Lady Carroway rose to greet them, offering many enthused greetings and kisses on the cheek to the ladies among their party. Lord Carroway himself and his two eldest sons were present, along with Albert, and the group was introduced all around. Dora did not miss the fact that she was seated directly next to Albert and his mother, near the foot of the table. Vanessa had been seated closer to the head, just next to Auntie Frances and across from Albert’s two older brothers, which must have delighted Dora’s aunt.
“Oh, please do tell me how your work with my son has been going, Miss Ettings,” Lady Carroway asked Dora, not very long after the soup had been brought out. “I hear the two of you have been awfully busy.”
Albert coughed lightly into his hand. “I do not think that is a subject fit for dinner, Mother,” he warned quietly.
Lady Carroway waved him off. “We are near the foot of the table,” she said. “I am sure we can keep our voices down so as not to disturb anyone else.”
Dora frowned at this, forcing herself to focus on the moment at hand. I must somehow stick to proper subjects, she thought. “We have... been to many of the workhouses now,” she said slowly. “They are to be pitied, Lady Carroway, for certain. The children, in particular.”
“Oh yes,” Lady Carroway agreed sympathetically. “I am always so worried about the children. Our charity group runs an orphanage, you know, and I think it must be the most important of our work.”
“I know,” Dora told her, and this time she felt a genuine bit of warmth towards the woman. “I have been to the orphanage. And it is very important work. Would that all of the children in the workhouses were so well cared-for, Lady Carroway.”
Lady Carroway smiled at that. “Perhaps when you are married, Miss Ettings, you may see to sponsoring your own orphanage,” she suggested. “That would be a very worthy endeavour. I would be pleased to help you.” Albert’s mother could not help but glance at him as she said this, and he hunched his shoulders very slightly beneath her gaze.
“That is very generous of you, my lady,” Dora said. It was not difficult for her to keep a neutral tone, of course, but she thought that Albert looked most uncomfortable now, and so she changed the subject. “Perhaps I will fill the orphanage with flowers,” she added. “I do love flowers. I think that I would fill the place with fresh lavender, when I could get it. Do you have a favourite flower, Lady Carroway?”
Albert’s mother winced minutely, but she kept her smile stubbornly in place. “Oh, I... I often cannot choose,” she said. “Lavender does sound nice.”
“Chrysanthemums have an even sweeter smell though, I find,” Dora continued. “Oh. Now I cannot seem to choose either. Do you think that I could put the two together, or would that be silly?”
Albert perked up slightly now, with a grin playing about his mouth. “But are the two even in season together, Miss Ettings?” he asked. “I confess, I do not know enough about flowers to say.”
Lady Carroway shot her son a dirty look, but Dora pretended not to notice. “Oh dear, Mr Lowe,” Dora said. “I believe you’re right. Chrysanthemums blossom later in the year than lavender. Now I really must choose one or the other, and I do not like to choose.”
Albert’s mother looked desperate now to change the subject again. But before she could interject to do so, a footman stepped into the dining room and cleared his throat. “Lord Elias Wilder, for Mr Albert Lowe,” the servant informed them.
Lady Carroway’s mouth dropped. “What, in the middle of dinner?” she demanded. “Why on earth would you let him in, Chalmers? You must tell him we are already entertaining!”
“The warmth of your welcome remains unparalleled, Lady Carroway,” Elias said dryly. He had already swept past the footman into the dining room. Elias was dressed much the same as he had been when Dora had last seen him—and though his clothing was clean, Dora could not help but notice how drawn and tired his face appeared.
“Your business surely must wait,” Lady Carroway told Elias, with a narrow-eyed gaze.
“Nonsense!” This interjection came from the head of the table, where Lord Carroway currently sat. He got to his feet and crossed towards Elias. “I have told Chalmers that the Lord Sorcier is always welcome in our home, dear,” Lord Carroway addressed his wife. “He has done our family enough service that he should never be treated as a stranger.”
Elias bowed his head slightly towards the viscount in acknowledgement. “I will surely wear out that welcome any day now,” he said. “But if you are mad enough to accept me, then I shall not protest.”
Lord Carroway chuckled warmly at this and clasped Elias by the arm. “Come, come,” he said. “Have a seat at the table, magician.”
Elias shook his head. “I am in the middle of business,” he said. “I require Albert’s help—”
“But you have that look about you,” Lord Carroway observed. “You have had your head in your books and forgotten to eat, haven’t you? Lady Carroway would have my head if you left without something in your stomach.”
Albert’s mother narrowed her eyes at that. She had surely been meaning to protest that they hadn’t set a place at the table, that they hadn’t prepared for an extra guest, that it was all a terrible inconvenience upon her—but she didn’t dare to contradict her husband in mixed company. Rather, she stayed silent, unwilling to voice her sentiments one way or another.
“Please have a seat, by all means,” Lord Carroway said. “Once we’ve eaten, perhaps you and Albert may retire to a study. Chalmers! Go tell someone to set an extra place at the table for the Lord Sorcier.”
Elias arched a weary brow. “As you wish,
