AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They laughed, and Tabitha recognized a kindred spirit.
“I, too, find my good advice overlooked at an alarming rate,” she said, “but unlike you, I can’t go forward regardless and enforce my will.”
“Does the Duke of Llewellyn follow your advice?” Lady Coleman carefully set aside the fabric, and Tabitha had a pang of longing to be a woman who could wear orange, of any hue.
“He has asked for none. I have offered none. It is not… I do not feel as though he is a client such as I would consult with abroad. I give him my company, to accustom him to humans again, to his humanity again, and in this way, I hope to learn more about him and what his needs may be.” Her needs did not enter into it.
“A young unmarried lady sniffing around an eligible duke?” The lady did a spot-on impression of a society tabby.
“I am not young, and I am sure fated mating is not on the man’s mind.” But speaking of sniffing: it had not been the lady doing it.
“Finding one’svera amorisis not the be-all and end-all of desire,” Lady Coleman said, a daring statement to make in company with a mere acquaintance.
“I am well aware that sexual interaction is not necessarily about lifelong love,” Tabitha assured her.
Lady Coleman picked up her shears and started slicing through the white fabric, a heavy, glazed, undyed chintz. “This is not a point of view one expects from ahomo plenus.”
“Is it different forversipelles?”
“There are certain formalities in place that prevent the indiscriminate production of young. Only the worst among us would overlook them.” A particularly forceful snip of the scissors accompanied this statement. “All species honor thevera amoristradition, which means once found, you will never know another. Thus, there is nothing to prevent us loving as we will, in our youth. Well, youth as compared to humans.”
“I see.” This was fascinating and in stark contrast to human opinions on the matter. “I have never held romantic notions, yet in order to communicate effectively with my female clients, I felt the need to investigate.”
“Investigate?” Such a big laugh out of such a small lady. “Is that what you call it where you come from? What did you conclude?”
“It has its moments but is nothing to lose one’s composure about.”
“I agree. I wonder if we have both been failed by past partners.”
“My investigation was exhaustive,” Tabitha assured her. “Thanks to my travels, I was able to avail myself of lovers of many cultures, religions, social strata, et cetera, and thus create a matrix for comparison.”
“A comparative matrix? That isnotwhat we call it where I come from.” They both laughed at that, and the sound breezed around them like a yearned-for zephyr on a summer’s day. This was all that was needed to clear the malaise left by a man: shared laughter and confidences with a woman. With a friend?
Tabitha leaned on her elbows. “May we call each other by our given names?”
“Yes, please. I am Jemima.”
“I am Tabitha.”
“You will discover that my friendship is accompanied by garments.” Jemima piled the cut pieces of the cloth to one side and took up another bolt of the white fabric.
“Mine comes with tonics. And lately, an abundance of soap.” Jemima looked curious, but friend or not, Tabitha was not ready to speak of her day. “My brother will be envious, as he is the fashionable Barrington. His friendship comes withbon mots, and not only in French.”
“Felicity’s friendship comes with the wish we all settle here as family.”
“I would not mind so much,” Tabitha mused, “if my own experience of that condition had more to recommend it.”
“I consider my brother my only family,” Jemima said.
“We are alike in that.”
“He left for France as many do, in search of a congenial, safer society.”
“As did we. Timothy says I can say whatever I want about him, and yet I am careful.”
“Protective.”
“To a fault. Which may or may not be true. Or is both true and not true.” Tabitha swept up the needles and poked them one by one into a pincushion. “It is the habit of a lifetime, and I find my respect for him and his ability to take care of himself at war with my desire that he never come to harm.”
