“What did you think of Lord Peverell and his sister,Rebecca?” she asked.
Her daughter screwed up her little face as if thinking tookmuch effort.
“He’s tall,” she said at last. “And she’s pretty. She lookslike Esmeralda.”
Esmeralda was the latest favorite doll, with flaxen curlsand wide eyes painted on her wooden head. She did resemble Rob’s sister a bit.
“And why did you ask him about being a father?” Hesterpressed.
Rebecca hopped over a crack in the pavement. “I want afather. Everyone else has one.”
“Not everyone,” Hester allowed as they turned onto the sidestreet that led to her mother’s home. “Your uncle Lark, aunt Rosemary and Ispent most of our growing up years without a father.”
“I still want one,” Rebecca informed her. “So does Jimmy.”
“Jimmy has a father,” Hester said. “He had to go toPortsmouth for work. He’ll be back before Christmas.”
“Well, maybe mine can come back then too,” Rebecca said.
Hester’s heart twisted in her chest. “Your father won’t becoming back. We’ve talked about this.”
Rebecca sighed as if she remembered the conversation andstill didn’t like it. “Then maybe Lord Peverell could be my father,” she said.
Oh, no. Hester girded herself to explain why Rob Peverell couldnot be her daughter’s father, but Rebecca gave an extra tug on her hand. “Look,Mama! That’s Lady Miranda’s carriage.”
The Earl of Howland’s coach was indeed standing in front ofher mother’s home. Lacquered to a high sheen, with four perfectly conformedhorses standing in the traces, the coach almost made the neat stone house lookshabby. Hester hurried Rebecca inside, removed their cloaks and bonnets, andleft them on the hall table. They found Rosemary, the earl, and his daughter,Lady Miranda, in the sitting room with Hester’s mother.
The earl was a tall fellow whose chiseled features and faircoloring made him resemble his cousin, their magistrate. He’d always looked abit melancholy to Hester, perhaps because of the death of his father earlier inthe year. Today it was as if a candle had been lit inside him, glowing and warm.
As Hester greeted him and her sister, Rebecca went straightto the other girl. “How is your crocodile?”
“Very well,” Lady Miranda, who was a few years older, toldher. “But we have something more important to tell you. Father is going tomarry Miss Denby.”
Hester stared at her sister. Pink spread over Rosemary’scheeks as she beamed at the earl. He gazed back at her as if she were the suncome out at the end of winter. Hester had seldom seen a man look so besotted.
“Oh, my dear, how delightful!” their mother cried, handsclasped before her butter-yellow gown. “I’d almost given up hope.” She enfoldedRosemary in a hug. The earl looked as if he were trying hard not to grin.
Hester didn’t try to hide it. The news was simply too wonderful.As their mother stepped back, she moved in to hug her sister in turn.
“I couldn’t be happier for you both,” she murmured againsther sister’s hair. “This exceeds all my expectations.”
“Then, perhaps,” Rosemary said as she disengaged, “your expectationsare too low.”
Hester tipped her head in wry acknowledgement, although hersister might not have made the claim if she’d seen Rob at the school today.Best to leave that discussion for another time.
The next little while was all about the happy couple, andeveryone was smiling by the time the trio left to announce their betrothal tothe earl’s family in Grace-by-the-Sea. Though some might say that five monthsafter his father’s death was too soon to marry, it was clear there was no real reasonto wait. Hester sent Rebecca up to the nursery, where Nurse Peters was waiting.
“How very satisfying to have one of you settled,”their mother said, perching on the sofa with a happy sigh as Hester came backinto the sitting room.
Hester refused to wince. “I am happily settled as well,Mother. I have Rebecca and the school. My life is full.”
Her mother cast her a doubtful look. For years she’d beenpushing eligible bachelors at Hester—from squires to those who had risenthrough trade. The wedding might prove an excuse to double her efforts. AndHester didn’t want to think what would happen once her mother heard about Rob’sgenerosity to the school.
Such a gift could not be kept quiet in the little village ofUpper Grace. Before the school day ended on Wednesday, the rector, the parents,and even her mother had stopped by to marvel. Hester became accustomed to theirwondering why, their suggestions on how to use thefunds. She was just thankful the news of Rosemary and the earl’s betrothalovershadowed the donation at the assembly Wednesday evening.
Grace-by-the-Sea hosted the weekly event in the rooms up thehill from the spa. Her sister-in-law, Jesslyn, served as hostess. Hester,Rosemary, and their mother hadn’t always attended, particularly when theweather was poor, but since her brother Lark had returned to the area thissummer, her mother had insisted on going every week, even when her brother’swork as Riding Surveyor took him along the coast.
“She’ll make a beautiful bride,” their mother commented asshe and Hester sat along their usual stretch of wall. “See? Even Lord Peverelllooks pleased for her.”
Hester smiled in agreement, trying not to glance in Rob’sdirection. She’d noticed him and his sister, standing with the spa set, as sheand her mother had entered. Few looked so well in evening black. If her gazekept straying in that direction, it was because of an appreciation for beauty.No different than what she felt when she gazed at a rosy sunset or viewed oneof her friend Abigail’s landscape paintings.
She purposely turned her back on him as the musicians tunedup for the opening dance. And there came her first partner, no doubt. Mr.Donner had arrived at the spa earlier this summer and stayed longer than anyonehad expected. Tall, dapper, with brown hair, elegant sideburns, and a solidchin, he had persisted in requesting her hand and Rosemary’s at theassemblies.
“Mrs. Todd,” he greeted her with a bow now, the silverbuttons on his dove grey coat catching the light.
