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Shrugging, she strode onward.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

I hope my letter finds you well. Though I was offered the headmistress position at Balderbrook’s Institution for Genteel Ladies, as I was betrothed, I declined to accept. However, I believe there are still positions at the school that have not been filled. I would be happy to use my influence to recommend you as an instructor when your tenure at Petherwick Court ends. You’ve only to ask me.

I would also like to invite you for an extended visit when you leave your current employer. I am sending this missive to Petherwick Court, as I don’t know who is hosting the house party you mentioned in your last letter. I hope it is forwarded to you in a timely fashion.

~ Chasity Terramier, in a letter to Purity Mayfield

Mottford Hall’s Lawns

A scant few seconds later

The tightness in Theran’s chest eased upon spying his daughter holding hands with a young woman as they ambled across the neatly trimmed lawn. Other than a slightly rumpled gown, Bernadine looked no worse for wear.

“Bernadine,” he said, to himself, his tone underscored with relief. “There you are.”

He nodded to Grayson Hemsworth and Devin Everingham, longtime friends from their days at Oxford together, as he traversed the pathways adorned with various topiaries along the formal lawns near the house.

He took a second look at the closest figure.

Was that supposed to be a dog?

Mayhap a pig?

In the distance, a cow lowed, and a rook cawed as it flew by overhead with something in its beak.

Having searched the house for several minutes already, Theran had grown increasingly concerned when he couldn’t locate Bernadine. Real panic had clawed at his spine when he’d been unable to find her.

After sending a pair of maids to continue to comb the manor inside and asking Kebble, the butler, to notify him if Bernadine was found, Theran had taken to the grounds.

Sunlight glinted off Bernadine’s shiny, coppery hair, so much like her mother’s fiery tresses. Familiar melancholy kicked behind Theran’s breastbone.

Lord, how he’d adored Imogene’s flaming tresses. Her shrewd wit and contagious laugh. Even her occasional fiery scolds. Their three blissful years together had been cut short when she’d fallen ill with what had started as a simple cold.

He quickened his pace, eager to assure himself Bernadine was as unharmed as she appeared. She was the most important thing in his life, and he couldn’t help the surge of annoyance toward his stepsister-in-law, Athena Sommerville, that he found himself fraught with worry the first day of this house party.

What would Imogene think?

That Theran was failing to live up to his promises?

God knew he was trying.

His last words to his cherished wife as she lay dying were a promise to keep their daughter safe. That she’d never be foisted off on nurses or governesses and that Bernadine would know how much her mother and father loved her.

Striding across the verdant lawns, his boots sinking into the lush grass, he permitted his mouth to bend upward.

As was Bernadine’s wont, she hop-hop-hopped three times toward him.

Her companion, a woman unremarkable in appearance and dress, smiled at his daughter’s antics. The woman said something to Bernadine he couldn’t make out because of their distance. Whatever she’d said made Bernadine glance up, grin, and nod before hopping forward again.

Warmth infused him this stranger’s patience toward his energetic daughter, so very much like her spirited mother. He could never quash Bernadine’s enthusiasm or joy for life, even if it meant she didn’t always display the decorum and politesse the ton preferred.

Theran had been on the cusp of asking his hosts to send a few footmen to also look for Bernadine. When he’d finally seen her, a surge of relief had left him slightly dizzy. Not that Bernadine was lost when an adult accompanied her. But she could easily have been.

Or worse, wandered to the small lake—where even now, a quartet of skiffs bobbed—and fallen in. Bernadine didn’t know how to swim. As Atherley Hall’s lands also contained a large pond, she needed to learn and soon. Theran had meant to teach her, but time had slipped away from him.

He put two fingers to his temple as he marched along. How could it be that Bernadine would celebrate her fourth birthday in October?