The duchess entered the breakfast room a moment later.
"Good morning, Corinna," the duchess said, as she gestured to the footman for a cup of coffee of her own. "You look well."
"Good morning, Your Grace," Cori said.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Tolerably," Cori said, which was not precisely true but was not precisely a lie either. She had slept. Eventually.
The lingering memory of his kiss had not made it easy.
"Hmm," said the woman as she accepted her cup, her shrewd eyes settling on Cori.
Thankfully, the room began to fill. The Upwells arrived, and the Reverend Fairleigh came in after them, quietly settling with a book at the far end of the table. Emma Atherton appeared, then Lucien followed shortly after. Finally, Mr. Atherton arrived. The last among the early risers. He assessed the table with his usual cheerful disposition and took an empty spot beside Cori.
"Good morning," he said brightly.
“Good morning, Mr. Atherton.”
He cast her a sideward glance. "You look as though you have something on your mind, Miss Beckett."
Goodness! Could they all tell something had happened just by looking at her this morning?
"All the rain,” she hedged. "I’m thinking about…drainage."
Mr. Atherton considered this. "Is that so?"
"The north field.” She nodded. "I, um, I hope it hasn’t flooded.”
"Ah," Mr. Atherton said, though he didn’t sound as though he believed her in the least.
Cori glanced again toward the head of the table.
Still empty.
Her stomach roiled.
Mrs. Fairleigh came in then with Hannah at her side. The little girl took her seat, bright-eyed and already scanning the table with intent. She caught Cori's eye across the room and gave her a very small, very deliberate nod, which Cori returned in kind.
Cara arrived and settled beside Cori, close enough to speak quietly if she chose to. She looked at her sister for a moment and said nothing.
Cori drank another cup of coffee and nibbled at her toast. She participated in the conversation around her with what she hoped was a reasonable approximation of her usual self and made every attempt to not look at the head of the table again.
She looked at it twice more.
The breakfast room eventually began to empty as the other guests drifted toward their next activity. Still, James had not arrived.
Finally, Cori pushed away from the table. After all, she could not stay there all morning not looking for James. She was considering a return trip to the library which felt either like the perfect choice or a terrible one, she could not determine which, when Cara appeared at her elbow.
"Walk with me," her sister said.
They found a small sitting room off the east corridor that was empty and smelled of woodsmoke and old books, and Cara closed the door behind them. Then she turned and pinned Cori with an expression that made it clear she knew something was going on.
"What happened?" Cara asked.
Drat!
"Nothing happened." Cori bit her bottom lip. Oh, she was a horrible liar.
