“A maid and a footman, Samantha. They are enough surely to please even your brothers?” Dorrie added. “Plus, you have us.”
“It’s my hope you’re right.” But she felt as if someone else was watching her, and Samantha couldn’t dismiss the feeling.
Tomorrow Samantha would return to the Duck and Goose, and perhaps it was that unsettling her. She’d managed to collect half the money he’d demanded. She had a brooch to sell today and hoped that would bring her closer. The brooch had belonged to her mother, who she did not remember or know. However, that did not mean she didn’t want to keep it, but it was the best choice as every other piece of jewelry she owned was given to her by someone she loved deeply and could not bear to part with.
“But you doubt them as they are overprotective,” Somer said.
“Exactly so.”
“Well, as we are at Miss Libsin’s tea shop, put it from your mind and instead focus on cake.”
“I shall try.”
“Samantha?”
“Yes, Somer.”
“Is something else wrong?”
“No indeed. What could possibly be wrong when cakes and chatting with my friends are in my immediate future?”
“You are acting different. Not precisely odd, but then not as you would normally behave,” Dorrie said, opening the door to the tea shop.
“I have had rather a lot on my mind, and you have not seen me for a year, so perhaps you can allow I may be a bit different?”
“Perhaps,” Somer conceded. “But if something is bothering you, you know you can tell us.”
“Of course I do, and I promise there is nothing bothering me other than which cake I will select.”
Her friends didn’t look convinced. That was the problem when you’d grown up with people who knew you as well as these two did. They could tell when you were a bit off.
“All right, but we are here for you.”
She blinked away the sudden sting of tears. She had family and friends at her back and would never forget that. She was doing this for them, she reminded herself. She would protect them in whatever way she could.
They entered the tea shop with the footman and two maids.
“If you would like to sit there, Jenny, Tina, and Sam. We will have some tea and cakes brought to you,” Samantha told the staff assigned to watch over her.
“Thank you kindly, Lady Samantha,” Sam said, bowing.
With her staff settled, she and the twins searched for a table and found Ellen Nightingale.
“Samantha!”
Ellen rose, a welcoming smile on her pretty face. Blonde and blue-eyed, she was one of society’s most popular young ladies.
“It is wonderful to see you,” Ellen said after a hug.
“And you. You look stunning, Ellen.” Dressed in a soft lemon, she was the epitome of a stylish society miss.
“London and all of us have missed you,” Ellen added.
“Thank you, I missed you all too.”
They sat and caught up on news and gossip. Dorrie and Somer talked about marriage and how much they loved it, and Samantha could not have been happier for them, if perhaps a little bit jealous. Then she asked Ellen how her life was now.
“I fear Father has done terrible things and continues to do so to recoup the losses he has incurred.”
