Ruby had to pause to absorb this news. Tamsin’s departure from her parents’ home to live with her topsy-turvy aunt two years prior had been a profound relief to everyone involved. Tamsin organized Frankie’s very existence, and in return, Frankie had given Tamsin a place to thrive.
Ruby’s heart squeezed as she looked at Tamsin, tall and bold and perhaps not quite so certain as she always seemed.
“Frankie invited me to go with her,” Tamsin went on. “Only—well, she’ll be married, of course. And she doesn’t—” Tamsin’s voice wobbled, just a little, which made her scowl. “She won’t need me now.”
Alice put her hand on Tamsin’s elbow. “Oh, dearest. She’ll still need you. Nothing could possibly change that.”
“I’mhappyfor her,” Tamsin said fiercely.
Alice’s eyes were as gentle as her grip on Tamsin’s arm. “Of course you are.”
“We know you are,” Ruby agreed. “You can be happy for Frankie and worry about your own place in the world at the same time. That doesn’t make you wrong, Tam, only human.” But something Tamsin had said tickled the back of her mind. “Did you say... did you say that Frankie is movinghome?”
Some of the tension seemed to drain away from Tamsin’s face. One corner of her mouth quirked up, her expression growing more decided. “I did. Yes.”
Alice looked between them. “What do you mean? Why does Tam suddenly look so smug?”
“Because the Drake family estate,” Ruby said, “is also in Cornwall.”
Tamsin nodded, crooked smile still fixed on her mouth. “Your father will never in a hundred years agree to let you go to Pomeroy House. I’m sorry, Ruby, but the man doesn’t deserve a tenth of your devotion.”
Ruby felt a clutch in her chest at Tamsin’s words—her father wasn’tsobad—but Tamsin wasn’t done talking.
“But hewilllet you stay with Aunt Frankie. She’s to be the Countess of Bridestowe now—your father will love that. I propose that you don’t mention Pomeroy House to him at all. As far as your father need know, you’re staying with Frankie and her new husband at the Bridestowe estate for the summer. Cornwall is far enough away that he’ll never suspect anything’s amiss.”
Yes.That was the solution to the problem of Ruby’s father. Trust Tamsin to come to it instantly.
The vision flashed in Ruby’s mind again. The elegant mansion the papers had described. Cornwall, all fogged beaches and sea villages and stars. Nature for Alice; independence for Tamsin.
And for herself, freedom from judgment.
A summer. A single, golden summer, in which they could live as they pleased, without expectation or disappointment. Without anyone telling them they were wrong simply for being themselves.
It was a good plan. An excellent, logical,flawlessplan. Tamsin was a genius.
“We can do this,” Ruby said. “We can take ourselves to Pomeroy House. We can live as we please there.”
“As ladies-in-waiting for the princess,” Alice murmured.
“But not truly waiting,” Ruby said. She flexed her fingers at her sides, stretching them within her gloves. “I’m done waiting for my life to begin.”
She was done looking for approval she was never going to find. She was altogether finished with trying to make herself into someone she could never be. She was Ruby Ballimore. She had a knowledge of antiquities, an eye for color, a passion for classical design. She had the two most loving, loyal friends in the entire world.
She had ruined her life.
And she was going to make a new one in Cornwall.
Chapter 3
There were sixteen casks of Rhenish wine in the Pomeroy House kitchen, which, frankly, was sixteen more than Archer had been expecting.
“For fuck’s sake,” he said, “how did you even carry them all?”
Lamentation had his arms crossed over his chest and an expression on his face that read,Criminally underappreciated. “You said to bring the wine up from the cove after Oliphant’s crew dropped it off. Which we did. From four o’clock in the morning until noon.”
“It’s not noon. It’s ten.”
Lamentation’s scowl deepened. “Oh, I’m sorry, Cap. Gerry and I have only been at this thankless task forsixhours and not eight. My mistake.”
