Today's Reading
Alice moved next to her twin. "Eleanor, are you all right?"
Her face was pale but determined. "I am fine."
Alice was about to suggest they question the boy, but Eleanor shook her head.
Jemmy, her groom, rode up. "That weren't no accident, my lady. He was standing quiet until he saw you."
"Thank you, Jemmy. You have confirmed my thoughts. Come, Adela, let's go home," Eleanor spoke to her horse.
Why would anyone want to scare Eleanor? They wasted no time getting home. As soon as they reached Worthington House, their grooms came to take the mares.
"Good morning."
Alice was glad to see Charlotte and Louisa strolling toward the house holding their older children's hands. Charlotte, Louisa, Dotty, and Grace all had children in the five-year-old range.
"You must be joining us for breakfast." Alice hugged the children.
"We're going to spend the day with Gideon and Elizabeth," Constance, Charlotte's daughter, named Matt and Grace's elder children.
Constance took Alice's hand. "We want to see Posy and Zeus too."
Posy and Zeus were Great Danes. Matt brought home Zeus after Duke had died and then Daisy died a year later, and Posy came to live with them. Yet, while Duke and Daisy had spent most of their time with Alice, Eleanor, and Madeline, Zeus and Posy belonged more to Elizabeth and Gideon. When they weren't trying to guard Edward and Gaia, Grace's eighteen-month-old twins, from bath time that was.
Alice made her way to her chamber. She, Eleanor, and Madeline had received separate bedchambers and shared a parlor that had been named The Young Ladies Parlor.
Bertram, Alice's maid, was supervising the filling of the bathtub when Alice entered her bedroom. "Thank you. We have family joining us for breakfast."
"So I was told." Bertram tested the heat of the bathwater then turned toward the footman. "Thank you. This is perfect." Once they'd left, she helped Alice out of her riding habit. "It will only get busier from here."
Alice sank into the tub. "Very true." She considered telling her dresser about the gentlemen, but what was there to say? That they had different shades of red hair and looked to be gentlemen? She washed and stood to be rinsed. "I am looking forward to our first entertainments. Have you heard anything about our brothers or Lady Phinn arriving?"
"Master Walter and Master Phillip will be here for Easter. I'm sorry, my lady. I have been told nothing about Lord Stanwood or Lady Phineas."
Alice tried not to be disappointed. They had promised to be here, and they would be. She just wished she knew when they would arrive.
She gained in the corridor a second before her sisters. Suddenly, there were squeals of delight from the hall. It had to be them! And just in time! She exchanged quick looks with Eleanor and Madeline, and they rushed down the stairs.
CHAPTER TWO
Alice stood back as the younger members of the family greeted Augusta, Phinn, and Charlie. Elizabeth had been a year old, and Gideon had been two when they left. But Grace and Alice's other brothers and sisters had read their letters to the children. Their sisters Theo, now fourteen, and Mary, eleven, were hugging the prodigals. Augusta's Great Dane waited patiently to be acknowledged. Alice vaguely remembered the dog being mentioned in one of her sister's letters.
Mary pointed at the Dane. "Whose dog is that and what is its name?"
"This is Minerva." Augusta indicated a box on the floor. "Etienne is in there. We found them in Vienna. Minerva's original owner died, and Phinn bought Etienne for me."
"It was one of my attempts to get her to marry me." Phinn smiled ruefully.
He had followed her to Europe when she went to travel with cousins.
"We are very happy to have you all back home." Grace exchanged a glance with Matt, who was smiling broadly.
"And in good time too," Matt said as he started walking toward the breakfast room. "Will you stay with us, or have you made other arrangements?"
Augusta tucked her hand in the crook of her husband's arm. "Charlie has asked us to reside with him for the Season."
"How did you all manage to arrive at the same time?" Eleanor asked.
Charlie held Grace's chair then sat on her right. "I was in Spain when I ran into them on their way home. I decided it was time for me to return as well."
...
