“Ah, and I finally see my daughter who has been shockingly absent, but I cannot fault you; I’m sure Henley’s home is far more diverting than that of mine.”She hitched a shoulder, giggling slightly.
Pere blinked.Who was this woman?For a moment, Pere saw the woman she once was, before heartache, and it was a window into her mother’s past that gave her insight—and a measure of grace.
“I’m at your disposal whenever you need me,” Pere remarked, sharing a look with Henley.
“Dinner is ready, if you’ll follow me?I’m keeping it rather informal, since it’s just us.”She gestured to the door and then led the way to the dining hall.
As she followed Henley and Anna, Pere noticed several changes to the house’s décor.Thinking back, she wondered when the subtle changes had taken place.The footmen withdrew the chairs, and the first course was served.
After a few moments of silence, Lady Devon spoke.“I’m sure you’re all curious why I requested your presence.”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Henley said.“However, it is excellent timing since we have our own announcement of sorts.”He shared a grin with Anna.
Pere glanced to their mother, aware of every nuance of her expression, curious.
“Oh?Well, I look forward to hearing all the news.And I’ll begin with this piece of information I know you’ll be thrilled to hear!”
Henley nodded, his eyebrows raised expectantly.Pere glanced to Anna next, her expression amused.
Lady Devon waited as the footmen removed their first course and replaced it with the next.She took a sip of wine and then raised her glass, inviting them all to join in.
Pere followed suit and watched as her mother’s expression softened.“Edwin is coming home!”
Pere’s brows puckered, but she toasted, noting the expressions of Anna and Henley.Both were slightly confused but nothing more.“Cheers.”
“That is certainly of note.”Henley spoke after he took a sip of wine.“Where has my brother been as of late?”
Lady Devon ran headlong into a litany of information regarding their elder brother, Edwin.Pere listened, ignoring the way her heart ached at the way her mother had memorized the smallest detail of her brother’s letters, but hadn’t once asked about her season, or any detail regarding her own life.She didn’t want to be jealous, but it was nearly impossible not to feel slighted as the conversation carried on.
“Clearly, you are delighted to be expecting him so soon, and maybe we can add to that air of expectation?”Henley changed the subject, raising his own glass.
Pere bit back a laugh as her mother lifted her glass, confusion puckering her brow, as if she utterly forgot that Henley had his own announcement to make.
Good Lord, had it always been this apparent?The blatant favoritism?How had she endured?Or perhaps, since she had distance from her mother since practically living with Henley and Anna, it brought it all into sharp relief.
“There is to be an heir to your family’s title, Mother.And you will get a new title, grandmother.”Henley clinked his glass with a blushing Anna, as she cautiously glanced to her mother-in-law.
Lady Allendale blinked, frowned, and then quickly schooled her features.“I suppose I’m a little young to take on such a title… but if I must.”She gave a delicate shrug to her shoulders and took a small sip.
Pere blinked.
That was all the reaction she could give?She looked to Anna, who took a sip of water, her eyes wide and also giving an expression that somehow readI knew it.Henley’s brows furrowed with irritation at her dismissive reaction, and he glanced first to Anna, then to Pere.
Somethings never changed, Pere supposed, and with a shrug, she glanced heavenward and then back to Henley, who arched a dark brow, and then began speaking of the weather.
And they carried on in that same vein of topics that meant nothing, carried no weight, and couldn’t be held against them.As the dinner ended, Pere couldn’t escape her home quickly enough.She had toyed with the idea of staying in her room, but no.She wanted to be surrounded by her family.
Henley, Anna, and their soon-to-be little one.
That was her family.
Not the woman who loved only those she favored.
And ignored the rest.
She paused on the stone steps outside, the night air cool against her flushed cheeks.Somewhere in the distance, a nightingale called—mocking, perhaps, the hollow echo of a house that had once been home.Pere straightened her spine.Let Edwin return.Let her mother cling to ghosts.She had a niece or nephew to spoil, a plan to reform, and a certain marquess to forget.
Though the puzzle piece still fit, warm and infuriating, in the corner of her mind.
