James stood immediately. “Mrs. Ellsworth, welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.”
She patted his arm with obvious fondness before turning to the sisters. “You must be Mrs. Fairfax and Miss Linley. I’ve heard nothing but kind things about you in the village. You’ve created quite the stir with the young men, I’m told.”
“We’ve heard wonderful things about you as well,” Georgiana replied, rising to greet her. “James has just invited us to stay here at the manor instead of at the inn. I hope you won’t mind. This will be your house to run, after all.”
“I’ll be delighted for the company,” Mrs. Ellsworth said warmly. “It will be like the old days when this kitchen was filled with young people.” She reached into her bag. “Speaking of which, on my way from the village, the postman asked me to deliver this. Apparently, word has spread that you’re staying here. Like I said, everyone’s talking about the two beautiful women who have come to save the manor from ruin.”
She handed Georgiana a pale envelope with elegant, looping script.
Georgiana took one look at the handwriting and her face fell. “Oh no. It’s from Mother.”
Cecily groaned audibly. “Dear God, what does she want now?”
Georgiana broke the wax seal with the resignation of someone opening a bill she couldn’t afford to pay. She read quickly, her expression growing more dismayed with each line.
“Well?” Cecily demanded. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
“I’ll read it aloud.” Georgiana cleared her throat and adopted a theatrical tone:
“My darling girls, as I find myself in need of a change of scenery—and funds are temporarily tight—I shall arrive on Thursday, the twenty-eighth of January. Do make sure the village offers accommodationsof suitable refinement. I expect to stay at least a fortnight. Longer if the mood strikes me or if I find the local society sufficiently entertaining. With love, Mama.”
“That’s in two weeks,” Cecily said, calculating quickly. “What are we going to do?”
“She’ll not be deterred once she’s made up her mind,” Georgiana said grimly. “Lord Ashford, I must warn you—under no circumstances should you invite her to stay here. She has a talent for making herself indispensable and overstaying her welcome. The last time she visited someone, she stayed for three months.”
“And ate them out of house and home,” Cecily added. “Not to mention rearranging all their furniture and criticizing their choice of servants.”
“Now you’ll have to pay for her lodging at the inn,” Cecily continued. “On top of everything else.”
Georgiana closed her eyes briefly. “God help us all.”
James watched this exchange with growing amusement. “She sounds… formidable.”
“That’s one word for her,” Georgiana muttered, folding the letter with more force than necessary.
Mrs. Honeycutt chuckled. “Well, this should make things interesting. I do love a good family drama.”
“You won’t once you meet her,” both sisters said in unison, which only made James laugh harder.
*
A week hadpassed since Mrs. Ellsworth’s arrival, and Georgiana had settled into a comfortable routine at the manor. She was just finishing her sketches for the day when a soft knock came at the door. She looked up from her work as Mrs. Ellsworth entered, a familiar warmth in the housekeeper’s expression that had developed over their daystogether.
“Mrs. Fairfax, this arrived in today’s post. The village boy brought it up with the bread delivery.” She held out a single envelope, cream-colored and crisply folded.
Georgiana frowned, setting down her pencil. “Was it forwarded from Brighton?”
“No. Addressed directly to you here. Which is strange, I thought.”
Georgiana stood slowly and took the letter with cautious fingers. Her name was written in a looping hand, familiar and unwelcome. Her stomach turned to ice.
Julian.
No return address. No seal. But she knew. The way one knows when the air shifts before a storm. When poison slithers just out of sight.
She didn’t open it.
Instead, she crossed the room with careful steps, lifted the brass poker from its stand, and nudged the fire until the flames leapt higher. Then, without a word, she tossed the envelope into the blaze.
