“I am not sure,” Henrietta replied. “But if I disappear, I want you to ask a lot of questions.”
“Where would you disappear to?”
“I have no idea, but it won’t be by my choice.”
“You believe your mother would send you away?” Abigail asked as she walked over to the armoire.
“I am not ruling it out.”
Abigail removed a white gown from the armoire and moved to drape it over the back of the settee. “Your mother loves you.”
“She does, but she might banish me to the attic.”
“Where the servants live?”
Henrietta gasped. “What if she makes me work as a maid?”
Abigail shook her head. “If you hadn’t just woken up, I would wonder if you were inebriated,” she said. “Your imagination is running away with you.”
“I wish you would credit my feelings.”
“I’m afraid you are acting rather irrationally at the moment.”
Henrietta tossed off her covers and placed her feet on the floor beside the bed. “I must admit that I am anxious about seeing my parents.”
“Why is that?”
“I had been expecting them to yell at me after I told them what happened at Hyde Park, but instead, I was met with silence.”
“Why would they yell at you?” Abigail asked. “You were upended off your horse and could have been seriously injured.”
“But I wasn’t.”
Abigail walked over to the dressing table chair. “I contend that your parents were just worried about your wellbeing.”
“Perhaps.” Henrietta rose and went to sit in the chair. “I can handle their anger, but the silence is unnerving me.”
Abigail removed the curling papers in her hair and reached for the brush. “I daresay you are overthinking this.”
“I suppose you are right,” Henrietta said as she retreated to her own thoughts.
It wasn’t long before her hair was neatly coiffed and she was dressed in a morning gown. As she departed from her bedchamber, she descended the stairs and headed towards the breakfast parlor. She felt dread with each step, but she knew she needed to get this over with.
Bringing a smile to her face, she entered the parlor and greeted her parents. “Good morning,” she said.
Her father huffed. “What is so good about it?” he asked, sitting at the head of the table.
Henrietta walked over to the buffet table and accepted a plate from a footman. After she served herself eggs and toast, she walked over to the table and sat across from her mother. A footman promptly came over and placed a cup of chocolate in front of her.
Her mother spoke up. “How did you sleep, dear?”
“I slept well,” Henrietta replied.
“I am glad to hear that,” her mother said. “Your father and I were hoping to speak to you about what transpired in Hyde Park yesterday.”
“I assumed as much.”
Her mother reached for the morning newspaper and held it up. “I’m afraid to say that you are ruined, since your fall made the paper.” Her voice may have been stern, but she detected a hint of compassion.
