Page 143 of The Language of Love

Chapter 25

Annis lived in constant dread of receiving a message from Richard. She wasn’t stupid; now that he knew who she was, he would want to take advantage of her connections just as he had the last time.

Even though the days before the St. Oswald’s Feast were a mad rush, she didn’t step foot out of the house, sending servants on any errands or trips into Stokely. She was behaving like a child, hiding away at Stoke and pretending that he couldn’t hurt her if she didn’t see him.

But now there was a chore that she could not delegate to a servant.

“It is a tradition for the mistress of Stoke to deliver the St. Oswald baskets,” Julia told Annis last night when the two of them had retired to the sitting room after dinner.

It had surprised Annis that the other woman had joined her. She’d also been disappointed since she’d hoped to go to Henry’s study and catch up on some correspondence.

But she could hardly beg off when she so rarely saw Julia these days. Besides, the woman would be gone in less than a week; Annis could put up with her until then.

The antipathy between Henry and Julia now ran in both directions. Whatever had transpired between them, Julia avoided Henry as much as he did her.

“I would accompany you to deliver the baskets if I were not so busy,” Julia had said when Annis asked if she would come with her.

Julia had only stayed a scant half-hour in the sitting room before retiring to her own quarters, almost as if she’d only joined Annis to deliver the news about the baskets.

Perhaps she had. After all, despite Julia’s initial claim that she wanted to arrange their welcome home/congratulations party the other woman had handed over all aspects of running Stoke and organizing the feast and ball.

Annis had never organized a party in her life.

Thank God for Mrs. Jenkins, who kindly and efficiently guided her through the myriad details involved in such a large undertaking.

“The feast and ball have been much smaller in recent years,” the housekeeper confessed as they’d arranged the seating chart for the dinner before the ball, which was only for the local gentry, while the ball itself was open to anyone.

“How many do you usually seat?” Annis asked.

“Twenty at most.”

And this year they would have forty.

“Even years ago, when the old earl was still alive, there wasn’t such extravagance.” Mrs. Jenkins had added. “But his lordship insisted that we invite everyone of any rank to dinner and have enough food and drink to accommodate every single person living in the area. It will be a magnificent way to celebrate his homecoming.” A small, but extremely pleased, smile had hovered around her mouth.

It amused Annis how much the rather reserved housekeeper adored Henry. She couldn’t help wishing that she felt comfortable enough with her husband to ask him about his relationship with the older woman, but he’d volunteered nothing, so Annis had kept her questions to herself.

In any case, she had quite enjoyed arranging the party with Mrs. Jenkins’s help—at least she had until she’d seen Richard Leech.

Since that horrid encounter, Annis could hardly be happy for five minutes before she’d remember he was lurking somewhere nearby. The only time she could truly forget about him was at night, when she was in bed with Henry.

Unfortunately, Annis would need to get through yet another day before she could be in bed with him again.

Even if she delivered all the baskets without seeing Richard today, she knew he could just walk into Stoke on St. Oswald’s Day. After all, they invited everyone to the ball.

Tell Henry, Annis. Tell him now before Richard makes any demands. You owe him that much. You owe him—

A knock on her door disturbed the familiar hectoring.

“Come in,” Annis called out.

The door opened and Gordon, her favorite footman, stood on the threshold. “The gig is loaded, my lady.”

“Thank you, Gordon, I’ll be right down.” Annis turned to Grace, who was engaging in some last-minute fussing with her bonnet.

“Are we almost done?” she asked. Grace would take all day getting her ready if left unchecked.

“Yes, my lady.” Grace hurried to fetch her cloak from the dressing room while Annis stared sightlessly at her reflection.