Louisa gave her sister a grateful look. “That is what we must decide. I seriously doubt if Matt would allow us to live elsewhere.”
“I don’t understand.” Theo frowned. “Why does anyone have to leave?”
“If Mama marries Lord Wolverton, she will wish to live with her husband, and he has his own estate. You know, like Cousin Jane moved to a house with her new husband, and Dotty is living with Merton.”
“Oh.” Theo drew out the word, then fell silent.
Mary held Theo’s hand. “But we all want to stay together.”
The tension in the room increased as the younger children exchanged nervous glances.
Charlotte cleared her throat. “Louisa and I have some ideas we would like to present to you. . . .”
In an amazingly short period of time, as far as Louisa was concerned, and with some changes to the original plan, a workable strategy had developed. “Theo, you are the youngest of the four of us; this will affect you the most.”
The little girl nodded. “I want Mama to be happy.”
Tears pricked Louisa’s eyes as she regarded her sister. “We all do.”
Just then, May, Charlotte’s lady’s maid, burst into the room. “Her ladyship’s gone to see Lady Worthington.”
“And that is the crux of the matter,” Louisa said under her breath. “When I marry I shall make sure my settlements give me more autonomy when my husband dies.”
“Thank you, May.” Charlotte glanced at Louisa. “Everything seems to be settled.”
“Yes.” Turning, she addressed the other children. “I have a feeling we shall be summoned very soon.”
* * *
Patience sat on one of two sofas flanking the fireplace in her daughter-in-law’s study. After weeping until she had no more tears, she had finally decided to seek help. If Grace could not think of something, then Patience’s love for Richard and his love for her was most likely a lost cause. “I simply do not know what to do. It is as if I am being torn asunder, and I cannot think of a way to make it all work.”
“You love him a great deal,” Grace said as she poured tea, and handed Patience a cup.
She took it gratefully. Some turned to spirits or laudanum when upset; she had always found tea to be of superior comfort when difficulties, or in this case, disasters, arose. “Yes, but I love my daughters as well, and Matt will never allow them to leave his control.”
“No. He will not,” Grace said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Although I am not technically a mother myself, I do understand, and I have been giving your situation some thought. I believe there is a solution. It is not perfect, but it might answer.”
Patience stared down at her cup for a moment. At this point, she would consider anything. “Go ahead.”
“The idea came to me when Charlie was home. We had never been separated before I sent him to school. It was difficult at first, but we soon became used to seeing him only on holidays. Before too long, the other boys will go to school as well.” Grace paused, and Patience nodded. “If we put our heads together, I’m sure we could come up with a scheme where the girls will visit you and you will visit the girls, just as the boys will see us on their holidays.”
Patience drained her teacup, then poured another cup. “That might work.”
“Let us discover what the children have to say. After all, they are the ones who will be most affected by any change.”
Part of her desperately hoped her girls would not want her to leave at all, and the other part wanted them not to mind so very much. Yet, at the end of the day, all she wanted was for them to be happy. All of them, she and Richard included. “Very well. Let us do as you propose.”
Grace glanced at the mantel before tugging the bellpull. A few moments later Benson, her butler, appeared. “Yes, my lady.”
“Please have the children attend us.”
“Right away, my lady. I believe they are all still in the schoolroom.”
A few minutes after he left, footsteps echoed from the floors above. It never ceased to amaze Patience how well run this house was. She folded her hands in her lap and waited. A few moments later, a knock came on the door. Louisa and Charlotte entered.
Louisa glanced at Patience, then Grace. “Benson said you wished to see us.”
Grace indicated the chairs next to the sofas. “We do, but we shall wait for the others before we explain.”
