Susan smiled and leaned in and kissed Louisa’scheek.
Then mother reached over, to get Susan’sattention.
“And who is that most handsome sailor you’ve been dancing with allafternoon?”
“Oh, Mamma, don’t you recognize Katherine’s brother,Daniel?”
Mother looked astonished. “That’s Daniel? That skinny tyke that used to run with you and Katherine at the swimminghole?”
“The very same,Mamma.”
“Well, I be… He’s grown into quite the young man, hasn’the?”
Susan nodded, and Mother became quite animated. “And might there just be a budding romance developing there? He seems ever soattentive.”
“I don’t know. We’ve only re-met after all theseyears.”
“You should speak to Katherine, and have her sound him out. A captain in the Royal Navy would be quite a prize, would itnot?”
“Mamma, he’s not some prey. And besides, what kind of marriage would it be with a seafarer? He’d always be at sea. There’d be no familylife.”
That seemed to sober Mother. “You may have a point.” Then she spoke again. “And what was all that fuss with the Duke—bolting like that in the middle of adance?”
“I’ve no idea,Mamma.”
“Were you rude tohim?”
“Not at all. But I’ve often heard that he was volatile. Perhaps he has issues on his mind. It’s not for me to say. We should just be grateful that he chose to attend the wedding atall.”
“Well, after all that business with Simon… He owes us some respect, don’t youthink?”
“Mother, let it be. That’s all in the past. I only want to look forward. I have the new school year starting up next month, and I want to focus on being the best teacher I can possiblybe.”
* * *
Aweek after the wedding,Susan was surprised to receive a letter from her cousin, Jessica Bradley, fromLondon.
14 August,1830
My Dearest CousinSusan,
I just wanted to say how sorry I was to be unable to attend your sister’s wedding. However, I was traveling with my husband in Greece, Italy, and Spain and only received the invitation after we returned home—as it was impossible to forward mail with our insane travelschedule.
I am writing to you instead of your mother because I have always felt such an affinity with you and I feel we have a very special bond as more than cousins—are we not more like sisters? I would be ever so grateful if you would pass on my regrets to your mother and sister. I know they willunderstand.
Now, what about you? I want to hear everything about you and about your sister’s wedding. Write me a nice long letter with all thenews.
No. Wait. Even better—why not come to London for a visit? I believe your school is still on break, is it not? Come and stay with me for a week or two. Ronald must travel up to Scotland for several weeks and we shall be all alone. We can shop and dine out and go to the theater or the opera or the ballet and sleep late and gossip for hours on end. What do you say? Oh, please, please, please do come. And don’t worry about costs, my darling Ronald is super rich, and he’ll foot the bill for everything—even though he may not know it at thetime.
I will not write more now, as I only now want to hear that you will accept myinvitation.
Your adorablecousin,
Jessica
Susan was most excited.She’d not seen her cousin in several years. And they’d been so close when they were younger and students at the sameschool.
She dashed to find her mother or father. Her mother was not to be found, but she found her father in the barn sharpening wool sheeringclippers.
