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only with the triumphant return of Thomas Walden, now Sir Thomas, fabulously wealthy and a man with powerful influence in the city. This time Seraphina had turned the tables, ignoring her 41
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    parents as energetically as they had ignored her, and run off with her childhood friend.
    They had been enormously content together, a happiness diminished only slightly by the lack of children. The advent of Lady Diana had been an event of great interest to Seraphina, and, busy as she was with her husband's active life and her own charitable projects. Lady Walden had kept up with the little girl's progress. She had shown such an interest in her that they had become more like aunt and niece rather than second cousins, and had addressed each other accordingly. Under no illusions as to her cousin's reclusive nature, Seraphina had done her best to see that her great-niece had some source of affection and interest, even if it were hampered by distance and infrequent visits. For her part, Diana was forever grateful for the marvelous toys and, later on, letters and books that had been showered on her. Any package that arrived from Aunt Seraphina was certain to be intriguing. And on the rare occasions when the Waldens did visit, she had reveled in the interest of the rather forbiddinglooking lady and her jovial husband. As Sir Thomas's vast business interests had increased, the couple had traveled more and more. Their letters and visits became less frequent, though none the less warm, and Diana had always felt the love and support they conveyed no matter what part of the globe they arrived from. Sir Thomas's death and Diana's marriage, occurring at roughly the same time, had focused both ladies' attentions elsewhere, but now on this fine spring morning, they found 42
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    themselves gazing at each other again with mutual satisfaction.
    For her part, Seraphina was no less pleased with her niece than Diana was with her. The promise of beauty last seen in the ten-year-old girl had been fulfilled, and Seraphina was highly gratified to discover that it had also been accompanied by an equal development of character and intelligence. For behind the deep blue eyes, which sparkled with curiosity, there was obviously an active mind that added to a charming manner. Lady Diana welcomed her aunt joyfully, recognizing at a glance that the arrangement that had begun as an accommodation to propriety was going to enrich her life and provide her with the human companionship she had never had.
    Diana's first impression had proven correct, and as the days sped by, each of them discovered more and more to like and admire in the other. They read together, discussed their views endlessly, haunted museums and historic monuments, and made up for the many lost hours of youth each of them had spent buried in the country.
    As time wore on, Diana came to rely on the older woman not only for friendship, but for advice. Sir Thomas had left everything, including his business interests, to his wife. Aunt Seraphina appeared, to Diana at least, to be managing it all with ease and a good deal of success—if the respectful looks on the faces of men from the city who occasionally called on her were any indication.
    Diana was intrigued. Heretofore, she had only been familiar with one means of gaining a livelihood—through the 43
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    land—and her experience with that had been by default, her father only serving as an example of how not to conduct such an endeavor.
    Cautiously at first, Diana had posed an occasional question concerning her aunt's affairs. Aunt Seraphina, delighted by the genuine curiosity and interest behind these delicate inquiries, was more than happy to explain and expand on her activities, while her niece was astonished to learn that by spending money, carefully of course, one could make more money. Soon she began to read beyond the political