Arabella shrugged. “She sold them as curatives when she knew they weren’t.”
“What about when you climbed up that tree on Hogbellow Lane and convinced Ian Marshall that you were a spirit of the forest watching him?” Julia giggled.
“Well, he was gashing up the trees for no reason and harassing the baby squirrels.” Arabella folded her arms. “He deserved a set down.”
“He almost pissed himself,” Evelina said.
“Sounds like he deserved it.” Silas’s tone was even, as was his gaze on her face.
“He really did,” Julia agreed. “Actually, now that I think of it, Arabella only ever played tricks on people whodiddeserve it.”
Arabella shifted. “You make me sound like a heroine not a hoyden, which is utterly ridiculous.”
“Not so ridiculous,” Evelina said with a gentler smile for her.
Arabella was happily kept from having to respond to that when Barnaby entered the room to announce supper. Arabella rose to lead them into the dining room with her sisters behind her, flanking Silas on either side and telling him tales about her walking fence rails and altering the sheet music at an assembly hall so that the orchestra played nonsense and ruined the dancing.
And he laughed at every story as he slid quite perfectly into her home and her family. Even though she had to pull him away from all of it in just a few hours.
CHAPTER18
Silas hadn’t known quite what to expect when he’d accepted Arabella’s invitation to her home, but as he stood having drinks with the ladies in her parlor after supper, he realized he was having one of the finest nights of recent memory.
It was impossible not to enjoy oneself with the Comerford sisters, for they were all witty and intelligent, friendly and kind. And one couldn’t help but be mesmerized by their tight bond. They teased each other, but it was always gently. They also noticed the little shifts in each other, anticipated each other’s needs and gave without hesitation.
Their love for one another was obvious and he was envious of it, if he were honest with himself. He thought of his afternoon with Phoebe and how she’d told him the family truly wished to repair what had been damaged over decades of loss and pain and competition.
Seeing these three women together, it made him wish he could do that.
“You have the strangest look on your face,” Arabella said, slipping up to put her arm through his and rest her chin against his shoulder. “Are you well?”
He nodded. “Very well. I’ve had a wonderful time tonight.”
A little wickedness entered those remarkable blue eyes. “And we haven’t even played in the tub yet.”
“Naughty little minx,” he murmured before he bent his head and kissed her briefly. He felt her shift toward him, lean into the explosive passion they so easily shared.
But this wasn’t the place for it, so they parted and her smile grew wider. More beautiful and inviting.
“I’m sorry, Miss Comerford,” Barnaby said, suddenly at the parlor door. “There’s a situation with Regina.”
She blinked. “Now?”
He nodded and she squeezed Silas’s hand before she turned away. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Evelina and Julia exchanged a quick look after she’d gone and Silas laughed. “There’s obviously something afoot. You aren’t planning to murder me, are you?”
Evelina smiled. “Not tonight, at least. No…well, there’s no reason to hide it, I suppose. One of Arabella’s housemaids is with child and judging from Barnaby’s pale expression, I think she must be ready to give birth.”
“She was a lightskirt,” Julia said softly. “Arabella found her on the street a few months ago. She offered her a job and a promise she’d help the girl take care of the child, or find the baby a home if that’s what she wished to do instead.”
Silas looked off toward the door where Arabella had gone. “She so easily takes care of others.”
“Yes,” Evelina said, her tone suddenly distant. “Sometimes at detriment to herself.”
“Though not in this case,” Julia said.
“No, of course not.” Evelina worried her hands before her. “I should go see if I can help. I want to remind Arabella the name of the midwife I suggested so she can be sent for.”
