Mother raised her palms. “She’s upset. Give her amoment to come to her senses. What you said was equally offensive.”
Slowly, I sat, eyes fixed on every unanswered correspondence left scattered on my desk.
Mother stepped closer to me. “What did Mr. Richards come to say?”
I cleared my throat and sat back. I needed out of here. I needed room to think things through. “The usual ups and downs of investments.”
“Downs, it would seem,” Mother muttered.
“Is there anything more you need?” I could hear the whip in my voice, feel the guilt rising up in my chest. The skies outside my window had darkened, the shadows in the room growing longer in each corner.
Mother raised a brow and put my stray pen back in its jar. “Go have a walk. Breathe in the sea air. Before Mr. Lane arrives.”
My throat tightened.Anna.
I palmed my eyes. “Has Anna come down yet?”
“Mariah just went up. With a beautiful bouquet of poppies.” Another raised brow.
I looked past her to the door. “I’ll return,” I said.
Mother stepped back, out of the way of the door. “I know you will.”
ChapterThirty
Anna
I’d never thought I’d visit Graham Everett’s home, let alone feel comfortable there.
Indeed, I’d wanted to leave the moment I’d stepped foot in Brighton, and yet here I was, snuggled in bed, a healthy combination of fear and excitement and nervousness fluttering in my stomach.
Remembering how bold I’d been last night heightened every feeling. Oh, I wanted to hide under my covers and pillows. Facing Papa almost seemed easier than facing Graham after all I’d said and done.
But then my heart softened, remembering Graham’s declarations, how adamantly he’d relinquished his plans, and likely a great deal of money, for me. No, for the merechanceof me. He’d done all that for the chance to court me. He’d kissed me back. A lot, actually. His intentions clearly laid out.
A gentle rap sounded on the door, and Mariah walked in. “For you,” she said, handing me a tray. “From Mr. Everett.”
A bouquet of poppies, tied with a yellow ribbon, and a plate of biscuits with tea.
He’d remembered. I lifted them to my nose. Soft andsweet and velvety. Where on earth had he found them? “No note?”
“I do not think he had time,” she said as she shuffled around the room. “A visitor came just as he’d returned home.”
Home. But who would be visiting him at this early hour? “Quickly, Mariah. I must dress.” I laid the poppies on the desk beside my bed and paced to my washing table.
I chose a simple white day dress and had Mariah pin a few poppies in my hair. My shaky hands allowed for only a few sips of tea and a bite of a biscuit before insisting I find Graham. If he was entertaining, I would find him in the drawing room.
With no one in sight, I practically flew down the stairs, slowing only as I reached the bottom. Laughter carried out into the foyer, but inside the drawing room, I found only Ginny, covered in threads of all colors, and Tabs curled up at her mother’s feet, reading a book aloud.
“Anna!” Tabs cried, jumping to her feet and racing to throw her arms around me. “Thank you! Thank you, a hundred times, for catching me an eel.”
“Yes, Anna. Thank you for the many details we’ve involuntarily learned about an eel’s size, smell, and innards,” Ginny muttered with evident sarcasm.
“Graham says you caught him with your own hands.” Tabs’s eyes grew wide.
“Well, your brother did help, and Morton—”
“Cook let me watch while she split him open!”
