Amy hid a wince. Because she didn’t. Not really. Her estate ran like clockwork, and her steward and staff were so well trained in her methods that they could manage without her, indefinitely if necessary.
Devil take this strange humor. Why on earth was she so discontented? Envying Sally’s style. Even envying Morwenna, who at least had known love before losing it.
Amy and her late husband had been good friends, despite the age difference, but the stark truth was that she’d married him to join him in his farming experiments. When Sir Wilfred Mowbray passed away five years ago, agriculture lost a great innovator. Amy had grieved over a man more mentor than husband.
Her marriage had been her choice, but on this dismal day, she couldn’t help thinking life should hold more than cattle breeding and crop rotation. And she’d never thought that before.
“Kerenza enjoys seeing her cousins.” Sally sat next to Morwenna. “I know you miss Robert, but you’re lucky to have a daughter to love.”
“Yes, she’s a darling. I wish Robert had known he had a child. She’s so like him.”
“And becoming more so,” Amy said. The whole family found a measure of consolation in Robert’s bright, pretty daughter.
“I would dearly have loved children,” Sally said in a muffled voice, her mobile features uncharacteristically somber. She placed her teacup on the tray, and Amy was distressed to see that her hand trembled. “But God didn’t see fit to bless me.”
“I’m sorry,” Morwenna said gently.
Sally shook her head. “Ten years of marriage, and no sign of a baby. Lord Norwood bore his dis
appointment bravely.”
But nevertheless made that disappointment felt, Amy guessed.
“You could marry again, Sally,” Morwenna said.
Amy saw Sally hide a shudder, confirming her vague impression that the Norwood marriage had been unhappy. She was curious, but even she, renowned for her tactlessness, couldn’t ask a woman she hardly knew for intimate details. More was the pity. She had an inkling she and Sally might end up friends.
“No, thank you. I’m too old to take a man’s orders, or change my ways to fit another person.”
Morwenna struggled for a real smile. Amy almost wished she wouldn’t. Even just watching it, the effort involved made her feel tired. “But if you want children…”
Sally’s shrug didn’t mask her regret. “I have nieces and nephews. In fact, I’m going to bring my niece Meg out in London next season. I intend to dive into the social whirl and enjoy myself as much as a woman of my advanced years may.”
To Amy’s surprise, Morwenna gave a derisive snort that sounded like the vital girl Robert had married, rather than the wraith of recent years. “Only if your arthritis permits, you poor decrepit thing.”
Reluctant humor tugged at Sally’s lips. “Well, I’m no longer a giddy girl. Not that I had much chance to kick up my heels. My parents married me off at seventeen.”
“And now you’re only thirty,” Morwenna said, showing more spirit than Amy had seen in ages. “Why not have some fun?”
“You’re a great one to talk,” Amy said, before she remembered that Morwenna needed delicate handling.
Morwenna paled, and her animation faded. “It’s different for me.”
“No, it’s not,” Amy said, justifying her reputation for blundering in where angels feared to tread, but unable to stay quiet. “I loved my brother, but you’ve mourned him for three years. He wouldn’t want you moping around for the rest of your life. Why don’t you go to London with Sally?”
As Morwenna frowned over what she clearly considered an outlandish suggestion, Sally clapped her hands together with enthusiasm. “Why don’t you? I’d love a friend to go about with. Meg is a capable, sensible girl and won’t need me hovering.”
Morwenna glared at Amy. “And what about you?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. You spend so much time stomping through your muddy fields that turnips are practically growing out of your hair—which, by the way, could do with some attention. As could your wardrobe.”
Amy backed away until her hips bumped into the windowsill. “We’re not talking about me.”
“Yes, we are.” Morwenna turned to Sally. “Amy could be really pretty if she made an effort and wore something apart from rags a beggar woman would disdain to put on her back.”
“That’s unfair,” Amy protested, even as she reluctantly admitted that her dress today might deserve the criticism.