“A gallery opening. One of my paintings will be there. It will be great fun!”
“I couldn’t possibly …”
“You absolutelycould. And Mama will be so pleased that I have a proper chaperone for once,” she added with a laugh.
“But I have Tommy,” I explained, even as I wondered exactly who had been chaperoning Delia—if anyone.
My sister furrowed her brow in confusion. “Don’t you have a nanny?”
I laughed. “No, Delia. I do not.”
My aunt’s housekeeper didn’t mind keeping an eye on him if I needed to run an errand or two, but I couldn’t ask the woman to stay the night so I could traipse around London until all hours.
“Well, perhaps he could stay with Dolly for the evening and play with his cousins.”
Before I could object to this, Delia marched over to our sister-in-law, who was still by the tea cart. “Dolly! What do you think about having Tommy stay with you tomorrow evening so Minnie can accompany me to a gallery opening?”
“That’s fine with me,” she said, then she shifted her gaze to me. “That is, if it’s all right with you, Minnie.”
“That is a marvelous idea,” my mother suddenly chimed in from her seat on the sofa.
“I really don’t think—”
“Let the boy spend some time with his cousins,” she interrupted as her blue eyes narrowed on me.
I very much did not appreciate being badgered into leaving my child for the night in the home of people he had only just met—family or not—and was just about to say so when I felt a tug on my skirt. I looked down and found Tommy looking up at me with a pleading expression on his sweet face.
“Please, Mama.”
“Are you sure?” I murmured, but he nodded eagerly in response.
“It will be great fun, I think.”
John and Franny joined us then, both with equally eager expressions.
“Yes, please, Auntie Minnie,” John said. “I can show him our collection of fossils.”
Oh, goodness. I had forgotten all about my brother Jack’s penchant for fossils. He had been properly obsessed as a boy and must have cabinets full of them by now.
Tommy began to tug on my skirt with more urgency, and I knew the matter was settled. He missed his friends and even his sister, as adversarial as their relationship could be, and I would not let my own worries get in the way of his joy.
“All right,” I replied.
The children then let out a cheer, which was, admittedly, rather adorable, and scampered off to make plans while Dolly came over to hand me a cup of tea.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” she said, with an encouraging smile. “I’m used to managing a house full of rowdy children. Enjoy yourself.”
I accepted the cup and managed to return her smile. “I’ll try.”
Tommy spending the night away from me was one thing. Going out on the town with Delia, however, was another matter altogether …
“Don’t worry,” my sister said with an easy grin. “I’ll make sure you have a marvelous time. Now, I’m off to finish my work. Shall we meet here at eight o’clock?”
I held back my grimace at the hour and nodded. “Yes, that’s fine.”
I preferred to be in bed, and ideally asleep, no later than nine o’clock most evenings, likely when the London social scene was just warming up.
“Until tomorrow, then,” Delia said as she gave me a tight hug and kissed my cheek. “Good night, all,” she added with a grand wave to the room before disappearing through the doorway.
