A Court of Thorns for Lady Ambergrave by Emma Linfield

Author:Emma Linfield
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2020-04-11T21:00:00+00:00

Lady Thornshire stared out the window of her sister’s morning room, lost in thought. The meticulously trimmed acreage stretched on for as far as she could see, an endless sea of picturesque green. Still, a swarm of gardeners was already at work despite the early hour, trimming back the hedgerows and taking clippings of the roses and camellias for the ball.

“I am not so certain of the wisdom of serving fish as the third course,” the Duchess of Hardigree muttered, looking at some pages in her hand. “It might not sit well with some who have delicate stomachs, especially if there is to be much dancing and the weather turns much warmer. What do you think, Angeline?”

“Hmmm, what? I’m sorry, I did not hear,” Lady Thornshire replied, looking rather sheepish. “My mind was on Luci. I have not had a letter from her in some time.”

“Well, how would you? You’ve been here all this time,” her sister snapped. Her tone softened when she said, “But we have pressing matters to attend to. I must come up with something to serve during the third course.”

“Pheasant,” Lady Thornshire said dismissively. She knew it was far better to provide her older sister with an answer to her mundane problems than to attempt to make her see reason.

“What? I cannot possibly serve pheasant since there is a quail dish immediately after. I swear, Angeline, it’s as though you have no desire to be of help to me,” Lady Hardigree screeched, frightening the small dog who’d been sleeping in her lap. “Now be serious and put your attention on this most pressing matter.”

Lady Thornshire came over to sit by the Duchess and pretended to give her full interest to the planning. Her mind, though, was carried away with thoughts of her daughter. If there had been letters, surely a courier would have been dispatched by her husband. After all, her other correspondence had been sent over so that she might accept or refuse various invitations, and so she may answer letters from friends and peers. If there had been any word from Luci, she would already know about it.

“Are you still thinking of your letters?” Lady Hardigree demanded. “I told you, my sources are quite sound when it comes to these dealings. Lord Ambergrave is, by all that we can assume, an upstanding member of the ton and a wealthy man as well. There is no reason to think Luci is anything other than the picture of health. She’s probably lying abed at this very moment, taking her tea and reading through her invitations for the coming weeks.”

“I don’t know, Mary. I just have this dreadful feeling that something is not right. You said yourself that no one really knew this Lord Ambergrave. It’s simply not like Luci to pass so many weeks without a word to me.”

“Can you think of any other new bride who spends her days writing tomes to send forth to her mother? I assure you, you and I had no time for such leisurely pastimes when we were wed.

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