Cheeks wet, helaughed harshly. One of the great tragedies of his life turned outto be a complete falsehood. Thumping the back of his head againstthe wall, he closed his eyes. Maxim was alive.
The corner ofhis mouth tipped up, and then he laughed. He laughed and he laugheduntil he was sick with the sound, and he didn’t know what to do,what came next, how it was possible Maxim was alive.
Hanging hishead, he curled his arms around his knees. Maxim was alive...butHarbor was still dead. Would that Harbor had also walked throughthe door. Would that both his brother and his friend were neverdead. Would that, when Stephen realised his brother was not dead,all he had felt was joy…and not resentment that Harbor wasn’t byhis side.
Chapter Seventeen
SERA PULLED HER CLOAK tighter to her body. The lateNovember sun shone brightly but the wind was bitterly cold, cuttingthrough to her skin and stinging her cheeks.
Beside her, MissEdirisinghe chattered brightly, her arm looped through Sera’s asthey walked down the high street. “I had no notion of the cold! Itreally is quite chilling, straight to the bone. I am glad for youallowing me to borrow this cloak. I shall have to purchase clothfor one when we reach the linen-drapers! It is so strange to thinkof such things. It does not get this cold back home, and I’m quitecertain I shall only use this when I am in London, but I will comeoften now we know of each other. Oh, I am so looking forward to italready!”
Miss Edirisinghecontinued her chatter, holding the conversation by herself. Serawas glad of such. She did not feel much like socialising thesethree months gone.
Gatherings haddried up with the approach of winter. Most of society had retreatedto their country homes, and to tell it true, Sera had been glad.She did not feel much like attending balls and pretending she wasenjoying herself. A pile of correspondence sat on her desk,invitations to what gatherings there were amongst them. She wouldrespond to them soon. Maybe.
She had not seenmuch of Maria and Elizabeth either. Maria spent her time with hernew fiancé and his family, while Elizabeth had left for theContinent over a month ago. Sera found herself at loose ends and,with a need to distract herself, she’d sought to do so with thegirl who was her sister.
At first, she’dthought she would take the girl as a project, introduce her tosociety, and guide her through its pitfalls. Instead, MissEdirisinghe had come to Tidswell House and they had spent day afterday in the parlour, getting to know one another as Miss Edirisinghechattered brightly and produced piece after terrible piece ofembroidery. Sera now knew more about her father than she’d everhad, certainly more than the stilted quarterly letters she hadreceived from him. She also knew of her half-brothers, herstepmother, and all the occupants of Miss Edirisinghe’s life inCeylon. Miss Edirisinghe shared of herself freely and withoutguile, and Sera had found herself holding her tongue when a sharpcomment had occurred, instead listening as Miss Edirisinghe invitedher to journey through her life.
Strangely, Serafound her chatter calming, and it had become that she lookedforward to the visits, even with Miss Edirisinghe’s silentchaperone lurking in the background.
Today was one ofthe few occasions they had ventured outside Tidswell House, andonly because Miss Edirisinghe had so admired Sera’s latest ballgown. She’d been present for the delivery, and the delight on thegirl’s face and prompted Sera to offer to show her where she hadacquired the fabric. Thus, they now found themselves on the highstreet making their way to the linen-draper.
It had also beenthree months since she had spoken with Stephen.
Shaking herself,she focussed instead on Miss Edirisinghe’s chatter.
“What are you hoping to purchase, Lady Seraphina? Fabric foranother gown as beautiful as your last? Perhaps something in blue?You do look so well in blue, especially royal blue. Do you thinkyou will pick this colour? Oh, do you think you will letmepick the colour? I would do so well to pick your gown, and it wouldbesuchan honour…”
A gust of windraised goose bumps on her arm. Overhead, grey clouds threatened. Itwas fortunate it would not be long before they reached thelinen-draper.
“Didyou hear the Earl and the soon-to-be Countess of Roxwaithe’s are tohold a house party at the earl’s seat in Yorkshire to celebratetheir marriage?”
Sera’s headwhipped around.
“Everyone is simplydyingfor an invitation to WaitheHall and thus their marriage,” her sister continued, oblivious toher reaction. “It’s an ever-so-romantic story, don’t you think?Growing up in neighbouring estates, falling in love. It is the samewith his brother and her sister, isn’t it? Although, there is anadded romance to theirs—Lord Maxim Farlisle returned from the deadandthenthey fell in love! Do you think they will be there?I am unsure—”
“Have you received an invitation?” she asked suddenly, andthought of the pile of correspondence on her desk.
Miss Edirisinghestopped mid-sentence, eyes wide with surprise. “Oh, no, of coursenot. They have kept the guest list small, and I do not believe Ihave made the acquaintance of neither the earl nor Lady LydiaTorrence. Do you think it is a small party because of Lord Maxim?Do you think he will be there? But he must be, he is the earl’sbrother. It is all anyone can talk about, his return. Do youremember his disappearance? I was speaking with Miss Bartlett andshe said it was all anyone could talk about, a tragedy turned intoa miracle. You were being courted by Lord Stephen Farlisle, wereyou not? Did he say anything about it? I cannot believe we have notspoken of this before!”
“No,we haven’t,” she agreed softly.
Miss Edirisingheclearly saw nothing wrong in that answer and sought nothingfurther, continuing with her chatter. Unfortunately, the girl’sbrightness no longer had the power to distract Sera from herthoughts. From thinking on Stephen.
She had seen hima few times in the time since that disastrous last meet, moreflashes in the distance than anything of substance.
All of Londonhad been afire with the return from the dead of Lord MaximFarlisle. Everyone had invited the Farlisles to their soirees,though they were almost uniformly refused. The family had kept tothemselves, such that the marriage of Lord Maxim to Lady AlexandraTorrence had not been announced until two weeks after the fact andthe couple had departed for the family estate in Yorkshire. Anynotes requesting an audience had been politely refused, and evenwhen she’d called upon Stephen’s bachelor residence, fighting herway through the opportunists and the gawkers and those who recalledshe and Stephen’s connection and tried to pry information from her,she’d been turned away. The butler, though, had churlishly informedher Lord Stephen Farlisle was not in attendance and it might bebest for her to contact Roxegate House. Defeated, she had returnedhome, and the days had become weeks, and the weeks months, and nowit was too much time had passed between that last moment and this,and she could not see a way to fix what had broken betweenthem.
Society,deprived of new opportunities to whisper and gossip about theFarlisles, had turned attention elsewhere: Always, new scandalsrose to take the place of the last: the beauteous Lady SarahHartlett had been found in a compromising position with anunassuming nobody, while Mrs Dalloway had attempted to shoot LordCarow in a lovers’ quarrel. With the advent of such, London hadquite forgotten the return of a dead man, but they would bereminded once the invitations to Waithe Hall and the wedding ofLady Lydia Torrence to the Earl of Roxwaithe started toappear.
Her mind tickedover. There would be a way to attend…Surely Lydia would not refusea request from Miss Edirisinghe? Her sister was sweet andwell-liked, and why wouldn’t she be wanted? If Miss Edirisinghemanaged an invitation, she would want to bring her elder sister,who had navigated society for years and was only looking out forher newly found younger sibling.
And then,finally, she could speak with Stephen
“Would you like to attend?” she asked suddenly.
MissEdirisinghe’s chatter stopped abruptly. “Attend?”
