Serenity nodded. “I’ve had some close calls, you know how things can sneak up on me. So far, I’ve kept it under control well enough, I think.”
“How long is that to go on, though?” Patience asked.
“Forever?” Serenity said.
“Do not be daft, sister,” Patience said. “How long could you keep it up if you were living in close quarters? One remarkable sunrise, and youdothink they are all remarkable, and there would be the weep over the glories of nature. Never mind come summer when you are forever finding dead bees in the garden. Goodness, it is almost as if you go looking for them.”
Of course, she did go looking for dead bees. She’d been doing it for so many years that it seemed a duty or a habit by now. Patience’s dubiousness over her ability to keep her wild emotions under wraps at all times was Serenity’s primary concern. “Well, what I am working toward is to move my temperament a bit toward…less sentimentality. Not to be a different person, but to…modulate a bit better.”
Patience was silent for a moment. “You might be able to do it. I have worked very hard to rein in my toe-tapping. Only last week, Stanford was weighing the benefits versus the costs of replacing the roof on the Brighton house. It did seem the debate he had with himself was going on for a terrible amount of time. I had the urge to get a ladder, climb up it, and start ripping the shingles off myself.”
“But you did not do it?”
Patience shook her head. “No, I did not do it, or toe-tap, or say a word of complaint. I took a deep breath, stared at the tea tray, pinched my hand, pulled a loose thread from my dress, looked up at the ceiling for a while, pinched myself again, pouredmyself a cup of tea, and ate a biscuit. He eventually decided to replace the roof.
Serenity giggled over the strategy.
“As well, I find it helpful to remind myself of what care Stanford takes of me,” Patience went on. “I could easily have wed a careless man who would not concern himself that his family might get rained on.”
Just then, the drawing room doors crashed open. “There you are! Thank God, are you all right?” Lord Stanford said.
Patience snorted and whispered, “I am about to be rescued from nothing again.”
