An Affair So Right (Rebel Hearts #4)(41)

“Because, at some point, we will have our own home again. Listening to Lady Templeton talk about her daughter’s upcoming season made me realize I mustn’t become too comfortable here.” She sighed and pressed her fingers to the counterpane. “A lady can suffer delusions that maid service six times a day is perfectly natural and that lifting a finger is completely unnecessary. Lord Maitland has been so kind, so certain that I need do nothing, that I’m starting to feel uncomfortable about it. He has a sister who will need his escort and protection soon for her season. I don’t wish to forget my place. I don’t live here. I am homeless but not without means, thank heavens.”

“What do you mean, you have means?”

Mother sank onto the bed. “Do you recall your father was going to have the clasp on my necklace repaired before he died?”

“Yes. He was so tardy at doing so that I had threatened to send Mr. Small to do the errand for him.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you before today, but it seems your father hadn’t forgotten his promise to me. He was wearing the necklace when he died. The gems were found when his body was prepared for burial.”

Theodora’s eyes burned suddenly, and she covered her face as she burst into tears.

She’d believed recovering financially would take the rest of her life. She had struggled to hide her despair of ever being settled again behind false bravado. She’d thought she’d have to work forever, but that wasn’t the case. “Oh, Papa.”

Her mother’s arms wrapped around her as she sobbed. But relief had already turned to guilt. She’d rather have her father back than the money, but they needed the money the sale of the gems would bring to live. They could travel in comfort back to India, buy land and prosper there. Mama could have her own servants again. As many as she liked, too.

Theodora pushed back from her mother, wiping her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

Her mother was crying, too. “I couldn’t speak of it. I couldn’t think of them without remembering the day your father gave them to me.”

Theodora hugged her mother quickly. “He was so happy to see you wearing them.”

“And so was I.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know. Lord Maitland tried to give them back to me after the funeral but I refused him.”

“He kept them?”

“I suppose he put them away in his safe somewhere.”

“They are not there,” Theodora said out loud. “I know the contents of his safe inside and out.”

Her mother drew back to stare at her. “You shouldn’t snoop.”

“Rent day,” Theodora promised. “You should ask him for the necklace again.”

“It’s not a necklace anymore. The stones are best left with him for now, until I decide what to do.”

Theodora led her mother to the window seat and pressed her down on the soft cushions. “You could sell the necklace. Mr. Peabody on Bond Street would give you a fair deal.”

“I suppose I will have to consider it. Your father told me the gems were very fine.”

“Only the best for you,” Theodora promised as she held her mother’s hand. “If we exchanged some of the gems, we would have a little money to spend and we could live anywhere we liked. We could return to India now.”

Her mother nodded slowly. “The moment we returned to England, you wanted to turn back.”

“That is true,” Theodora said quickly. She did not want to rush her mother into any decision, but she was excited again. There was so much to do if they would travel again. “Home has always been where we made it. Do you remember when we first arrived in India? Months at sea, suffering the worst of the confinement, only to face a strange city and such heat as we’d never felt before. We both looked at each other, knowing life there would take a great deal of adjustment. This is no different.”

“I like it here.”

“Living in England?” Theodora’s smile faltered as her mother nodded. “You want to stay?”

“I like the peace of familiar surroundings and customs,” she murmured.

“I suppose we could stay awhile.” Mother remaining in England without her had never occurred to Theodora. She couldn’t leave her parent at such a time…or ever, she suspected.

Her mother’s face fell. “Without your father, I don’t know what to do with myself. Lady Templeton suggested I remain here, but Lord Maitland’s kindness reminds me of all I’ve lost. I miss your father. I miss the life we had together.”

Theodora caught her mother in a tight hug. “Oh, Mama. I miss him too.”

When her mother began to cry softly, Theodora held her until she stopped. She’d become so busy with her new position that she had forgotten Mama had next to nothing to do with her days. The hours must seem very long with so little to occupy her mind.

Eventually, Mama quieted and drew back. “What can I do? I don’t have callers or call on friends while we’re in mourning. No one has come around to inquire about us since the night of the fire, have they?”

“I’m sure they simply don’t have our new directions,” Theodora suggested, unsure if that was true or not. Someone should have been concerned enough to call by now. “Should you like me to write to our friends and let everyone know where we are, and that we suffered no harm?”