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Elizabeth was completely dumbstruck. She’d never seen her siblings act this way. She liked to think that she’d managed to shoulder most of their worries for the past five years, and that they’d had a lovely and reasonably carefree childhood, but she’d never seen them so completely drunk with happiness.
She felt Blake standing at her side, and when he whispered, “Do you know what happened?” she couldn’t even formulate a reply.
After about five seconds, Susan caught sight of her sister standing in the doorway and gaping at them, and she yanked the dancing circle to a halt, causing Jane and Lucas to crash into each other in a laughing tangle of skinny arms and blond hair.
“Elizabeth!” Susan exclaimed. “You’re home.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly. “What is going on? I didn’t expect you to be still awake.”
“Oh, Elizabeth!” Jane cried out. “The most brilliant thing has happened. You’ll never believe!”
“Wonderful,” Elizabeth replied, her emotions still too battered to put much feeling into the word. But she tried. She didn’t know what had happened to bring such bliss to her siblings, but she owed it to them to wipe some of the pain from her eyes and at least attempt to look excited.
Susan rushed over, holding a piece of paper she’d retrieved from a writing table. “Look what arrived while you were out. A messenger brought it.”
“A liveried messenger,” Jane added. “He was terribly handsome.”
“He was a servant,” Lucas told her.
“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t handsome,” she retorted.
Elizabeth felt herself smile. Listening to Lucas and Jane bicker was so wonderfully normal. Not like the rest of this god-awful evening. She took the paper from Susan and looked down.
And then her hands began to shake.
“Isn’t it brilliant?” Susan asked, her blue eyes lighting with wonder. “Who would have thought?”
Elizabeth said nothing, trying to fight the rising tide of nausea in her stomach.
“Who do you think it could be?” Jane asked. “It must be someone so very lovely. The kindest, loveliest person in all the world.”
“May I?” Blake murmured.
Silently, she handed him the paper. When she looked up, Susan, Jane, and Lucas were staring at her with bewildered expressions.
“Aren’t you happy?” Jane whispered.
Blake gave her back the paper and she looked down again, as if another reading would somehow change the offending message.
Sir Lucas Hotchkiss,
Miss Hotchkiss,
Miss Susan Hotchkiss,
Miss Jane Hotchkiss,
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that your family is the recipient of this charitable anonymous bank draft, in the amount of £5000.
Further arrangements have been made by your benefactor for Sir Lucas to attend Eton. He should report to the school at the beginning of the next term.
Sincerely,
Geo. Shillingworth
Shillingworth and Son, Solicitors
It was from James. It had to be. She turned to Blake, unable to keep the hardness from her eyes.
