A Return of Devotion by Kristi Ann Hunter

Author:Kristi Ann Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Historical Fiction;Love stories;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027070
ISBN: 9781493417193
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

Daphne twirled her way through the front hall, skipped across the central hall, and flitted around the saloon to drop onto a sofa with a happy giggle.

Jess followed at a more sedate pace, shaking her head while Reuben, Sarah, and Eugenia trailed behind, grinning.

“You wouldn’t possibly be happy to have the house empty, would you?” Jess asked as she sat in one of the chairs.

Daphne dropped her head back to rest on the sofa. “Yes. I am so very happy. And he said they weren’t returning for at least a week. An entire week!”

“You know this doesn’t change anything, don’t you? He’s coming back.”

Daphne popped her head up. “Of course it changes things. Perhaps not permanently, but for the next few days we’ll have our own schedule, without any sneers from grumpy Mr. Morris. The pace will be slower. We’ll have more time to visit with one another like we used to.” Perhaps she could even convince Benedict to talk to someone. If not her, perhaps Jess or one of the other children. “And”—Daphne pointed a finger at Sarah, trying not to let worry over her son ruin this moment—“we can play the pianoforte in the music room.”

Sarah clapped her hands in glee, looking for the first time in a while like a child instead of a young woman. Somehow, Daphne was going to have to find a way to inject moments of joy back into the children’s lives, ones that wouldn’t disrupt working in the house. Drudgery was going to catch up with them soon enough. She didn’t have to rush it.

“Remember there’s new people on the grounds,” Jess reminded them.

Daphne wanted to stick her tongue out at her friend, but Jess made a good point. There were two men going about the grounds, taming some of the landscaping and creating a plan for his lordship to approve upon his return.

Those men had little to no reason to come into the house, but they were still going to be around. There would be no pretending everything was the way it used to be.

But, oh, what if it were?

What if they’d been able to live in this house with all this glorious furniture?

There were only three children now, where there had once been twelve, but as Sarah, Eugenia, and Reuben ran off to explore the house they’d recently been denied, it was easy to imagine all of them back here.

What if this sofa had been right here instead of tucked away in a storage room? They could have enjoyed the view in comfort while sipping tea and eating biscuits. Life and laughter would have filled the house along with the splendor of the enormous art collection and grand, if occasionally ugly, furniture.

There could be more artwork designed by the children, like the paper filigree–covered box on the side table. The house could be filled top to bottom with beautiful, wonderful items she enjoyed and loved. She’d bring in more children, allowing them to live life a little closer to the way it should have been for them.

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