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asked.
    “Anthony for a boy.”
    “He was your brother, Claire, is that right?” Charlie asked.
    “He was, and a wonderful man. We lost him nine years ago, and we all still miss him greatly.”
    They were silent for a while as each one remembered the funny, smiling man that Anthony Belmont had been before he lost his life due to an injury he had sustained while serving his country.
    Claire broke the silence. “Do you remember when Mathew and Patience slipped into the kitchen and stole cook’s apple cake, then smuggled it up to the nursery?”
    “Patience did that?” Charles looked at her in surprise, and Patience knew why. She was his sensible, responsible older sister now. They might tease each other, but she never did anything reckless anymore and usually scolded him for doing what she once would have instigated.
    “I remember.” Lucy clapped her hands together. “Mathew blamed one of the footmen, and had to tell the truth when your cook made their life miserable.”
    The tea arrived, and soon Charles had a large slice of Shrewsbury cake in his hand as he lounged in a chair.
    “Simon and Louis will arrive soon, Charles. He is younger than you, but I’m sure you shall get on handsomely,” Lady Belmont said.
    “Is he a cousin of yours, Claire?” Lucy looked at Lady Kelkirk.
    “He is my nephew,” she said with a soft smile. “Anthony’s son, and as you will see, the likeness is quite remarkable.”
    Lucy sent Patience a questioning look, and she wondered when they had missed Anthony’s marriage and who the mother was, but neither said anything.
    “Are you and Lucy both seeking husbands, Patience?”
    The questioned surprised her so much she choked on her tea, then upended the rest of her cup over the bodice of her dress. Looking down at her damp front, Patience hastily pulled the handkerchief from her reticule and attempted to pat it dry.
    “They have been here such a brief time, sister, and already you are upsetting our guests.”
    And that was all Patience needed to further ruin what had been a lovely day. She didn’t look up as Mathew walked into the room.
    “I am sorry, Patience. I did not mean to startle you.”
    “It’s all right, Claire, really,” Patience said as she looked at Claire and saw her distress was genuine. “I’m sure I tossed you in the horse trough a time or two in our youth, so I shall consider it payback.”
    “You did. However, I still had no right to question you that way. If possible, pregnancy has loosened my tongue even further.”
    “Your tongue has always been loose, sister.” A large handkerchief appeared before her.
    “No, that won’t do it, Mathew.” Claire waved it away. “Take Miss Allender somewhere and help her dry her dress, please, Bridgette.” Claire looked to the maid who was replenishing the tea.
    Patience shot Mathew a quick look as she regained her feet. He was watching her, his eyes intent and taking in everything.
    “Thank you. I shall return soon.”
    The maid led her to what she presumed to be one of the many spare bedrooms in the house, where she helped Patience mop up the tea and did her best at drying the dress.
    “I shall take you back to where the family is waiting now, Miss Allender,” the maid said later, when it had nearly dried.
    “There is no need,” Patience motioned for the maid to leave without her. “I know the house and can find my way back, thank you.”
    She wasn’t in any hurry to return to the others now that Mathew was here. Charlie and Lucy would be safe with the Belmonts. Patience left the room, made her way along the hallway and took the stairs upward. There was a gallery up there; she’d seen it once when she’d visited Lady Belmont with her mother.
    She walked into the long, high-ceilinged room seconds later. The lower half of the wall was paneled wood, the upper emerald; it was a calming, restful space that would give her a few minutes alone. She walked slowly down the strip of carpet in the center of the