And Violet could see every detail before her sister even came near. Absolutely miraculous.
“What is that dreadful contraption on your face?” Rose asked. Lady Tact.
“See, Mum?”
“You look fine,” Lily said. Her gown was a sunny yellow and quite lovely, too. It had a square neckline and a nutmeg-colored underskirt embroidered with yellow daisies.
“I don’t care how I look,” Violet told them all. “Only that I can see.” She turned to her mother. “When will my own new gowns be fitted?”
“Since when do you care about clothes?” Rose asked.
But Mum just beamed. “Tomorrow. I shall send a note to the seamstress forthwith.”
“Excellent,” Rose said. “And I’ll take Rowan to Lakefield tomorrow, since Violet will be busy.”
Last week, Violet would have been relieved to hear that. But now she was just annoyed.
“That won’t be necessary,” Mum said. “Violet can be fitted in the morning while Rowan has his lessons. She’ll be free by afternoon.”
Rose’s pout was so well done, it could earn her a leading role at the Theatre Royal.
“Lord Lakefield said he would take us to the village for Jewel’s birthday tomorrow,” Rowan informed them. “Jewel has a lot of coins. May I try the spectacles?”
“If you’re careful.” When Violet gingerly removed them, her world went blurry. She handed them to her brother, and he slipped them on.
“I cannot see,” he said, scrunching up his nose and squinting through the lenses.
“Well, of course not. They’re for bad eyes, and your eyes are good.”
“Let me see,” Lily said. Rowan handed over the spectacles, and she held them up to her face. “Goodness, Violet, your eyes must be really bad.”
“Let me see,” Rose said, grabbing for them.
“Careful!” The metal frames were thin, and Violet didn’t want her new treasure broken.
“I won’t hurt them.” Rose slid them onto her face, then gasped. “Is this what things look like to you?”
“Probably. But not anymore.” She took the eyeglasses from Rose and happily settled them back in place, sighing as her view of the family cleared. “I don’t care what I look like,” she said again. “It’s just so wonderful to see.”
“Truly, you look fine,” Lily said kindly. “The spectacles suit your face somehow.”
Violet didn’t believe her, but she really didn’t care.
“Truly,” Lily repeated, and when she smiled, her teeth looked whiter and straighter than Violet remembered. “It was thoughtful of Lord Lakefield to make them, wasn’t it? He must be a very nice gentleman.”
“And handsome,” Rose added.
Violet gave an unladylike snort. “I thought you found him lanky.”
“He is lanky. Still and all, he’s handsome enough.”
For the second time in ten minutes, Violet rolled her eyes. It felt different behind the lenses.
Everything felt different.
“May Jewel come for supper?” Rowan asked.
Mum patted her son on the head. “A grand idea. We’ll send an invitation immediately. We all owe Lord Lakefield thanks for restoring Violet’s vision.”
“Eh?” her husband asked. “Did you say something about a decision?”
Mum set her hand on his arm. “I said vision, darling.”
“Hmmph,” he muttered half to himself as he plucked a dead head off a hollyhock plant. “The man of the house is traditionally involved in decisions.”
SEVENTEEN
FORD RECLINED in in elegantly carved chair at the Ashcrofts’ polished mahogany table, fighting the urge to pat his stomach. The supper had been exquisite, especially compared to the plain fare Hilda usually served.
“Thank you kindly for the invitation,” he told Lord Trentingham.
“Imitation?” The earl cocked his head. “It wasn’t common chicken,” he said, not unkindly. “The partridges in that fricassee were hunted today.”
“Darling,” Lady Trentingham said loudly, laying graceful fingers on her husband’s arm. Eschewing convention, she sat beside her husband rather than at the other end of the table. “Lord Lakefield was thanking you for inviting him to dine.”
“Yes,” Ford all but bellowed, since he was at the other end of the table, “it was quite a treat to spend an evening in the company of all your beautiful ladies.”
He couldn’t help but notice that Rose practically purred. “You’re quite welcome—” she began.
“Thank you for making my spectacles,” Violet interrupted. Her mother had seated her next to him. “This is the most wonderful thing anyone’s ever done for me,” she added, the words clearly from her heart.
Candlelight from the silver branches on the table glinted off the lenses shielding her eyes. “It was nothing,” he told her, meaning it. He’d made the eyeglasses as an experiment—to see if he could devise a lens to help her see her daily world as the telescope had helped her see the stars. He was pleased his idea had proven workable, and her happiness was an unexpected bonus.
Unexpected and more pleasing than he ever would have imagined.
As another experiment, he offered her his most charming smile, then dropped his gaze to her lips. When her cheeks flushed fetchingly pink, he was certain she was remembering their kiss.
Hmm. Perhaps he ought to continue this line of investigation. It could very well lead somewhere interesting.
He’d just have to be careful not to let it distract him…
“Are you finished, milord?”
“Pardon? Oh. Yes.” He cleared his throat and shifted to allow the maid to remove his plate. Was she Daphne or Dolly? He liked the way Lady Trentingham addressed servants like they mattered to her, and talked to them instead of just ordering them around, and listened to what they had to say. It was both unusual and admirable, and he was attempting to do the same. But the Ashcrofts seemed to have so many. He couldn’t remember this one’s name.
“Would you care for tea now, milord?”
“Um, yes. Please,” he said, feeling more and more like a half-wit. Darla? Was she Darla?
Some impression he must be making on Violet’s family. And though he hadn’t yet analyzed why, he did want to make a good impression.
They were neighbors, after all.
“Everything tasted so good,” Jewel said as another maid whisked away her empty Delftware plate.
Lady Trentingham smiled at his niece. “We’re glad you enjoyed it, sweetheart.”
In fact, Jewel had all but licked her
