Chapter 1
March 13, 1827 Sheffield England, Luckfeld Manor
Willa escaped the house, wiping a bit of baby slobber from her cheek with her sleeve. It had begun to rain but spring was making a valiant effort to burst forth. Willa picked up her skirts, her destination unknown.
She couldn't stay inside a moment longer with her sisters pecking at her like hungry hens, and she a trough full of corn. What was it about motherhood that made them so feverishly interested in her life? Now that they had their own children, one would think they would fuss over her less.
But no.
They didn't use to treat her like this, like an errant child. They were smothering her.
The only one who had any sense was Josie. Tomorrow, Josie would return to London and the children of St. Arthur's Orphanage where she and her husband, the Earl of Selhorst, gave much of their time and wealth as generous benefactors. A task that kept Josie rather busy, leaving Willa to enjoy her independence.
But her other sisters, all seven of them, were not so lenient. Thankfully, Jeannie, having just delivered her second child, was too tired to notice Willa’s absence.
Willa pulled the hood of her petticoat over her hair to keep her head dry and took shelter under the overhanging branches of a willow. The gentle patter of the rain turned to a steady drum on the gravel path.
She sighed. She was stuck here, but that was better than being stuck inside the house, exhausted by question after question about the gentlemen she's met, danced with, and might presume to be in love with.
Willa rubbed her hands together, admiring her warm soft kid gloves. One of many pairs, now that she and her sisters were no longer destitute. Two years ago, in a miraculous about-face, her sisters had gone from desperate spinsters on the verge of poverty to wives of wealthy gentlemen.
At this moment, Odette was excavating Druid ruins on the famed Floki Islands with her husband. Annette and Bernadette were back in Northumberland with their children, and tomorrow she and her parents would leave, but in separate directions. Her parents would return home to Northumberland, and Willa to London with Georgie.
Or so they all believed.
Georgie would think Willa was returning with Josie, and Josie would think Willa was returning with Georgie after a brief stop at Meadowlark, Georgie's new sanctuary for animals. Which would give Willa the perfect opportunity to prove once and for all that she didn't need their hovering.
She'd never needed it, and she would prove that by making the journey back to London by herself.
Was it risky?
Yes.
Scandalous?
Most definitely.
But she was going to do it anyway.
She heard the crunch of boots on the gravel and slid farther into the shadows of the tree, watching the path. A gentleman strode by, doffing his hat and shaking rain from the rim before putting it back on. Willa smiled. She reached through the curtain of leaves and touched his arm.
He jumped in surprise. “What the devil.”
Willa giggled.
“I beg your pardon,” he said.
“You need not beg my pardon. Come in here out of the rain. Take shelter with me.”
Wesley’s jaw worked with indecision. But then he stepped through and joined her in the shadows of the willow.
“And just what are you doing here, Mr. Parker?” Willa teased. Wesley always looked uncomfortable when they were alone. He could be stodgy, but he was also her dearest friend. And the only reasonable person she’d met in London. He also happened to be neighbors with Jeanette and her husband, Lord Luckfeld.
He took off his hat and shook it again. “What are you doing out here?”
“I'm avoiding my sisters and mother. I'm avoiding all of them,” she admitted.
“They are only looking out for you,” he replied.
