Pere noticed the way her words sounded more like a question than a statement.
“Of course.”Henley cupped his wife’s face, but Pere questioned if he could state such a thing with certainty, for neither of them quite knew how their mother would react.Time would tell.
“Do you feel up to a trip to Bond Street?Certainly, you need to be ordering a few new dresses for your… situation.”Pere introduced a new topic, needing a distraction and knowing shopping was a certain victory.
“I suppose, though I can’t say I’m looking forward to being so… round.”
“How delicately stated,” Pere pestered.
“Deliciously—”
“And now, I’m going to take my leave and pretend I didn’t see or hear anything like that.You’d think you two would have more decorum with me around, but I swear, you have less.”
“You’re quite prudish for being the hoyden you don’t claim to be.”
“Goodbye.I’ll see you in a half hour to leave for Bond Street.”Pere leveled a finger at Anna.“And you, I’ll see tonight.And unfortunately, probably before that as well.”
“Love you too, sister,” Henley teased.
Pere waved them off and quit the room, her smile wide as she heard Anna giggle.
It might be an uncertain evening ahead, but at least she wasn’t facing it alone.
That evening, Pere repeated that same phrase as she stepped into the carriage beside her brother and Anna as they started toward what should be home, but felt no longer like it.
The carriage was quiet—oddly so—and Pere twisted her lips and regarded her brother.
His hand held Anna’s but not tightly, just with a sweet assurance, and Pere closed her eyes, wondering what it would feel like to have that same kind of solid presence beside her.What would it look like?She could almost imagine a warm hand holding hers, a warm shoulder brushing against hers, and as she pretended the situation, she envisioned the man beside her.With a quiet gasp, she opened her eyes and blinked, coming back to the reality of the carriage ride.
Henley quirked an eyebrow at her.
Pere gave her head a wordless shake and turned her attention to the window.She needed a moment to gather her thoughts, because the face she saw in her imaginings had startled her—not because it was so shocking, but because for that split second, it made complete sense.
And that was the impossible part.
She was imagining security, love, devotion, and a solid presence beside her.Not at all the descriptions she’d use to articulate the character of Lord Hawthorne.
Yet, as she thought back over her moment of fancy, it had been like a puzzle piece that made the rest of the picture clearer.
But that made no sense.
The tension was getting to her head, clearly, and she shook off the musings that would lead nowhere, and watched as the carriage pulled to a slow stop before the house of all her childhood memories.The stone steps led up to a wide walnut door, and Pere imagined their butler waiting just inside, watching for their arrival.Henley alighted first and helped both her and Anna step down.Henley and Anna preceded her as they took the short walk to the stairs, the door opening as Pere’s slippered foot touched the first step, their butler welcoming them with a nod.
“Lord and Lady Allendale, Lady Peregrine.”He spoke with respect, then asked them to follow him to a parlor.
Pere followed, feeling all sorts of awkward to be treated so formally within her own home—or what should have been her own home.It certainly didn’t feel like it now.She shared a curious expression with her brother as they each took a seat to await their mother’s leisure.Just when Pere was about to break the silence, footsteps sounded in the hall and her tension increased, anticipating her mother’s arrival.
She swept into the room with a wide smile, dressed exquisitely as if expecting to attend a ball later, and with a warmth that had been achingly absent for the past almost year.The gown was new—emerald silk, cut daringly low; the woman who once mourned in black lace now shimmered like a debutante reborn.
Pere blinked at her, then glanced to Henley, unsure what to think or even how to greet their mother.
Henley took the initiative, standing and bowing.“Mother, you look lovely as always.”
Lady Devon gave a demure smile and offered her hand to her son.“Thank you, I’m so glad you all accepted my invitation for dinner; it’s been far too long since I’ve had my children around the table.”
“We’re delighted,” Anna offered, almost tentatively.
Pere stood next.“Good evening.”
