of tea, but a sudden tremor in her hand made her set it down quickly. Something flashed behind her eyes at the same time.
“Anna, are you well?” Catherine laid a hand on her shoulder. “You look quite pale, too.”
“I…” She passed a hand over her brow. “I am unsure.” Colin was right. She was unwell and could benefit from the physician’s visit. She tried to stand but fell back onto the sofa, the room undulating before her.
Chapter 20
They—Mrs. Willis and Mason—tell me it is too early to hope for a child but I do not believe them. I can feel my body changing.
Colin looked up to see Mrs. Willis walk into his workroom. His shoulders stiffened the moment he saw the worry that lined her features. “Is something the matter?” he asked.
“Her Grace is unwell,” she said, and a jolt ripped down his spine.
“What happened?”
“She swooned a moment ago. I have sent for the physician.”
He did not allow her to finish speaking before he marched out into the hall. “Where is she?” he asked over his shoulder.
“In the drawing room, Your Grace. Lady Darpley is with her.”
Colin moved as fast as his legs could carry him, his heart pounding. The worry that had been brewing in his chest ever since he saw her looking frail, now erupted into fear. He kept thinking and dreading that it was something he had done. He half skipped down the stairs, and when he reached the drawing room, he found Lady Darpley accepting a teacup from Mason and giving it to Anna.
She was sitting upright but pale and bleary-eyed. Colin should be relieved but he was not, and he rushed to her side, perching on the arm of the sofa she was on and taking her hand. “Mrs. Willis told me what happened.”
“It is not too serious,” she reassured him. “Catherine and Mason have been fussing over me for the past five minutes. I hope you are not going to join them.”
“I think I might fuss over you more than they are,” he heard himself say, and he blinked in surprise. Then he put himself in a state of bewilderment when he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her soft skin. She was not dying, so he could not understand why he was feeling as though she was going to be taken away from him. It was such an uncomfortable feeling that was darkening his mood.
