Home. A strange sensation snaked its way around her midsection. She hadn’t time to examine it before he bid her good day and left.
***
Later that day, Lord Norwich pulled the carriage to a stop outside the tea shop in Berkeley Square, and Amelia craned her neck to see the front of the shop beyond the many carriages and customers milling about. She had not expected the area to be so busy, nor so loud, but she supposed that was the way of the upper ten thousand. They did not like to go anywhere without being noticed and therefore called out to friends, strolled about in their finery, and generally made themselves viewable. Amelia hoped they might stay in the phaeton for their visit.
“Generally, there are waiters who might take our order, but with this many people, we may be waiting a great deal of time. It might be best to go into the shop.” He turned to her. “No, that is right; you do not enjoy large crowds. I will go in and place our orders.”
Her sigh of relief was audible. “Thank you.”
Half his mouth lifted in a smile. “It is my pleasure. Do you trust me to choose your ice for you?”
She hesitated. “Certainly.”
“Perfect.” And then he jumped from the phaeton and strode across the busy street.
What had happened between their dinner party and now to make Lord Norwich so solicitous? Genuinely solicitous, it would seem. Not as he had been at the start of their marriage. Perhaps he had come upon the same decision—they would make good friends. Amelia enjoyed a moment of watching the business about her without needing to participate in it. But it was not to last.
“Mellie?”
Oh please no.Amelia turned slowly to the phaeton that was just pulling up beside her own.
“Edith. Good afternoon. Is Henrietta with you?”
Edith looked at her flatly, then at her single companion—a gentleman Amelia did not know. “Obviously not.”
Amelia dipped her head in acquiescence.
“Lord Danford, you go on and order our ices. I should like a moment with my sister.”
Obligingly, this Lord Danford helped Edith from his phaeton and into Edward’s before driving off to a vacant spot some distance away.
“I called at your home today,” Edith said without preamble.
“Truly? I was unaware.” She’d spent the morning in the music room, then the garden with Mary. Coombs must have said she was not at home. Glorious man.
“Yes, truly. I came to tell you Papa is angry.”
“Whatever is he angry about? He seemed in perfectly adequate spirits at our dinner party last night.”
“Yes, that is before Henrietta proclaimed her desire to marry that silly baronet that has been courting her.”
“Why should Papa be upset with that?”
Edith huffed. “Because he has already had one daughter marry below her station and cause a great deal of gossip for our family. He wishes Henrietta and I to make better matches and certainly nothing so low as a baronet. Poor Henrietta is beside herself because of you and the horrible taint your marriage has put upon our family.”
Amelia opened her mouth to speak, her stomach having dropped with every word from Edith’s mouth. “Certainly it cannot be so bad as all that.”
Edith’s lips pinched together. While most women might grow old with lines about their eyes, Amelia was certain all of Edith’s would be about her mouth. “Will you never learn, Mellie? Will you never learn that your actions have more far-reaching effects than you think? You are forever making choices to benefit yourself and not thinking of those you hurt in the process. Even in your marriage you continue to be selfish. It is clear Lord Norwich can hardly be in your company. Today must be the first day you’ve been in public. He is seen leaving your home nearly daily, and you haven’t attended even one social event. Do you see how that appears? Then there is the fact that far too many women still speak of him with familiarity. It is being said that he married you out of obligation but would prefer the company of any other to your own.” Her words grew louder as she spoke, and heat seeped into Amelia’s cheeks.
“Edith, please.”
She quieted, but the rage was still clear. “You are disgracing our family, and Papa will not even cut ties with you. I hope you are happy to still be the favorite. Much happier than poor Henrietta.”
“Lady Edith, if I had known you would be joining us, I would have ordered an ice for you as well.”
Both women turned to see Lord Norwich had arrived. Edith straightened, preening, while Amelia fought a desire to slink back into her seat. How much had he heard? How much had all the surrounding carriages heard?
“You are too kind, Lord Norwich.”
