A Lady Never Tells(115)
Mary handed the letter to Rose, who read it with Lily and Camellia leaning over her shoulders.
“It doesn’t say when it’s written—I mean, not the year, only the day and month,” Rose pointed out.
“I know.” Mary nodded. “The return address is Littleboro, Maryland. I remember living there. Papa opened a school. We moved when I was seven or so.”
“What else is in there?”
Mary looked down at the case in her lap. “It’s a letter, several letters, in fact, from someone in Baltimore. He seems to be a solicitor.” She thumbed through them. “He is corresponding with Lord Reginald about a search for Mr. Miles Bascombe. Here he says that he has gone to Littleboro, and he itemizes the expenses he incurred. This is the final letter. It is dated July 10, 1806. He says he cannot locate our father and his family in Littleboro, Maryland, or any of the surrounding towns. ‘I cannot in good conscience,’” Mary read, “‘continue to accept your fees for my services, as I am unable to fulfill your wishes.’”
Mary looked around at her sisters. It felt as though something had lightened in her chest.
“Our grandfather was looking for us?” Lily asked.
“Of course he was!” Charlotte beamed. “I knew he could not have remained stiff and unbending all that time. Grandfather was not a bad man.”
“But he waited too long to write Papa, and by then we were gone.” Tears pricked at Mary’s eyelids. “He tried to contact us. He wanted to know us.”
“Maybe he would even have wanted us to come here,” Lily offered.
Mary nodded. “For the first time, I feel a bit as if we belong here.”
With a choked noise, Charlotte leaned over to hug Mary. “Of course you do. You have always belonged here.”
Chapter 21
Lady Sabrina’s dinner party was two nights later, and the entire group at Willowmere attended. Mary was relieved to learn that Royce and Fritz would be riding their horses. She had spent the better part of two days avoiding Royce, and the last thing she wanted was to be closed up in a carriage with him. She could tell, from the frequent glances Royce sent her way, that he wanted to talk to her again. Mary had little doubt that he intended to again press her to marry him—which was precisely why she made sure to seat herself between two of her sisters every evening in the drawing room after supper.#p#分页标题#e#
Tonight the sisters wore their finest evening dresses, eager to show them off to Lady Sabrina. Lily could hardly sit still, but kept shifting in her seat and leaning over to twitch aside the carriage curtains and glance outside.
“Honestly, Lily,” Camellia grumbled the fourth time Lily did so. “It’s too dark to see anything out there anyway.”
“I know. I keep hoping we’ll see the lights of Halstead House soon. How long do you think it takes to reach it?”
Charlotte smiled patiently. “It won’t be long, I’m sure.”
The next time Lily reached over to take a peek, she let out a little squeal. “There it is! It’s grand.”
The other girls now shot to the windows to get a glimpse. Halstead House, ablaze with lights for its visitors, was indeed a great mansion, almost equal in size to Willowmere and far statelier in appearance—though to Mary’s mind it lacked Willowmere’s more haphazard charm. Made of dark gray stone, it was built in a perfectly symmetrical E, and the lawn in front of it was laid out with the same precision, walkways crossing it in a perfect X, a single walk bisecting it from the curved drive to the front door. Liveried footmen stood on either side of the entrance, and one sprang forward to open the carriage door while the other opened the front door for them, bowing as they passed.
They were shown by the butler through a grand entry, two stories tall and floored in black and white marble, to an anteroom decorated in cool sea green and white. Lady Sabrina, serene and cool in ice blue, a choker of large white pearls around her neck, awaited them upon a bench in the center of the room. Several feet away stood Lady Vivian, vivid in a dark gold dress that showed off her milk-white shoulders and elegant swanlike neck, chatting animatedly to a slightly stoop-shouldered older gentleman with graying hair.
Sabrina’s eyes opened wide when Mary and her sisters entered the room. She rose with liquid grace, coming forward to greet them. “My dears, how absolutely lovely you look.” She shook her head as she clasped Mary’s hand between hers, leaning forward confidingly. “Isn’t it amazing what a London frock will do for one?”
Warmly she greeted the girls by name, then turned to the others. “Charlotte, Fitz, I am so glad you and our dear Vivian were able to come up so soon. And Royce …” She smiled slowly. “I am delighted you decided to join us.” She held out her hand and he bowed over it, then released it, stepping back and turning toward Vivian and the older man as they approached the guests.