Bound with Love by Megan Mulry

Author:Megan Mulry [Mulry, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2015-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

Nora couldn’t hold the paintbrush steady. The day of Anna’s arrival was finally upon her, and despite Vanessa’s valiant efforts to keep Nora busy in every possible manner, she could no longer keep her mind focused on anything but finally meeting her daughter. She was in a constant state of distraction, feelings of hope and despair battling inside her on a minute-by-minute basis.

She made a few sweeping strokes across the sky in the background and then set the brush down at the base of the easel in defeat. “I can’t work.” She wiped her hands on her smock and began to untie the bow at the back with shaking fingers. “What if she’s decided not to come? What if something’s happened along the journey?”

After reading the Dowager Duchess of Mandeville’s letters until she had committed every word to memory, Nora was no more optimistic than she had been upon first hearing the news about her daughter’s existence. She had written back several times to say how much she would welcome a letter from Anna; nothing ever arrived. She had convinced herself the young woman would loathe her. How could she not? Nora groaned in frustration.

“Well, thank heaven for that! I haven’t been able to concentrate for hours.” Vanessa put her pen alongside her accounting book and nearly leapt from her chair. “Let’s go for a long walk. They’re not due here until two o’clock or after. We’ll tramp off our worry. It’s not even ten. Please let’s walk. The nervous energy is making everything impossible.”

Nora hung up her apron slowly. “Very well. But I don’t want to walk far, in case they’ve made good time; I want to be nearby to greet her . . . them.” She knew she was on very shaky emotional ground, because even Vanessa’s boundless energy and constant efforts to buoy Nora’s mood were now starting to annoy her. She had snapped at her a few times, and then usually offered a guilty apology for her ill humor.

“Yes, we’ll stay within the confines of the park. Come.” She reached for Nora, and the two of them headed out of the sunny studio. On their way through the shadowy front hall, they stopped to collect their summer hats and, for Vanessa, her favorite walking stick. As she turned to leave, she noticed there was a letter from Georgiana on the silver salver. “Oh, do you mind if I read it?”

“Of course you should—or better yet, why not bring it and we can find a quiet place for you to read it aloud to me?”

“That sounds perfect.” Vanessa slipped the letter into one of her deep pockets. Ever practical, Vanessa had all of her dresses made with capacious pockets sewn invisibly along the seams.

They made their way through the boxwood maze, then along the lake and into the shade of their favorite forest path. Neither spoke much, but they leaned against one another and passed the intervening hour in a fortifying silence. They decided to stop in a shadowy glade to read Georgie’s letter.

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