“Jenson, please inform my brother of his friends’ arrival and let Mrs. Bridge know that we will be two more at dinner.”
“Very good, My lady.”
“I sent a letter ahead of us but it looks like Jacob’s horses are as fast as the express mail,” Edmund said with a frank and apologetic smile. “We came as soon as we heard the news, and I can see that we’ve taken you by surprise."
“I thought you were the doctor when I heard the horses,” Diana explained, still feeling great relief by simply looking at Edmund’s face. “He’s due to call again before dinner, you see.”
“We’re here now and at your service in whatever manner is required, Lady Diana.”
“Just Diana, please. You’ve never called me Lady Diana before.”
“Yes, but you were a child then. Now, you’re a grown woman who seems to be running the whole household.”
Diana smiled at his words, feeling warmth at his recognition of both her actions and her adulthood.
“How is your father?” Edmund asked.
“No better, sadly. The doctor is expected again this evening. My mother won’t leave his side, but she really must eat and sleep sometime.”
“My mother has given me a letter for Lady Templeton, and she sends you her love.”
Tears came to Diana’s eyes for a moment for the first time since her father had fallen ill. She had been too busy looking after everyone else and had no time to cry. She blinked them quickly away, not wanting her brother’s friends to find her childish, especially Edmund.
“I’m so grateful that you came,” she said. “I fear that Percy and I will have to take you at your word on the services you offer. There are so many things that my father normally deals with, and my mother is in no frame of mind to advise us. So much is new to me and Percy is…”
Her smile dropped a little at the corners, and she felt the tears pricking her eyes again.
“Percy is Percy,” Edmund said simply with a reassuring smile. “We know him well enough.”
Diana nodded, glad for his easy understanding. Then, she suddenly remembered the duties of hospitality, forgotten in the surprise of their arrival and the circumstances surrounding it.
“Can I get you something to eat or drink? You must have been traveling all day. When Jenson returns, he will show you to your rooms to freshen up. Edmund will have the room next to Percy, as usual, and Lord Wycliff can take the Blue Bedroom.”
“With thanks, we can take care of ourselves,LadyDiana,” Edmund shook his head. Then, he laughed a little. “I half can’t believe that the same little girl who was playing ball on the lawn with her friends a few years ago is now assigning my bedroom.”
“Time moves on,” she said lightly, strangely glad by his observation. “We all have to grow up, eventually."
“You have definitely grown up, Diana,” Edmund said, and when Diana looked at him now, she saw something slightly different in his gaze. Perhaps more interest, or perhaps just a different kind of interest. The feeling that passed through her was like the one she felt when she imagined dancing with her imaginary partner.
The images merged, and for a fraction of a second, it was Edmund in her imagination, whirling her around the ballroom floor in his strong arms. She felt her cheeks flush red with the fear that her thoughts could be somehow visible on her face. Edmund was still looking at her intently, and she wondered what was in his mind.
His red-haired friend cleared his throat then.
“May I be introduced, Edmund? If you’ve finished reminiscing…”
Edmund put his arm around Jacob’s shoulders.
“Of course, forgive me. Lady Diana, this is my good friend Jacob Boyle, fourth Marquess of Wycliff. He was at Oxford with Percy, but I don’t believe he’s ever met the rest of your family.”
Jacob and Diana bowed to one another formally but then raised their heads and smiled.
“Thank you for coming too, Lord Wycliff. Edmund is an old family friend. Please forgive me if I seemed to ignore you.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Lady Diana. We’re here to help, not to be waited on.”
“Thank you so much,” was all Diana could say again, once more fighting back the tears that seemed to well up in her eyes in waves, trying to break through.
She was glad that Percy now slipped into the room and greeted his friends heartily, allowing her to slip away once more into the background and check with the staff about arrangements for meals and bedrooms. Once more, Mrs. Bridge and Jenson already had everything in hand, but they seemed pleased to be given certainty by a member of the family.