Page 30 of Rescuing Lord Inglewood

“Oh, who cares about that. The important thing is that it is done, Jacob. The war is over at last and Isaac will come home!” She snatched the letter back from him and read it again herself, ignoring Silas’s rough writing and taking in his words with near-rapture. “I can hardly believe it.”

“It is a thing to be grateful for,” Jacob said, his voice gentler. “Many sons and brothers will at last return to their families.” She raised her eyes to see the reverent and peaceful expression on Jacob’s face—the very sort of look one would expect a vicar to wear upon such news. “Have you had word from your brother?”

At this question, Esther sobered somewhat. “No, I am afraid not. Silas was certain that Isaac would write, especially after our wedding, but nothing has come. Of course, Isaac never was very good at corresponding.” Something she held against him from time to time, as she wrote faithfully every week to her brother, besides her lapse during her betrothal.

Jacob offered her a commiserating smile. “I am certain with all that has happened he has kept quite busy. A captaincy of the army, at his age, is nothing to sniff at.”

The door opened, a maid and footman entering. The maid carried a tea service, and the footman bowed as he announced, “Miss Everly and Miss Grace Everly.”

Esther’s good humor returned at that. Hope and Grace were always permitted into her home, while other callers were accepted only after her approval. Sir Neil came frightfully often and had often been denied his visit.

“I have such wonderful news to share with you both,” Esther proclaimed, holding the letter out to Grace. She vaguely noticed the footman and maid clearing more room for her guests to sit in the cluttered parlor, in a much more efficient manner than she had done. It recalled her to her duties as hostess. “Please, let us all be seated. There is so much to talk about.”

Grace moved while reading, Hope ahead of her taking a place on the sofa. Jacob took the chair nearest Hope’s end as her sister sat next to her. Esther took the remaining chair near Grace.

“This is wonderful news,” Grace pronounced, her voice soft in wonder. “Can the war be truly over?”

“We only wait for the official word from Paris,” Esther said. “I imagine it will arrive very soon, if it has not been published in London already.” She could not stop smiling, though she tried to temper it. Isaac would come home at last, and take up residence very near Inglewood Keep. She wanted to burst from happiness.

She took in the expressions of her friends, wishing to read their reactions for herself. Jacob’s look was more reserved than she thought he could be, prospective vicar or not, and his attention was not on the letter in Grace’s hands, but on Hope.

Hope? Esther studied that woman’s oblivious look of delight as she held a cup in her hands, having presumed to serve herself from the tray.

“This is absolutely glorious, Esther. I cannot remember a time when I did not know of the war; there has been talk of it every day. What a great relief this will be to the entire country.” Hope sipped from her cup, her eyes sparkling over its rim.

“Indeed.” Grace handed the letter back to Esther, her countenance serene, before she darted a quick look at Jacob. From Jacob she looked to her twin, then down at her lap.

It all passed quickly before Esther, but it was enough to make her concerned. How had she never noticed this strange problem before that moment? Granted, she was rarely in company with the twin sisters and Jacob at the same time, but— It was none of her business. They were not exactly her friends, but Silas’s and Isaac’s. Except of late they had all come to see her, as though they enjoyed her company.

Bother. Having seen Jacob gaze at Hope in such a way, and Grace intercept the look with her disappointed frown, made it easy enough to jump to conclusions.

Esther came to her feet again and poured tea for the two guests who had politely waited on her, then served them all sandwiches and biscuits. Hope, oblivious to what Esther plainly saw, kept the conversation going.

Their visit lasted longer than half an hour, as the subject of their discussion passed eventually from the end of the war to Esther’s art surrounding them. They had all stood to study a watercolor of the front of the Keep.

It was such an odd building, with a history Silas had given to her when she was still a girl enamored with the towers.

There were two castle-like towers on either side of the main part of the house. The south tower was the first built upon the land, centuries previous. The main part of the house had been added in the days of Silas’s grandfather, whose wife apparently objected to the uneven look of the building. So he had stonemasons and an architect build a tower on the north side of the house in order to match the original, then Christened the entire conglomerate Inglewood Keep.

“Silas will be charmed by this,” Grace said, head tipped to one side as she studied the painting. “He is dreadfully proud of this estate.”

“Always has been,” Jacob agreed, stepping closer to Grace. “It is no wonder he installed you here, Esther, instead of at another of his properties. He has that more modern house near Cambridge.”

“It shows a great deal of trust, I think,” Grace agreed. “To be left here, to make changes and learn your way as a countess.”

Hope, who had moved down the wall to peer at a watercolor depicting a fountain in the garden, hummed her assent. “I agree, but it also likely had to do with all of us being so near to keep Esther company.”

Esther started to speak, ready to express her thanks for their attentive visits, when she saw a worried glance pass from Grace to Jacob.

“I am certain he would have given her the Keep even if we were not present,” Jacob said quickly, as though he wished to cover Hope’s words with his own.

Hope stiffened and looked around at them, her expression almost guilty. “Of course. There really isn’t a better place for Esther.”

The room hushed as Esther tried to understand her friends’ strange reactions to what ought to have been a meaningless phrase. She went over what Hope had said in her mind and her chest grew tight. Her husband had issued a command. She could feel it.

“Did Silas ask all of you to keep me company while he was away?” she asked, skipping from one gaze to the next in rapid succession. “Are you here because he asked you to come?”

“Oh, Esther, we would have come anyway,” Grace answered quickly, reaching out to put her hand on Esther’s arm. “You are our friend.”