Page 100 of The Muse of Maiden Lane

She hadn’t been lying to him when she’d told him that he was the first gentleman she’d ever liked. And it wasn’t just because of his kisses and compliments. It was because she enjoyed being with him. He was interesting. Amusing. Vexing at times, but never dull.

The fact that he used a wheeled chair hadn’t even come into it. Not until it had occurred to her that his condition might impact her dreams for a family.

Good heavens. Had she really asked him about it outright?

And had he really answered her?

“I’m capable,” he’d said.

Capable. Whatever that meant.

She had some idea, of course. She knew about horses, and about other animals. And she knew something about the marriages of her friends—though neither of them had ever given explicit details, except to share that it was exciting and intimate, and that it involved removing one’s clothes (or sometimes not, as Julia had once confided).

Evie reached across the carriage to clasp Stella’s hand. “I’m glad. I’ve longed to see you happily settled. And Mr. Hayes is an amusing gentleman. Whatever else happens, you’ll never be bored.”

“We must do something to celebrate.” Julia brightened. “I know, I shall buy you an engagement gift! A new hat from the milliner? Or a beautiful new shawl? Anne recently mentioned a marvelous India shawl warehouse in Ludgate Hill.”

The three of them chattered on, talking and laughing together as the carriage set them down in Bond Street. They visited the milliner, the draper’s shop, and stopped to look at the bejeweled trinkets in the window of a goldsmith’s establishment. It was as they were walking down a side street to stop in at a bookseller that Julia liked to frequent, that the door of a stationer’s shop they were passing opened and Laura Archer emerged, stepping directly into their path.

“Miss Hobhouse!” Mrs. Archer came to an abrupt halt. She wore a loose-fitting caraco jacket with a plain skirt—a suitable ensemble for a fashionable lady in a delicate condition. A maid and a footman, arms filled with packages, stood behind her.

“Mrs. Archer!” Stella froze.

She wasn’t prepared to face Teddy’s family. Had he told them yet? And, if so, how had they taken it? Stella dreaded to think.

“Mrs. Malik,” Mrs. Archer said, smiling at Evie. “How do you do?”

“Mrs. Archer.” Evie acknowledged her with a smile in return. “Have you met, Mrs. Blunt?”

Julia and Mrs. Archer bobbed polite curtsies to each other as they were introduced.

Pleasantries dispensed with, Mrs. Archer turned her attention back to Stella. “I was just preparing to stop for tea at the confectioner’s shop across the road. Would you care to join me?”

Evie and Julia fell quiet.

Stella’s mouth went dry. Her friends stood silent behind her, both holding their breaths. It was at once clear that Mrs. Archer knew about Stella’s engagement to Teddy. She likely wanted to warn Stella off. Either that or interrogate her about her intentions.

But there was no point in delaying the inevitable. In Stella’s experience, it was always better to get difficult encounters over with before one’s anxiety about them grew out of all proportion.

Besides, Mrs. Archer was no ogre, was she? She was a kind and sympathetic older sister, who had already been open-minded enough to help her brother in contacting Stella over the winter. If anyone would be supportive of Stella and Teddy’s unexpected engagement, it would be Mrs. Archer, wouldn’t it?

“I would be delighted,” Stella said. She looked to Evie and Julia. “If you wouldn’t mind sparing me?”

“Not at all,” Julia said. “Shall we come back to fetch you in, say, an hour?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Mrs. Archer replied. “I have the Finchleys’ carriage at my disposal today. I shall be happy to return Miss Hobhouse to Brown’s Hotel when I’ve finished with her.”

Finished with her?

Stella swallowed. Perchance Mrs. Archer wasn’t as happy about her brother’s engagement as Stella had hoped. Indeed, as she took Stella’s arm and guided her across the road to the tea shop, Stella began to fear that her future sister-in-law’s feelings were exactly the opposite.

Twenty-Five

“Please allow me to congratulate you,” Stella said, after she and Mrs. Archer had sat down at a small table inside the confectioner’s shop and ordered their tea. “Mr. Hayes tells me that you and Mr. Archer are anticipating a child.”

“Do call me Laura,” Mrs. Archer said. “And may I call you Stella?” Her face bore no malice. She appeared calm and steady, a slight smile on her lips and a measuring look in her slate-blue eyes.

A building sense of apprehension nevertheless made Stella’s stomach tense. “Yes. If you like.”