Lady Griffith's Second Chance

Chapter Twenty-Three

The weather turned after Thomas left to return to Devon, marking the beginning of the end of the warmest weather of the year. Bands of rain swept in, darkening the sky along with the children's spirits. The ground quickly changed to mud after one full day beneath the inclement skies, and Regan refused to let Jack and Maria out to play in it, no matter how sturdy they claimed their boots to be and no matter how much they begged every time they saw her.

On the second day, she tasked them with creating and putting on a puppet show for little Peter to enjoy in the nursery. The show was such a success they brought it down to the drawing room, putting on a repeated performance for the entire family and those servants who were able to abandon their duties long enough to enjoy it.

By the fourth day, the children were bickering with one another over every slight - both real and imagined - and Regan was forced to separate them in order to preserve not only her own sanity but that of every other person in the house.

By the sixth day, like Noah standing at the bow of the ark waiting for the return of a dove with a branch, Regan stood at the window, gazing up at a sky that no longer tore itself asunder to drench the countryside. The rain had stopped the night before, and sunshine - glorious sunshine - scythed its way through the clouds and turned the drops of water still clinging to every surface into rare jewels.

Regan dressed and went down to breakfast, joining Katharine in the sun-dappled parlour. The children would no doubt be bouncing off the walls of the nursery, waiting for her to come up and deliver her verdict to them as to whether they would be permitted to play outside or not. Regan sipped her coffee and smiled at the thought of making them wait just a few minutes more for their pleasure. After driving the household mad for nearly a week, they could suffer for another hour.

"There is something for you," Katharine said, glancing up from her plate long enough to push a small stack of letters towards her side of the table.

Regan pursed her lips at that. Most of the letters were usually for her, but then Katharine's eyes twinkled and she tapped on the topmost letter on the pile. "From Mr. Cranmer."

"Oh." A corner of toast held between her teeth, Regan snapped up the letter, cracked the seal with her thumb, and unfolded the messy pages until she found her way to the beginning of the missive. "Ah, good," she said, scanning the scrawled lines. "Mr. Dale has proven to be a godsend, he says, and they have secured positions for Miss Kennet's former cook and maid within Mr. Cranmer's own staff... Wait. No. His brother's staff. Ah, that makes more sense." She continued reading silently, smiling at a secret joke, then blushing slightly at a more ribald pronouncement she certainly would not be mentioning aloud within Katharine's hearing. "Apparently his brother is currently staying at his country house in Norfolk, so Mr. Cranmer hopes to take a small detour that will bring him back here for a day before continuing on to visit with his brother's family."

Katharine looked up from her own letter, one Regan suspected from the familiar handwriting was from Mr. Winthrop. "Does he say when he will return? I'm sure Jack and Maria would love to see him again, especially now that the weather is not so dismal."

"Hmm." Regan read through another paragraph. "He does not say. Though considering when the letter was dated and the state of the roads, I doubt we will see him for at least another two or three days."

"Oh, Maria will be disappointed."

"I am sure she will survive it."

But for her own part, Regan experienced a small thrill of anticipation. She had not expected to see him again for several weeks, perhaps not until after Katharine's wedding if his visit with his family became an extended trip. But he would be here again within a few days, and Regan had to tamp down the edges of her smile before her mouth threatened to push past the boundaries of her face.