Her mother slipped past her when they stepped into the parlor and found a seat beside Lady Petunia.
“Hurry it along, Lady Liberty. No point in standing about the place when there is excellent seating before you.” A firm shove followed these words in Liberty’s back. Turning, she found Alice and her aunt.
“Aunt, must you herd everyone about the place? They are not pieces on your chess board.”
Mrs. Hamner was tall, broad shouldered, and never walked anywhere. She stomped. Her husband, Alice’s uncle, was built the same way. No-nonsense people who didn’t have a gentle bone in their body. Liberty felt sorry for her friend having to live with them. But then Alice was no shy, retiring debutante, either, and could stand up for herself.
“Good evening, Mrs. Hamner, Alice.”
“Uncle beat her with a move she’d never seen before, which annoyed Aunt,” Alice said.
Mrs. Hamner sniffed. “You must come and play us both, Liberty. I heard about your victory in the park.”
Liberty shot her mother a look to see if she’d overheard. Her lips were in a hard, disapproving line which suggested she had.
“My advice is keep your distance from my aunt, Liberty, as she will simply want to interrogate you about chess,” Alice said, tugging Liberty toward a sofa.
“Lady Liberty,” Lady Petunia called from her place beside Liberty’s mother. “There is space here for you.” She then patted the seat beside her.
“Oh, ah… I had thought—”
“At once, dear,” Lady Petunia said, and there was no doubting the threat in those words.
Liberty shot Alice a wide-eyed look. Her friend smirked and walked to the sofa alone.
“There now, isn’t this comfortable?” Lady Petunia said after Liberty had taken the space beside her.
“Lovely,” her mother agreed through her teeth.
“I was talking with our nephew’s friend, Lord Corbyn, and remembered that you live minutes from him, Lady Liberty.”
“We do,” her mother agreed.
“Lovely boy Tobias. Kind, sweet natured, and extremely handsome,” Lady Petunia added. “And to have taken on that dear sweet little Florence without a thought shows his true character.”
“Child?” her mother asked.
Lady Petunia then launched into a detailed explanation as to why Florence was now living with Tobias.
“What a kind-natured young man. He and my daughter were close as children,” her mother said, thawing slightly.
“Well now, how lovely.”
Lady Petunia then proceeded to talk about Tobias for a further ten minutes with her mother dropping in her own compliments about the boy she’d once known. Of course, her parents were not aware of everything that had happened between her and him. Even so, a bit of loyalty here would be nice.
“Well past time he married,” Lady Petunia added.
Oh, hell no.
“Well past time my daughter was married,” her mother muttered, which she and Lady Petunia heard.
“Yes, thank you, mother,” Liberty said, mortified.
“Ladies, if I could have your attention,” Lady Agatha, Lady Petunia’s sister said, clapping her hands, much to Liberty’s relief. “It is time to discuss the book.”
For three seasons she’d muddled along doing what had to be done, or more importantly what her mother wanted her to do, and now suddenly, this year, everything was changing. Tobias had reentered her life… reluctantly. Not only that, suddenly she needed to have a complete new wardrobe, and her parents were pushing for her to marry. There were also the goings on in Bidham to worry about.
Why now?
