“It’s true,” Antonia said, eyes dancing. “I was twelve and Lady Huntley ten. We were determined to sail for India.
Lena Sharifi gasped. “’Tis where I am from!”
“You are! How lovely,” Antonia exclaimed. “I’m quite beside myself with jealousy. Well,” she went on, “we’d packed a satchel filled with currant buns, two hair ribbons, and Papa’s best spyglass.”
“Ah, so that’s where it disappeared,” Rose said without thinking. Papa had accused Rose of confiscating it, after Sebastian had convinced Papa he’d had nothing to do with its disappearance.
Antonia shifted her surprised to Rose and clapped her hands. “Youremember?”
Rose waved out one hand. “Barely,” she murmured, her face heating.
Her younger sister’s nose wrinkled. “Gabby and I made it only as far as the gate before my shoelace broke, and I fell against Gabby, sending her headlong into the hedge.”
Gabriella moaned, and the entire company of Hope House girls gasped.
“Our grand adventure ended in scratches and mud and ruining our best frocks,” Antonia finished.
“Don’t forget the governess dragging us back by our ears,” Gabriella muttered.
A burst of giggles filled the room, even from Inez. It was the first time Rose realized how truly young she was, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed.
Gilly’s eyes had widened to the size of her saucer. “What did your papa say?”
Antonia pressed a hand to her chest, casting her glance to Gabriella before answering, “He declared—”
Gabriella joined in, adopting a deep, pompous voice that sounded remarkably similar to their father’s. “‘Any daughter of mine who wishes to sail for India must, at the least, learn to tie a proper shoelace.’”
Even Rose hadn’t known of this sojourn with their father and found herself joining in the laughter. It seemed to fill her soul.
Such joy rippling through the room lifted the last of any stiffness.
Rose’s heart swelled as she watched them—giggling, relaxed, and utterly charmed, and charming. For the first time since Viola Lockhart had crossed her threshold, Rose felt as if she’d done something right in instigating this occasion.
Before she knew it, two hours had slipped by.
“I fear we must be on our way, darling,” Rose told Antonia, standing. “We have the Harlowe charity subscription soiree tonight, and it cannot be missed since I am the one who convinced Maeve to use it as an opportunity to raise funds for Hope House.”
“Rose has an admirer,” Gabriella said sweetly. “A most persistent one.”
“Gabriella!” Rose choked out.
Antonia’s eyes narrowed with her usual mischievous glint. “Is that so?”
Rebecca smiled and forewent joining in the fray of embarrassing Rose, and she was grateful for it because surely her face was as red as the currents in the scones they’d consumed.
Antonia set her cup aside, sighing. “Next time, we must arrange for an overnight visit.” She struggled to her feet with Kadida’s help. “Thank you, dear. By the bye, my husband sends his apologies. The man is forever trapped in London regarding that tiresome warehouse business at the docks. I tell him it seems more a front than naught else.” She lifted one shoulder. “But as a woman, what do I know?”
Her tone was light, almost teasing, but the words fell like a stone into still water.
The smile on Rose’s face tightened before she forced the muscles to relax. She bent her head, smoothing her hands over her skirts to mask the sudden thudding thrumming through her.
She barely glanced up, but did, catching Gabriella’s sharpened gaze and Rebecca’s brow creasing faintly.
Antonia blithely continued, completely oblivious. “In any case, it keeps him from my hair, and I daresay you’re all much more amusing company.” She looped her arm through Kadida’s, leading the group from the drawing room to the foyer. “My dear, this soft yellow frock does you great justice…”
The butler—much more agreeable than Winston—greeted them, along with a couple of footmen, and handed out worn pelisses and cloaks that in retrospect should have resembled a veritable rainbow on a lovely spring day. Perhaps she would ask Emerson…
No. There were other more important matters to address that she mustn’t forget.
