The next day found Isabella sitting stiffly in one of the arm chairs in her mother's parlor, pretending to be occupied with a piece of embroidery so as to avoid conversation with her mother and her aunt. As she pushed the needle and thread through the fabric, she listened to their words.
"...My dear sister," said Catherine. "I find myself in a bit of a predicament."
"What sort of predicament?" said Therese, hesitantly. Isabella frowned. Her mother never stood up to her Aunt Catherine and Isabella herself had never truly felt up to the daunting task.
"I find myself having lost a great deal of money in recent times," she said. "I was forced to sell the manor."
Isabella recalled her aunt's dark and cold home and thought that that was not necessarily a bad thing.
"Rather than buy another smaller house, I was wondering if I might stay here with you?"
Isabella froze, wishing that anything but that might happen.
"Of course," she continued. "You couldn't really expect me to lower my standard of living, now that I'm older and set in my ways? It would be unthinkable!"
"Of course it would," murmured Therese. "But don't you think that you had better ask..."
"Do you have an objection, sister dear?"
"No...No of course not."
"Mother," broke in Isabella. "I just don't think that..."
Aunt Catherine turned a withering gaze to Isabella. "Tsk, tsk. Your child presumes to argue with you, Therese. If I had children, they would certainly have been better behaved."
"Yes, Catherine," mumbled Therese, her gaze towards her daughter a sorrowful one. "Isabella," she said. "You're dismissed."
As Isabella passed her mother, she caught the small smile that Therese let only her daughter see. She was allowing Isabella an escape, allowing her to leave and go to do as she pleased.
Isabella entered the hallway, allowing anger at her aunt to enter her. Her Aunt Catherine! Come to live in the palace! Of course, Catherine would shoot down any argument that Therese made; she'd make her feel guilty until she consented.
She was still fuming as she entered the parlor she shared with Meredith.
She looked up to see her companion standing by the window, her shoulders slumped.
"Meredith?" she said, trying to control her anger at her aunt. "What's wrong?"
Meredith immediately straightened and turned to face Isabella. "Nothing," she said, smiling. Isabella would have believed her, if it had not been that she had seen her a moment ago looking so defeated. The bruise across her right cheek didn't help her impression that something had happened to greatly upset her friend.
"What happened?" she said, coming to stand before Meredith and examining her bruise.
"Nothing major," said Meredith, laughing. Isabella wondered if she was only imagining that it sounded a bit forced. "I was putting your Aunt Catherine's books up on a shelf in her room and I was clumsy; I picked up too many and one of them, a rather heavy volume, fell and hit me in the face. I must admit that it was a bit painful. However, I have no one to blame for it but myself." She shrugged, but her gaze soon turned worried once more.
"Isabella? Do you think that Antony has gotten my family alright?"
Isabella smiled.
"I see; you're just worried about your family." She laid a comforting hand on Meredith's shoulder. "I'm sure that he's reached Hampshire and Dunkirk by now, at least. As to whether he's gotten your family...He promised to send a messenger ahead with a note once they grew close to home. I'm sure your family will be fine, and I know that Kade is looking for his father and your brother with all he has."
"Kade's father was taken?" said Meredith, looking worried. "Oh, I feel so selfish! I've been worried about Nash and my friend has also suffered a loss." She looked truly penitent.
Isabella smiled. "I'm sure that he would appreciate your concern." After a few moments, she sighed. "I have some other, less happy news to deliver. My Aunt Catherine is fixing to make herself a permanent house guest." She frowned in disgust and turned to Meredith, noting with concern the fact that her friend's face seemed to have fallen. "Of course," she added. "She'd need to find a permanent lady's maid and you would no longer have to serve her."
Meredith simply nodded. They were both silent for a few moments. Isabella finally sighed. "I suppose I should go back and see how my mother is," she said. Meredith nodded once more and Isabella left, not being able to help her suspicion that not everything was as it seemed.
Meredith sighed heavily in relief once Isabella left. She knew her friend hadn't quite believed her story about how she had gotten her bruise. Since Aunt Catherine was spending the day with her sister, she had some time to herself. She tied her cloak around her shoulders, drawing the hood over her head. It had grown quite chilly recently, as the days drew closer to winter, and she was glad for the extra warmth. Now that Isabella was gone, she realized how foolish it was to leave her letter to Antony in a place where it might be easily found. It held too much that she wanted kept secret.
She crossed slowly to the desk and removed it, holding it, still sealed, before her. Now all her secrets were held in this letter. Perhaps she could live a bit easier now that they were written down. She wouldn't reopen it, reread it, or dwell over it. She crossed to the hearth fire and knelt before it, giving the letter one last final look before she fed it to the hungry flames.
Standing, she turned and left the room, drawing her cloak close about her.
Exiting the palace, she traversed the grounds, seeking solace in the gardens. As she walked the paths, she heard rustling in the bushes.
"Hello?" she called, her voice shaking a bit. A man stood, his head coming into view over the bushes. He was brandishing a pair of garden shears.
"What are you doing in my gardens?" he said, gruffly.
"Oh!" she said. "Your gardens! I was under the impression that this land belonged to the king of Astoria." She raised an eyebrow and studied the old man. She had a feeling he was all bluster.
"Well...Of course they do! But I'm the head gardener! I'm the one who takes care of these flowers and grasses and shrubbery!"
"They're very lovely," said Meredith, smiling.
He looked very pleased by her noticing. "You think so?" he said. "You should see them in summer; they're even more beautiful then."
"I believe you!" she said.
The man smiled, but, after a few moments, he frowned. "What happened to your face?" he said, gruffly.
"I was clumsy; it was just an accident," she said, quickly, feeling guilty for the lie.
He shrugged and returned to pruning the topiary. Meredith arranged her hood to cover her face.
"I...I have to go," she said.
Antony brought Emery to a halt and turned, waiting for the others to catch up. They had departed early in the morning, and he could tell that Jade Ellingston and her two daughters were strangers to heavy riding.
"We'll take a break for the noon meal here," he said, dismounting. The guards that were escorting them to King's Palace also came to a stop and dismounted, forming a protective circle around the king and his guests. Kade had stayed behind with the army in Hampshire.
Antony helped Meredith's mother from her horse, and then her two daughters. One of the soldiers brought out food from a saddlebag.
As the others ate, Antony walked to a nearby stream and stood, looking into the distance. He glanced back at Jade, Samantha, and Prissy. The younger girls seemed to be enthused by the idea of going to the palace. It was something to distract them from their brother's disappearance. Their mother, however, was a different story.
Antony couldn't help but feel that she watched him closely, as if a part of her didn't trust him or his soldiers. He sighed and turned back to the group as they finished their quick meal. He couldn't do anything to change whatever opinion she had of him, other than to prove by his actions that he was trustworthy.
"We'll ride for a few more hours," he said, as he rejoined them. "Then we'll camp for the night. We'll hopefully arrive tomorrow afternoon."
As he helped the younger girls mount their horses, part of him wished that they were able to ride faster. He couldn't help but anticipate the look of happiness on Meredith's face when she saw her mother and sisters.