'Where's Emma?' Ethan asked as he walked into his study to find his mother calmly leafing through his address book. 'Anything I can help you with?'
'No, I've got what I want, thank you, Ethan,' she said, untouched by his sarcasm. 'And Drew has taken Emma down to the river to feed the ducks. Now I come to think of it, I think she took him,' she mused. 'A forceful child.'
'It didn't occur to you I might not want my daughter to wander around in the company of a total stranger?'
'Drew is not a total stranger.'
'To me he is. You'll have to pardon me if I don't find your character reference comforting. You can be as irresponsible as you like about your choice of friends, Mother, but when it comes to my children—' He drew a sharp breath of displeasure. 'It's bad enough that I have to stomach the man under my roof. Which way did they go?'
'I wouldn't know, darling. Before you go,' she said, picking up the telephone, 'you didn't have any plans for tonight, did you?'
Ethan paused in the act of leaving, a suspicious frown on his face. 'Why?'
'I thought it might be nice to invite a few old friends round tonight.'
'I was hoping for a quiet night—'
'Don't be such a bore, darling!' she chided briskly. 'You'll be old before your time. I've already spoken to Delia,' she expanded.
'Who is Delia?' he asked in confusion.
'Your housekeeper.' She shook her head at her offspring's obtuseness. 'And she's quite happy with the idea. She's recommended some caterers. Naturally I'll invite some of your friends too.'
"That won't be necessary, Mother.'
'It's no trouble,' she assured him. 'I've already spoken to that nice secretary of yours and she's ringing round for me.'
'You rang her at home?' He shook his head in disbelief. 'You're impossible!" he growled. 'Do as you like,' he said, wiping his hands of the whole affair. 'I knew you'd like the idea,' she said imperturbably.
'Just a small party—forty or so.'
Hannah blinked as her mother-in-law placed a friendly arm around her shoulders. 'Tonight? Isn't that short notice? Perhaps some people won't be able to come,' she suggested hopefully.
'Oh, everyone accepted.'
'I'm not sure Ethan—'
'Oh, Ethan was very enthusiastic about it.'
'He was?' Maybe it was his lack of confidence in her own abilities as a hostess that made Ethan normally veto any large gatherings. 'What shall I do?'
'Don't worry about that; everything is in hand. What are you going to wear? That red dress you had on last night was quite charming. I hope you've got a few more like that in your wardrobe. I want to show you off to my friends.'
'Hannah, whose head was spinning, thought it was time to get a few things straight. This was the same woman who had begged her son not to marry her; Hannah had heard her with her own ears.
'I thought you didn't like me. You didn't want me to marry Ethan.'
'Quite right, but that wasn't because I didn't like you.'
"Then why...?'
'I knew Ethan didn't love you, and in my view marriage with love is hard enough, but without it...' She lifted her shoulders expressively. 'I could also see you loved him.' Her blue eyes grew compassionate as she watched the colour flee dramatically from Hannah's face. 'I didn't want to see you hurt.'
'Did you tell Ethan?' Hannah asked, as her heart continued to hammer sickeningly. She couldn't bear the humiliation if he'd known all along. No, he couldn't have, she reasoned. If he'd even suspected how much her heart had been involved in her decision to accept his proposal, he'd have run^a mile.
'What a silly"question!' Faith's clear, amazingly youthful laughter rang out. 'I knew he was acting out of concern for the children. Catherine's death was a terrible blow for him; he hadn't recovered. I know he didn't turn to the bottle or neglect his work, but he was hurting more than anyone guessed.'
Not more than I guessed, Hannah thought sombrely. She didn't need anyone to explain to her how unemotional Ethan's motivation for marrying her had been. It was something she was reminded of in a hundred little ways every day.
'I can see now that you've helped him recover.'
'I haven't done anything!' Hannah protested, embarrassed by the warmth of the other woman. Faith was in danger of overestimating Hannah's influence—she'd probably read all sorts of things into that embarrassing but unrepresentative scene she'd witnessed the previous night. Ethan's recovery had more to do with the resilience of his character than anything Hannah had done. Whilst he might be inexplicably sexually attracted to her, she hadn't heard, or expected to hear, a single word of love on his lips.
'You've loved him,' Faith said warmly, 'and as his mother I can only thank you.' She linked her arm with Hannah's and they walked out onto the terrace. "This view is the one thing I really miss about this house,' she confessed, inhaling the heavy fragrance of the autumn day. 'It's so English. It makes me feel quite nostalgic, but then it isn't raining. I find it hard to be nostalgic about rain.'