“How about love?” Thomasin mused. “This is all very well, but do you think you love him, Ellen?”
Her smile answered the question. “If it is not love yet, it very soon will be. I have twice been burned by the infatuation of love, but this is a slow-burning affection based on respect and companionship. He is simply the best man I know, and a friend of Giles, of course, which speaks volumes.”
“It does?”
“Of course. Anyone who Giles considers a friend must be a trustworthy and honourable man, like himself.”
“You have a high opinion of Sir Giles.”
“Yes, he merits it. Don’t you?”
“Indeed, I do, for the kind help he has given my family in our hour of need.”
“There is more to him than that, is there not? After Harry, I will admit he is a true paragon of a gentleman, unequalled at court.”
“Yes, well.” Thomasin shifted in bed, uneasy at this talk. “I wonder if I might be strong enough to get up today.”
“Dr Butts said you should stay in bed. I do not want you collapsing while I am here with the sole charge of you.”
“All right, I will wait until my mother returns and collapse then. Is there wine?”
Ellen poured some from the flask on the table. Thomasin drank gratefully, her throat parched after her long sleep and their talk. She wondered what her cousin would say about the conversation she had overheard the previous evening.
“I am concerned about Cecilia,” she began. “I think William Hatton visited the house yesterday evening. I woke in the darkness and heard them in the garden. Their plan was to ask the king for a quick divorce so they could marry before the child arrives, but it seems that Henry is reluctant to grant them what he longs for himself. So, they are making plans to run away together and live abroad as man and wife, in Italy, I think. Hatton is a lot more certain, while Cecilia is afraid to travel in her condition.”
“I cannot blame her for that. I would not wish for the discomfort, or to be away from home and family at such a time.”
“That is what I thought. Mother had hoped she would lie in at Eastwell Hall, where she can be on hand. I cannot think of Cecilia undergoing such an ordeal among strangers, in a foreign land, unable to speak the language.”
“No, it does not bear thinking about. It cannot be.”
“This is why I wish to speak with her, but it must be soon.”
“They will be back soon, I am sure.”
“There is also another matter. I do not trust Hatton at all. No matter what she feels for him, I have always had my doubts, but I was prepared to see them happily married until John Dudley mentioned something. He has heard reports of Hatton having a betrothed down on the south coast, near the residence ofhis stepfather. Hatton must refute this himself. We can’t have Cecilia being lied to again.”
“No, all must be clear and above board if they are to be together.”
“But the matter of the child is pressing. It is due in September, although it may come early, as first children often do, or so Mother says.”
Ellen sat up. “Wait, what was that?”
Thomasin strained to follow the sound, and soon she was also aware of hooves on the cobbles outside, followed by footsteps in the downstairs hallway.
“They are back! I will not get up, as you advise, but please ask my mother to come up as soon as she is able to.”
Ellen nodded and left the room, her steps receding down the staircase.
Thomasin lay back on her pillows. She knew she was right to speak up about Italy, but should she have mentioned the reputed betrothed? The last thing she wanted to do was stand in the way of her sister’s happiness, but what if she might be protecting her from further heartbreak?
The voices from the hallway were rising in pitch and energy. Thomasin turned her ear to the door, trying to discern her mother and uncle’s words, as the former seemed almost beside herself with excitement. It was all Thomasin could do not to shuffle out of bed and across the floor towards the door, although she feared she would stumble on the stairs.
Soon, the sounds grew louder, mounting the staircase, turning the bend and heading up to the rooms above. Thomasin could barely contain her anticipation.
“Hello?” she called out. “What is it?”
Ellen entered the room first. “You will not believe it, Thomasin, but your mother has brought home a surprise.”
