“At Amberhall,” Thalia said proudly, sitting a little straighter.
The excitement in her voice was unmistakable.
“I have decided that Society is exhausting,” she continued with a dramatic roll of her eyes.
“That does sound like you,” Seraphine replied, unable to suppress a smile.
“So Caspian and I are gathering a few friends instead. You must come,” Thalia said gleefully.
Seraphine immediately became suspicious. She folded her arms and regarded her friend carefully. “A few friends?” she asked.
“Yes,” Thalia replied with an innocent expression that fooled absolutely no one.
“How many is a few?” Seraphine pressed.
Thalia hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. “Forty or fifty,” she admitted.
Seraphine laughed outright and shook her head. “That is not a few people,” she said.
Forty or fifty guests was actually a respectable number. Certainly enough to begin searching for a husband. More importantly, it would remove her from William's company. That benefit alone was almost enough to secure her acceptance.
Looking up at her friend, she smiled genuinely. “I would love to come,” she said warmly.
Thalia immediately clapped her hands together in delight. “Excellent,” she declared with a grin. “I knew you would.”
As Thalia launched into enthusiastic details, Seraphine found herself smiling more easily than she had all morning.
Perhaps the situation is not entirely hopeless after all.
Chapter Three
The journey to Amberhall Manor in the countryside proved far more pleasant than Seraphine had expected.
Lady Branson, a longtime friend of the family, and her daughters had happily welcomed her into their carriage, and by the time the estate came into view, all four ladies were thoroughly engaged in discussing the upcoming house party.
“I heard there will be a boating competition,” Hannah Branson said excitedly as she peered through the carriage window.
Katherine laughed. “And I heard Lord Ashbury intends to embarrass himself at archery again.”
“He does that every year,” Lady Branson agreed. “One wonders why he continues attempting it.”
“Hope springs eternal,” Seraphine said with a smile.
The women laughed. The atmosphere inside the carriage was warm and genuinely jolly. It was such a welcome change from Donmere House that Seraphine felt relaxed for the first time in days.
Outside, Amberhall Manor emerged from the rolling countryside.
The sprawling estate sat atop a gentle rise, constructed from pale stone that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. Gardens stretched in every direction. Guests and servants moved about the front drive in organized chaos as carriage after carriage arrived.
Hannah pressed her face closer to the carriage window as Amberhall Manor came fully into view and clasped her hands together in delight.
“Oh, look at all the people!” she exclaimed, watching the steady stream of arriving guests and servants moving across the front drive.
Seraphine leaned slightly to look past her and took in the bustling scene. Carriages lined the sweeping approach, footmen hurried between arrivals, and elegant ladies in travelling gowns were already ascending the grand steps. “A mere forty or fifty guests,” she said solemnly, though the corners of her mouth twitched with amusement.
Lady Branson laughed outright and shook her head at her. “You have spent too much time with the Duchess,” she said, adjustingher gloves. “Only the Duchess of Amberhall could describe fifty guests as an intimate gathering.”
The carriage rolled smoothly to a stop before the grand entrance, and immediately several footmen stepped forward with practiced efficiency. Excitement rippled through the carriage as the ladies gathered reticules, gloves, and shawls.
