"Would you like to hold him?" Daphne asked gently, drawing her from her thoughts.
"Oh," Alethea said, startled. "I, if he does not mind."
The young boy did not mind in the least. He squirmed into her lap with the easy trust of a child who had never learned to fear disappointment. Alethea wrapped an arm around him.
For one moment, she let herself imagine what life would be like for her if she had a child of her own. She imagined that she and Oliver might find their way back to something better.
Her throat tightened. She bent her head, pressing a kiss to his soft hair to hide the sudden prickle of tears.
"You are quiet," Daphne observed gently.
"I am only…remembering," Alethea replied, being as honest as she could.
Daphne did not ask what she meant. She only reached over, took her free hand, and squeezed.
"You don't have to decide everything today," she murmured.
"I know," Alethea whispered.
Alethea kept her eyes fixed on the little boy in her lap. She was happy to keep herself distracted, but as fate would have it, something happened to divert her attention elsewhere.
There was a knock at the door.
All her sisters seemed to hold their breath at once.
Felicity stood, smoothing her skirts. "I will see who it is," she said in a calm voice.
Alethea's mind reeled in a myriad different direction. Would it be too foolish to think that Oliver had come to see her?
Did she even want that to happen?
No one spoke while she was gone. Daphne's hand was still on hers, and she had gently sent the child away, sensing that a more serious matter had now appeared.
Alethea strained her ears to hear the voices that appeared from the hallway. Her heart stuttered. She didn't need to hear the words to know who it was.
Daphne looked over at her, her expression soft.
"If you don't want to see him, you don't have to."
Alethea swallowed hard. She was not sure yet.
Just then, Felicity came back into the room, her mouth drawn in a tight line.
"It's the Duke," she said quietly. "He says he must speak with you."
"He must?" Joyce let out an exasperated breath and then looked at Alethea. "I am not sure if he gets to make demands like this. I do not know what has happened between the two of them, but it is clear that Alethea is upset with him."
"What did you tell him?" Alethea lifted her eyes to Felicity's face.
"That you were not receiving callers," Felicity said, folding her hands together. "He said he would wait. All day, if necessary."
The ache in Alethea's chest turned to something more urgent. She pressed a hand over her heart, as if she could calm it by force.
"Do you want us to send him away?" Daphne asked softly.
Alethea shook her head once, then again. She felt everyone's eyes on her, waiting, and she wished more than anything that she could disappear.
"I don't know what I want," she whispered. Her eyes were burning with tears now.
