AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER10
Pippa removed the pear tarts from the cooling rack and stacked them in the basket resting on the counter. Afternoon light streamed through the narrow kitchen windows and highlighted the pale cream linen hanging over the side of the wicker basket. She filled it to the top and tucked the linen over the tarts, humming to herself.
“Shall we walk down or hook up the cart?” Mabel asked, filling the second basket with bread rolls. She handed a roll to Elinor, who took a large bite directly from the top, and then covered the rolls with linen.
“When are we meant to arrive?”
Mabel shook her head, looking flustered. “A quarter-hour ago, but we’re only going to the Blakemores’ cottage. I’m certain dinner will have already begun, regardless of how we travel.”
“Where is James?”
“I sent him ahead with Mac and Winthrop. You know, I think we should take the cart in case Liam doesn’t wish to stay very long. His teeth are coming in and he’s been fussing more.” Mabel hooked the basket over her elbow. “Elinor, run and tell Hope that we are ready to leave.”
Elinor huffed. She took another large bite of her roll and marched out of the kitchen. Her arm was wrapped and hanging at her side. Mabel gazed at the ceiling, her eyebrows drawn in thought.
Pippa pilfered a pear tart and sank her teeth into it. The syrupy sweetness exploded on her tongue, and the flaky pastry made her mouth water. Swallowing her bite, she followed her sister’s gaze up to the space where she stared. It was the corner of the house that contained Grams’s room. “Does it hurt you to leave Gram behind, too?”
Mabel nodded, folding her arms and resting her hip against the counter. Her eyes were troubled. “Yes, but she cannot travel easily. It is not as though we wish for her to remain home.”
“I know that,” Pippa said gently. “I am certain Gram understands as well.”
Mabel blew out a long, slow breath that seemed to bend her shoulders forward. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Hope and Elinor met them outside, Liam sleepily bundled against his mother as Hope carried the bread basket and Pippa carried the tarts. Their cook and the handful of other servants who lived and worked at Camden Court were already at the Blakemore fields or the cottage, lending their help where they were able. Mabel always made certain someone was left behind to tend to Gram, but aside from that, the Sheffield household had gone in full force to support the Blakemores.
It was a far cry from the initial hesitance her family had shown the men, and Pippa found herself wondering if she was the only person left who recalled the awful reputation the Blakemores had carried into Devon with them.
Music and laughter warned them of the location of the feast long before they arrived in the proper place, and Pippa’s chest loosened as she climbed down from the back of the cart and saw her familiar friends and family gathered together. Mac stood out, a head taller than most of the men gathered, and his eyes lit up when they landed on Mabel holding Liam.
“Come,” Mabel said, directing Elinor. She hadn’t seemed to notice the effect her arrival had had on her husband, her focus solely on the children. “Take those rolls from Hope so we can put them on the table.”
Elinor did as she was asked, and Hope took Liam from Mabel’s arms as he began to fuss, bouncing him and swaying from side to side. Pippa searched the crowds for William but didn’t find him on her initial glance. She made her way slowly through the crowd, surprised by the sheer number of people who had shown up to help.
Someone yanked on her arm, and she almost lost her hold on the basket of tarts.
“Oh, sorry!” Lily said, though her wide smile belied any claimed apology. “I called your name, but you didn’t seem to hear me.”
Pippa hadn’t heard anything of the sort. She’d been too distracted in her search for William, it would seem.
But could she be blamed for wanting to see him again? A man did not touch her hand so gently and then leave her mind forthwith. She’d hardly been able to think of anything else since that tender moment on the beach, and she wanted nothing more than to recreate it. Perhaps she could lose her gloves tonight on the guise of...no, nothing came to mind. She could think of no legitimate reason to remove her gloves in the cold, outside, in the evening.
“I was distracted,” she finally said.
“So it would seem.” Lily pulled her to the side, away from people, her eyes bright with excitement. “Why are you so distracted, Pip?”
Pippa could hardly admit the truth. It wouldn’t make her look good to say that she was thinking of a man who had sweetly caressed her palm three days before. “Tell me about yourself instead,” Pippa said. “I feel like I haven’t spoken to you in ages.”
Lily’s eyes were bright and wide, her grin untamable. She radiated joy in a way that Pippa hadn’t seen from her friend in quite some time. Since before Tommy grew ill, in fact. “Is it your brother?” she asked. “Is he well?”
“He is here today,” Lily said, but some of the enthusiasm had drained from her voice. “He’s feeling much more the thing.”
“James will be glad to see him.”
“They’ve been together this last hour already.”
An hour? Pippa had arrived later to the feast than she’d realized. She suppressed the urge to look about her for William again and focused her attention on her friend, drawing the basket handle back to the crook of her elbow. “If your brother’s health isn’t owed to your good mood, then what is?”
Lily stepped closer, her eyes sparkling. “If I tell you, then you must promise not to repeat a word of what I say.”
