Good girls don't go snooping where they don't belong.
But Lady Delia Scarborough never claimed to be a good girl.
Lady Delia Scarborough wants her sister back from the grave.
Since that can't happen, she'll settle for the next best thing...
Making...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
One Year Later
Spain
The villa in Spain was still in some ways like a dream to Delia. On the shores of the blue Mediterranean waters, there was a quality of light all around that made England's dreary skies seem like some kind of distant dream.
Some mornings, Delia took her sketchbook to the beach to draw while Alice ran along the shore collecting shells, and some mornings, she and Alice and Kieran all took a barouche down to the small town nearby, all of them having developed a taste for the beautiful fruit, bold flowers, and strange sights of the market.
Today, however, she simply sat on the balcony above the water, taking in the sunlight and the blue sky and bluer sea. Something in her was healing in Spain the way it never could in England, but she sensed that sooner rather than later, she would want to return home.
A sound made her turn, and she smiled to see Kieran appear. He was browner from the hot sun, and he carried with him a handful of letters.
"Did Alice have a good time fetching the post from town with you?"
"So good a time she is exhausted and napping now."
"Good girl. What have you there?"
Kieran came to sit next to her and showed her the wedding invitation they had received.
"My goodness, Neil Marsh is getting married? I would hardly have thought it of him."
She could still vividly remember the handsome young man who had helped Kieran interview her for the position of Alice's nurse. He had danced at their wedding six months ago, and she had a soft spot for him.
Kieran frowned. "It hardly fits. He's marrying some chit named Sarah Lister. Didn't her brother try to kill someone last year? I wonder if he got her in a family way, and they're smoothing things over."
Delia coughed. "Speaking of 'in a family way.' perhaps there is something we should discuss."
Kieran turned wide eyes to her, letting the invitation fall out of his hand. "What? That is, are we? Are you...?"
She laughed. "No. Not yet. But I think, sooner rather later I might be. And when that time comes, I want to be in England, closer to my father, to where our new son or daughter might be raised."
"You think we should return?"
She took a deep breath. "I do. I think I'm ready."
Kieran gave her a tender look and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
"All right. Let's go home."
"I'm with you and Alice. I'm always at home when I am with the two of you."
