Ophelia nodded and then stood, dusting off her skirts out of habit. “Who else knows about this?”
“As far as I know just you, me, Karl, and Francis.” Justine put down the skirt. “I thought I might talk to Prudence about this.”
Ophelia nodded. “Excellent idea. We shall call an emergency meeting of the Ladies' Alpine Society. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
In true Ophelia form, she swirled out the door to make preparations. Justine smiled and tucked away the mending. She gathered up the other two women from their rooms and herded them down to the corner of the dining room, nearest to the stove that still churned out a delightfully low heat, despite the declaration ofsummerby the calendar.
Mrs. Brunner brought out a tea pot and cups early for them, along with leftover plum cake, which none of them minded. And when Mr. Moon came round, Prudence shooed him away with both hands.
“Away with you. Go play with the other men.”
“I don’t know where they are,” Mr. Moon protested.
“Then go find them,” Eleanor chastised. “I think mine is in the barn, pretending to know about livestock.”
Mr. Moon sighed, but dutifully trudged out of the dining room.
“I’ve a problem,” Justine said in a low voice, once Mr. Moon cleared out.
Ophelia made a sound halfway between a grunt and a sigh.
“Is what your brother said true?” Eleanor asked.
“Ooh, what did he say?” Prudence’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“Apparently—”
Mrs. Brunner walked over to their table, and to be safe, Justine stopped talking. She didn’t think the woman knew toomany words in English, but she certainly didn’t want to chance it when talking about the woman’s nephew.
“Good, yes?” Mrs. Brunner asked, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Delicious,” Prudence answered with a wide smile that the Swiss woman returned in kind.
“More?” Mrs. Brunner pointed to the tea pot.
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to trouble you,” Ophelia said, displaying that knack for sounding kind while also asking for more. Justine also knew Ophelia well enough to know that she copied her mother’s mannerisms down to the crinkle of an eyebrow and the exact pitch of the openingoh.
Mrs. Brunner waved her hand and picked up the pot. “Hot water,” she said and bustled off to the kitchen. As soon as she was out of the room, the Ladies' Alpine Society huddled together again.
“Apparently,” Justine continued, “Francis confronted Karl about what’s been going on between us—”
Eleanor’s eyes went wide and Prudence’s smile grew wider. “What has been going on?” Prudence asked with a saucy tone that Justine wasn’t sure she appreciated.
“Nothing much,” Justine protested.
“Kissing,” Ophelia supplied. “Clandestine midnight meetings.”
“And lots of walking in the woods without speaking,” Justine protested.
Eleanor and Prudence exchanged looks, as if this was the obvious path to becoming one of them:married.
“Anyhow,” Justine said, wresting their attention back. “Karl told Francis that we are engaged to be married.”
Eleanor gasped. Prudence gushed.
Justine held up her hand. “But he never asked me if I wanted to marry him.”
That stopped short Prudence’s tumbling congratulations.
