Alice immediately gave Emily a hug after she entered the Savoyhouse.
“It is so lovely to see you again, and so soon. And what a sensation you caused by your early departure from Linfield. All the guests were hoping for an encore after dinner, but you had escaped. Was it a seriousemergency?”
Emily laughed. “Oh, I have a lot of news to tell. Is Mark here? I want to tell you when we are alltogether.”
“Not yet, but Chester is in the sitting room with wine, ready to welcomeyou.”
They entered the sitting room and Chester stood and belted out a bracing, “Good Evening, Miss Emily. Jolly to see you again. Have a seat. Have a drink. What is yourpoison?”
“We are having venison, this evening,” Alice said. “I recommend theclaret.”
“Then that is what I shallhave.”
The doorbell rang just then and Alice went toanswer.
She came back with Mark who beamed when he sawEmily.
“Miss Emily, lovely to see you. I am so happy you could attend this evening. I have a lot to tell you. A great deal has been moving forward on youraccount.”
“How exciting. And I have a few surprises of myown.”
A housemaid took Mark’s coat and walking stick anddisappeared.
Mark gave his sister a kiss on the cheek and went over to shake Chester’s hand. “Good evening all. What a pleasure to be a guest instead of a host after such aweekend.”
“First rate bash, old man,” Chester said, offering Mark a glass of the red wine and taking one toEmily.
“If you will excuse me, please, I must have a word with Cook,” Alice said beforedisappearing.
The two men and Emily engaged in light conversation until Alice returned, took a glass of wine, and sat withthem.
“How is Father doing?” Alice asked with some concern. “He did not seem at all well just before we left onMonday.”
Mark turned to Emily. “I am so happy you had a chance to play for him. It meant a great deal.” Then he answered his sister, “I wish I could say he was better, but Icannot.”
“Oh,Mark…”
“Do you feel you need to go back to Linfield to be with him?” Chester asked hiswife.
She considered that and said, “Not just yet. I need more time with the boys since we were gone over theweekend.”
The housemaid came in and whispered toAlice.
“Dinner is ready. Shall we?” Alice gestured for them to precedeher.
After dinner had been served and domestic issues were discussed, Mark turned to Emily and asked. “You said you have a few surprises forus?”
Emily put down her fork and hung her head for a brief moment before looking up and proceeding to tell the tale of her sister Ruth, her fiancé, and the explosive dissolution of the DunnTrio.
Mark immediately asked, “Has Silas been told aboutthis?”
Emily hesitated but said, “Ruth is taking care of that. I did not want to interact with Mr.Skeffington.”
Mark immediately picked up on that statement. “And whynot?”
Emily was torn. She did not want to harm Mark’s relationship with his uncle, but at the same time, she felt Silas needed to be held accountable for his actions. But she looked around the table and decided that, if she was to say anything, she must do it privately with Mark, so she dodged the question for the moment by saying, “Because I am no longer a part of the trio. And Ruth volunteered to informhim.”
Mark sat back in his chair, both hands on the dining table, and took a breath. “Well, that certainly is news. And how do you feel about this turn ofevents?”
