Susan had been correct. She’d barely bled at all last month.
I’m with child.
A baby!
“I’m going to walk in the park this afternoon.” She stared outside. The sun was shining, and the sky was unnaturally blue.
“The exercise ought to do you some good. You have looked a little pale lately. But don’t take too much sun. And Susan must go as well.”
“Of course,” Felicity promised, hearing her mother but not caring what she was saying.
A baby.
She stared down at the handkerchief resting in her lap, thinking it was all wrong. She should be knitting rather than embroidering. She should be making something cozy—for instance, a blanket or a tiny hat…
Her heartbeat fluttered. For weeks she’d considered the possibility to be something of a tragedy, but for all the complications it would bring…
It was also rather…
Wonderful.
She is
Mantis stared across the water. Would she come? A glance at his fob watch showed he was early. It also showed that his hand wasn’t as steady as he’d like it to be.
He would finally have an answer, and the implications of that washed over him like a giant wave. When he walked out of this park today, he would either be an engaged man with a babe on the way. Or he would…
Not.
And if that was the case, he might very well be forced to accept that she did not wish to marry him, which was irksome.
Had he only been a convenient substitute for Westerley? She’d told him she loved her former betrothed. Hell, Mantis had personally witnessed the devastation she experienced following Westerley’s proposal to Miss Jackson.
A flash of blue on the bridge caught his eye, and his heart lurched.
She had come.
The colors in her hat, pinned at a jaunty angle, matched the complimentary gown that flared from her hips to swirl around her ankles. Her maid walked beside her looking severe, but rather than appear somber for the occasion, Lady Felicity’s mouth tipped up at the corners in an expressive smile.
She was not then.
No, she looked…
Happy with the world.
Radiant,damn it.
Her steps faltered, and she turned to the woman beside her. Chin held high, she carried a fan in one hand and kept the other behind her back as she approached him alone.
Untouchable. Felicity Brightley had always been unattainable to him. And despite having known her intimately, she would remain just that.
And yet, here she was.
“My lady,” he uttered when she was near enough to hear.
She nodded. “My lord.” She curtsied.
He bowed.
