“You know my thoughts on marriage already. I would hate for you to go through the problems I had to endure, and would never want such a thing to happen at my expense, surely. This is why I am asking you to be more careful and avoid haste.”
“You are worrying for no reason. Elias Talbot is a very good man,” Temperance said. “He is kind and intelligent thus far. There is nothing being sacrificed.”
Albina looked at her daughter for a long moment.
“He is a very good man,” Albina agreed. “But you do not light up when you talk about him.”
“Oh, Mother. I am not living in a romance novel,” Temperance tried to dismiss.
“Sure, but I know you to be a passionate woman. I would expect you to act a little more enthused.”
Temperance considered this for a moment, but decided not to dwell on it too much.
“That,” Temperance said, “is not a reliable basis for a practical decision.”
“Perhaps not,” Albina agreed. “But it is a reliable indicator of what is actually happening, which is useful information regardless of what you decide to do with it.”
“Mother,” Temperance sighed, “I appreciate what you are saying but I want you to stop worrying about my side of this and trust that I know what I am doing.”
Albina looked at her for a moment longer. “All right,” she replied and let the subject rest.
Temperance let out a breath and looked across the garden to where Harper was sitting with his hands around his cup and his face turned up toward the sun with the unguarded quality of someone who had forgotten, for a moment, to be composed.
She looked away, and thankfully interrupted by the sound of Joseph running towards them. He had found a ball somewhere in the bushes and came back across the lawn at speed.
“Can we play?” he asked to the group generally but looked at his father specifically.
“Play what?” Harper replied raising an eyebrow.
“Something with the ball,” Joseph said. “It doesn’t matter what, just something. Please?”
“I’ll play,” Temperance said, and stood up before anyone could decide otherwise. “You should join us, Your Grace. It is a lovely afternoon after all. And Joseph is being so terribly well mannered. Don’t you think he deserves some fun? I know the word is foreign to you, but you try to have some.”
“Yes, Father. Please. It will be good.”
Harper looked at Temperance and set down his cup.
“Fine,” he said, and stood up.
Joseph’s face lit up as he turned and ran back onto the lawn before his father could change his mind.
It started simply enough. Joseph threw the ball and Temperance caught it, as games like this usually go. Harper stood at the edge of it for the first few minutes.
He would come in when he was ready and there was no use in pointing out that he was standing on the edge, Temperance knew this and decided not to prod him further.
Until Joseph threw the ball to his father, which he caught with effortless ease.
Temperance could only note how fast his reflexes were, and why... God knows why… that both flustered and impressed her.
“Throw it back,” Joseph urged.
Harper did, and their little game began as they passed the ball to each other.
“Quick,” Harper said, throwing it to Temperance, “I do not take you to be much of the sporty type.”
“Oh, you do not know me,” Temperance grinned, catching the ball. “There was an entire summer at the nunnery when we had nothing to do, and got ourselves into a possession of a ball. I might have learned a few tricks there.”
Before she knew it, she and Harper were passing the ball over to each other, each trying to out maneuver the other. But Peabodyintercepted the ball on its next throw, and then sat down with it between his front paws.
