She didn’t have to wait long.
“You could have at least heard him out,” Walter grumbled as he fell into the chair opposite with a great crash.
“What was the point? They all say the same thing. Bed rest, a daily sip of a potion so vile it should not be inhaled, and faith that I will see again. I’m tired of it all. Please don’t bring another stranger home with you again.”
She heard the heavy sigh and the creak of furniture as her brother shifted. “Very well. No more strangers.”
Although that might sound like a promise, Imogen knew better than to believe her brother would give up entirely. He’d been all she could have hoped for. He even accepted why she had entered and ended her engagement to Peter Watson so quickly last summer without argument.
“Good.” Imogen kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet beneath her. “Now, what are you doing for the rest of today? I hope you’re not planning to loiter about in case you’re needed again.”
Walter’s chair creaked. “I don’t like to leave you all alone so much.”
Imogen grinned. “I won’t be alone today. Miss Radley sent a note ‘round saying she was coming to call. No doubt she has juicy gossip after the ball last night so I should be well entertained.”
“Good,” Walter said. “As long as it’s not Miss Merton coming to call with her. I will not have that woman in this house ever again.”
Imogen sighed. “Really, brother. You must make allowances for petty ignorance. I blame Miss Merton’s parents for her groundless fears. As if blindness was catching. Her elder brother is an enlightened man. Perhaps in time Merton can convince her I am not diseased.”
In truth, Melanie Merton’s ignorance had been a startling shock at first. Her former acquaintance would not even stand beside her now. Imogen was very glad not to see the expression on the woman’s face anymore but she could hear the odd tremble in her voice from time to time when their paths crossed. Most days, she strove to ignore it.
“I thought she had a brain in her head,” Walter said savagely. Walter could not seem to follow her example.
Imogen hated it when Walter became upset and searched for a way to change his mood. “Well, perhaps it was on holiday when she learned the news about my loss of sight. I forgave her a long time ago. Surely you can do the same.”
A humph was all he managed.
Imogen held out her hand and her brother quickly took her small one in his. She squeezed. “Get along with you now and enjoy the day. Don’t come home smelling like the bottom of a barrel. My sense of smell is very keen now.”
He kissed her cheek. “Miss Merton’s a fool but we’ve an invitation to dine with them tonight. Valentine believes that time will prove her fears groundless. I won’t allow you to hide from her as if she is right.”
Imogen shook her head. “Be sure to offer my apologies. Don’t argue. You know you’ll only lose.”
Another deep grumbling sigh and Walter withdrew from the room with a reluctant farewell. He thudded around the entrance hall and then the front door opened and closed with a heavy crash. Imogen clenched her hands together, disappointment and resolve filling her. Dinner parties were utterly impossible. She didn’t dine before others anymore as there had been too many messy accidents in the past, moments where nervous laughter was smothered but heard anyway as she accidentally scraped food onto the tablecloth or knocked over a wineglass. However, she did miss the lively conversation that often sprung up between her neighbors. They were such a complex range of characters, all playing out their lives with no idea she’d been studying their every sly look or indiscretion and basing the occasional character on their foibles.
She rested her head against the back of her chair and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the loud ticking of the clock while she sat doing nothing. In the past, these quiet moments alone with her thoughts had helped her solve problems in her story telling. But now that she could not write, her story ideas only tormented her with no hope of release.
A floorboard creaked, and even though she couldn’t possibly see, she opened her eyes.
“Drat,” a feminine voice muttered close by. “Still not quiet enough to get by you undetected.”
“Honestly, Julia, that’s not a nice trick to play on a blind woman.” Imogen scowled but found her friend’s attempts to fool her sweetly endearing. Julia Radley meant no harm and it gave them something else to talk about besides gossip. The exuberant young lady was the perfect distraction on a dull day.
“I’m testing your hearing,” Julia warned her footfalls coming closer. “You claim it’s superior now that your sight has deserted you, but you didn’t notice my arrival over the noise of your brother’s departure. You’ve a way to go before you can claim pre-eminence yet.”
Imogen laughed and held out her hand. “How are you today?”
Julia took it before thumping onto the cushion at her side. “Oh, well enough.” She wriggled around at Imogen’s side and the sound of a twig snapping reached Imogen’s ears. “How did that get there? Never mind. I definitely think I can make it out my window and scale the trellis in less than half a minute. I’ve done it twice already today.”
Imogen raised an eyebrow. Julia enjoyed setting herself impossible challenges. Her latest scheme was attempting to escape her house unnoticed and by any unconventional methods possible. Climbing out the window was new though. “In a gown?”
“Of course in a gown.” There was a pause. “I did acquire a pair of Linus’ old breeches before I made the attempt, adjusted so they would stay securely affixed to my waist and wore them underneath my gown.”
Imogen pressed her hand to her chest in horror but laughed anyway. There was nothing Julia wouldn’t do to escape being a complete lady. “A wise precaution. Suitably scandalous but at least if you fall and become entangled in the trellis there’s not a chance of your rescuer seeing more than he should.”
Julia tutted. “As if I’d need rescue.”
She squeezed the hand she held, imagining Julia’s indignant face. The only person who would need rescue would be the gentleman Julia set her heart on to marry. Her friend hadn’t mentioned anyone for the past year, not since Imogen’s own marital prospects had ended, but it was only a matter of time before the young woman singled out a handsome, dashingly romantic man she meant to sweep off his feet. “What shall we talk about today?”