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Henry’s desk. Even now she could so easily imagine him working behind it, quill in hand, deep creases across his brow as he concentrated.
Dinah leaned back against the desk as well and rested her head against her father’s shoulder. “I would not have fared any better if you hadn’t. We have been accepted among good society, even if begrudgingly. Without this marriage, word would have gotten out, and I would have been ostracized entirely. This was the right decision.”
“It may have been the right decision, but your tone makes me think it wasn’t agooddecision.”
There was no point in lying anymore. He’d seen too much of the truth with his own eyes. But she didn’t want him worrying overly for her either. “All of Henry’s family is quite kind to me.” Well, except Aunt Beatrice, but Dinah could handle her. “I am content here.”
“You, my dear, deserve far more than mere contentment.”
Dinah found she had to blink several times. “Are you at least relieved that your last daughter is married off?” she asked lightly, hoping some levity would stop the threatening tears. “The last one on your list.” She clapped each hand across the other as though brushing the dirt from them. “Done and over with.” She smiled up at him.
But he wasn’t smiling back. “You have never been the last on my list. I’m sorry I’ve made you feel that way so often.”
There was no stopping the tears after that. They fell one after the other. Dinah rocked forward, planting her head against his chest. Father wrapped both arms around her. He held her for several minutes in silence. Being there, surrounded by him, Dinah felt a calm she’d been lacking for weeks now. An abiding reassurance.
“Come to Curio Manor,” Father said after a while. “Get out of the muggy London air. Then, after a week or so, I’ll bring you back. Some time apart might be exactly what you and Lord Stanton need.”
Timewithher family sounded exactly like what Dinah needed. Timeapartfrom Henry, though...that didn’t sit well with her. Would he understand? He’d been so cold toward her lately, she didn’t know what to expect.
“We are leaving day after tomorrow,” Father added.
“So soon?”
“Rachel is anxious to be on our way.”
Dinah was tempted to laugh. “Why does that not surprise me?”
Father rubbed her back. “Speak to your husband and then write and let me know if we can expect you or not.”
“I will.” Dinah nodded, still wholly unsure what she was going to do.
