“Does this mean I have to be in mourning too?Do I have to miss the rest of the social season?”Jane wailed.
“Hush, Jane.This isn’t about you,” their mother said.
But Violet just laughed.It was so very Jane to go from crying straight to worrying how it all would affect her.Violet leaned against the settee’s back and sighed.Her emotions were all over the place these days, like she was traversing a winding road, swaying this way and that with every hairpin turn.Then, from inside her belly, she felt a movement.She placed her hand on her middle.Was that…could it have been the baby?
Then, there it was again.A small moment of pressure and release.“I think I just felt the baby quicken.”
Millie’s eyes widened.“You did?Can I feel?”
Violet nodded.Millie rose to come kneel at her feet.“It was here.”She took Millie’s hand and pressed to the right side where she had felt the baby’s movement.“I don’t know if it will do it again.Maybe it liked my laughter.”
“This is very good.You should feel the baby move often from now on,” her mother said.“See, there can be joy, even in times of sadness.Nothing in life is all one or the other.”
Millie frowned.“Nothing is happening.”
Violet laughed again.“Perhaps the babe is as stubborn as you when it comes to following directions.”Then she felt a nudge again.
“Wait, I felt that!”Millie said.“It does like your laugh.”
There was a knock at the door.“Come in,” Violet called out.
Hodgins entered.“Lady Sommerset, a missive was just delivered for you.”
“Thank you, Mr.Hodgins.”Violet accepted the folded note.She ran a finger underneath the seal and read the short note.Her heart sank into her stomach.“The duke demands my presence to keep vigil for my husband.He said the funeral will be three days hence.Oh, Mama, I can’t be in the same room with Stuart’s body.I just can’t.”
“He is right.It is your place to sit vigil.”
“Can’t you tell him I couldn’t possibly, in my delicate condition?”Violet begged her mother.
“Well…I suppose we could say that you are overwrought, and I have recommended bed rest to preserve the pregnancy.That should placate him.Jane and I will go pay our respects this afternoon and speak with him then.”Her mother’s face was determined.“Your father is there already to support his friend.”
Relief washed through Violet.“I will take to my bed immediately.”
“We will head home.I will send over the modiste possibly tomorrow to get you fitted with proper mourning clothes.Appearances are important.”Her mother leaned in to peck her on the cheek.“Good day, dear.”
Chapter Twenty
It had beenfour days since he’d seen her.Rhys took a long drag on his hand-rolled cigar and blankly stared at the crowded gaming room.In order to distract himself from going to her house, he had instead been coming to the Blue Angel to help out.Not that they needed him; Matthew ran the place with amazing acumen.But hauling in crates of wine and barrels of beer had worked off some of the restless energy that Rhys carried with him.
Violet’s husband was dead.He celebrated that the bastard had met his end.But now that she was free of him, there would be no need for her to continue to work with Rhys investigating her father-in-law.There was no reason for her to interact with Rhys at all.Of course, this was how it should be.A lady of quality like Violet shouldn’t be friends with riffraff like him.And furthermore, she had been far too tempting with her big brown eyes and her tousled blonde locks as she sat on his bed and petted his dog.
He had taken his vow of celibacy eight years ago when his mother died.He never wanted to be reckless like so many young men and spread diseases like the one that had claimed his mother’s life.Years of earning her living as a prostitute had finally killed her.His mother had raised him on her own in the best way she had been afforded.But her choices in life had caught up with her in the end.Before she died, she had made him promise to quit the gang and make something more of himself.She had always wanted more for him.
He had already been doing jobs for Lord Fleming and the crown, but he hadn’t been able to tell his mother about his new career path.Hadn’t fathomed where it would take him.Heartbroken and grieving, he had decided that he would not jeopardize his plans for the future by becoming entangled with any woman.His mother had let her obsession with the Duke of Hartwick leave her heartbroken for years.He wanted no part of how weak love made you.Instead, when the opportunity arose, he had taken his friends and left the gang.Matthew and Zeke had each shared similar aspirations to be something more than what they were.
He blew out a stream of smoke.A roar of excitement rose from around the big hazard table.They had done well for themselves.He was proud of the success of the Angel, the auction house, and the factory.His mother would have been proud too.Rhys pulled out his watch.It was one in the morning, so perhaps time to go home.He couldn’t avoid that empty bed forever.Even he needed to sleep sometimes.Turning, he nodded to Val, who stood behind the bar.“Tell Matthew that I’m heading home.”
“Sure thing, boss.”Val poured two glasses of wine and headed down to serve patrons at the other end of the long bar.
When Rhys arrived home, he was surprised to not see the dog lying on the hearth in the kitchen.In the few weeks he’d had the beast, he had gotten used to his shadow.Where was the animal?Rhys made his way upstairs.At the end of the hall, a faint light spilled from around the crack in his bedroom door.He bent and pulled his knife from his boot.Where was the damned dog?If whoever was in his house had hurt it, they would be sorry.
He pushed the door open silently, ready to confront the trespassers.But what he found was the dog stretched out on the carpet in front of the fire, with Violet lying half on top of it, her arm encircling its furry neck.She appeared to be asleep.
Rhys slid his knife back into its sheath and crossed to them.The mastiff wagged its tail in greeting, thumping it loudly against the rug.Violet’s eyes opened, and she stared up at him with bleary eyes.He crouched down in front of them.“Hey, sugar.”
“You said I could escape if I needed to.”
“Anytime.”
