“We warned you, my lord. Last chance to change your mind,” Emma said with a laugh.
“And have you think me a coward?” Graham declared boldly. Emma enjoyed the ease which had developed between her and the man, though Lord Orson was looking daggers at his friend. “Bring the order as Lady Emma has stated it,” Graham instructed the waiting footman, “with appropriate vegetables and choice of wine.”
“Absolutely, my lord.” The man disappeared.
“Did we learn any more of the three men you captured?” she asked softly so others in the room could not overhear.
“They swear they do not know Lord Davidson,” Lord Orson said with equal quietness.
“I was thinking,” Emma said, “we should again spend time exchanging what you know and what I have recalled. Such was our task for today,” she said with a blush.
Lord Graham said, “I agree. Yet, it is likely best if we wait until after our supper when we can speak more discreetly. For now, let us simply enjoy each other’s company.”
“Agreed,” Lord Orson added.
“Agreed.” Emma noted the return of the footman. “I believe our first course has arrived.”
Though it wasdark, after the meal, they decided to take a walk across to Grosvenor Square, where they claimed a bench for the ladies while the gentlemen remained standing.
“I am assuming Lord Graham has spoken to you of my recent memories, my lord.” Emma said.
“I know of your mother’s lilies, of an as-yet-unexplained reason for your lady’s maid to disapprove of someone of your staff while you were touring the Tower of London, and of your reliving the beating you took, likely at the hands of someone you know. Is there anything else?”
Graham said, “Lady Emma also recalled sharing a meal in her kitchen with her staff.”
“Oh, my dear girl,” Mrs. Ottoway said. “You must always be the mistress of the house. Though you may wish for their friendship, there is a line which must be maintained in those situations.”
“Yes, I have been kindly reminded of my duties by Lord Graham,” Emma admitted. “Mr. Palmer was quite adamant and demanded my return above stairs.”
Mrs. Ottoway frowned. “It is not the butler’s duty to reprimand the mistress of the house, especially before the other servants. Butlers are often called upon to assist a young man who has assumed a peerage or a wealthy gentleman with an estate, but it would seem to me that the housekeeper shouldhave been the one who assisted you after your governess’s leave taking. At the most, the butler should have ordered the servants to return to their duties. He should never be reprimanding you before the rest of the servants. Did you never consider releasing him?”
“Mr. Palmer served in my mother’s family home before coming to Donoghue House. Lady Donoghue asked him personally to set up her Town residence, though, in the end, she has never lived at Donoghue House, for my father was called up to duty to the British government before they could settle within for even one London season. I was barely one when we left for Europe. I have a half-sister who remains in England.”
“Half-sister?” Lords Orson and Graham asked together.
Orson continued, “I have never heard of another child.”
“You would not,” Emma assured with a shrug indicating her embarrassment. “For many years, I was not made aware of her. My mother was married just a little over a year to an older gentleman, who died when he fell upon the steps of his home and broke his neck.”
“Was Mr. Palmer part of the household for Lady Donoghue’s parents’ home or her late husband’s home?” Orson asked with a frown.
“In truth, I do not believe anyone has ever said,” Emma admitted, “though I assumed it was for my maternal grandparents. Does it matter? As quickly as she was out of her widow’s weeds, my mother married my father. Yet, now that I think upon it, their marriage would have come during her half mourning. Perhaps such is why they so soon decided to travel to Europe. Anyway, I did not take Mr. Palmer’s acquaintance until I arrived in England from the Netherlands, along with my governess.”
“Where is this other daughter now? Have you made her acquaintance?” Lord Graham asked.
“I did so less than two years prior. Actually, in the beginning, we were often in company with other women who you have seen with me before White’s, my lords,” Emma shared. “It took her some time before she introduced herself to me and made the proper connection to our lives.”
Orson asked, “Is your sister, perhaps, Miss Babbington?”
“Yes. See you do know her,” Emma declared. “Though I do not think we appear anything alike. Did you learn her name when you learned mine?” she asked, hoping he would deny doing so. Emma did not want the man interested in another, even if it was her sister.
“Not exactly,” his lordship confessed. “On Saturday, before I traveled to Buckinghamshire, Lady Theodora and I called in at the office where your friends were printing their latest newsprint.”
“Why?” Emma asked in confusion.
“I had received Lord Graham’s message regarding the yellow lilies and had found them no longer in your garden. I thought, perhaps, your friends might know of someone who had threatened you. So, Theodora and I called upon them. I was set on seeing you restored to your former self.”
“How did you know where to find them?” Emma inquired. “They do not speak of the place to others.”
