Warren, his father-in-law, and Landon returned to the drawing room. “We heard dinner was ready, so we thought we’d escort you lovely ladies to dinner,” Warren said.
Iris giggled and winked at Opal, and Opal chuckled. Yes, she guessed her brother had a romantic side to him, though to be honest, she hadn’t really noticed it until now.
“What’s so funny?” Warren asked, eyebrows furrowed.
“Nothing,” Opal replied as she accepted Landon’s arm.
Warren glanced at her and Iris but shrugged and led Iris out of the room.
Biting back the urge to laugh again, Opal turned her attention to Guy and Virginia as Landon told them Opal was expecting a child. After Guy and Virginia congratulated them, they joined Iris’ parents and went to the dining room. And from there, they had a very enjoyable evening.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, Opal was humming under her breath after she got out of the tub. She wrapped the towel around her body then sat at the vanity. She opened the drawer and retrieved her comb. She had just started to work through the tangles in her wet hair when she heard a knock at the door connecting her bedchamber with Landon’s.
Smiling, she called out, “Come in. I’m not the least bit decent.”
She waited, but Landon didn’t enter the room. Instead, he only knocked on the door again.
She called out for him to enter, this time making her voice louder, but he still didn’t come into the room. Putting her comb on the vanity, she asked, “Landon?”
She got no response.
Maybe he was holding something and couldn’t open the door. Maybe whatever he said had something with the letter ‘s’ in it, and he didn’t want to lisp when he talked.
Either way, she went to the door and opened it. Landon wasn’t there. With a frown, she stepped into his bedchamber.
“Landon?” she asked.
Silence.
She went over to the small room off to the side of his bedchamber, but he wasn’t there, either. When she left the room, she scanned the main bedchamber. He made it a habit of sleeping in her room, so it wasn’t surprising that there was nothing to indicate he’d been in his bed. But nothing would indicate he’d been back in his bedchamber since he had dressed and shaved for the day.
Her gaze went back to the door. She had heard the knock. She hadn’t imagined it. Feeling uneasy, she returned to her bedchamber, and after a moment, she shut the door. She almost didn’t, just in case she heard the knock again. But in the end, she did. Then she waited to see if another knock would come. When a minute went by and nothing happened, she returned to the vanity.
She hadn’t imagined the knock. She had heard it. Even when she had pretended to hear and see things that weren’t there while she was living with her mother, she’d never once imagined anything that wasn’t really there.
She closed her eyes. She and Landon had spent considerable time making love during the night. She hadn’t slept much since her marriage. Maybe the lack of sleep, along with her pregnancy, was taking its toll on her. Maybe she should start taking a nap during the day. Maybe then, she wouldn’t be so tired. She released her breath. Yes, that was the answer. She needed to take more naps during the day.
After all, Iris had mentioned being more tired during the first part of her pregnancy. She had mentioned being sick to the stomach, too, though Opal didn’t suffer that particular side effect. She was, however, more tired than normal.
She opened her eyes and studied her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t think she looked unusually tired, but she should make an effort to rest more. Her gaze went to the door connecting her bedchamber with Landon’s. Nothing. Not a single knock.
Clearing her throat, she turned her attention to the vanity in front of her, ready to pick up the comb. She frowned. The comb wasn’t there. She’d put it right on the vanity before she went to Landon’s bedchamber. She knew it. She pulled the drawer open and saw that it was back in there. What was it doing there? She hadn’t returned it to the drawer.
She put it back on the vanity and turned around in the chair. “Is someone here?”
No response.
She stood up and searched the room, sure she would find someone hiding somewhere. She even looked under the bed. No one was there. And everything else was in place. Even the soap was on the small dish by the tub where she’d left it.
With a shiver, she went to the cord along the wall and summoned her lady’s maid. Then she hurried to her armoire and selected the clothing she was going to wear that morning. The sooner she got out of this bedchamber, the better she’d feel.
Miss Kesner arrived just as she had finished slipping the gown on. “Are you in a hurry to go somewhere, my lady? I should have come here sooner.”
“I’m just anxious to get something to eat,” Opal replied.
The fib was a small one. And besides, who would believe her if she told them that she’d imagined a knock on Landon’s door and that the comb put itself back in her drawer?
Opal sat at the vanity and watched as Miss Kesner picked up the comb. Well, at least it hadn’t moved again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was fine. There was nothing wrong with her. She was tired, that was all. Once she got into the habit of taking naps during the day, she wouldn’t imagine things that weren’t happening.
“You have some tangles in your hair,” Miss Kesner told her. “I’ll be as gentle as I can while I work through them.”
She nodded and waited as Miss Kesner gently combed each tangle. The simple action of sitting still while Miss Kesner ran the comb through her tresses had a soothing effect on her. By the time Miss Kesner had finished pinning her hair up, she felt a lot better.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, my lady?” Miss Kesner asked.
“No. I don’t need anything else.”
Miss Kesner turned to leave. Usually, Opal would wait until she was already down the stairs to head on out of the room, but she didn’t feel like being alone, so she followed her out.
Miss Kesner turned to face her. “I’m sorry, my lady. Is there something you thought of that I might do for you?”
“No,” Opal replied. “I didn’t need to do anything else in my bedchamber. I’m ready to go downstairs.”
“Oh.” She offered her a smile that seemed just as stiff as it had the day Opal had interviewed her. “I’m not used to you leaving with me. I thought I had missed something.”
“No, you didn’t miss anything.”
“Good. I want to make sure I’m doing a satisfactory job.”
“You are.”
The two walked down the stairs in silence. Opal wasn’t sure why she wasn’t comfortable with Miss Kesner yet. She kept thinking that she should be. It’d never taken her this long to feel comfortable with any of the staff before.
She wasn’t sure what to think of Miss Kesner. The lady did her job. She was prompt and courteous. But she seemed to lack the kind of warmth others had. Maybe Opal had been too quick to hire her just because Miss Kesner had reminded her of how awkward Landon had been when she’d first met him.
Opal had never fired a servant before. She didn’t exactly relish the idea of doing so now. Besides, what had Miss Kesner done that was wrong? Nothing. She’d done everything that Opal had asked of her. It wasn’t right to let a servant go just because she didn’t feel comfortable around her.
Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Miss Kesner offered her a nod, and the two went their separate ways. Breathing a sigh of relief, Opal checked the drawing room. Not seeing Landon there, she went to the den where he was sorting through some of his books that were on his desk.
“Aren’t you finished yet?” Opal asked.
He glanced her way and smiled. “I’m not happy with the way they are organized.”
Amused, she returned his smile. “I had no idea you were so particular about the way you organized things.”
“Often, I’m not particular. But with the bookth, I like to fin
d the one I’m looking for right away.”
Pleased he hadn’t grimaced at his lisp, she closed the distance between them and hugged him.
He chuckled as he hugged her back. “If I had known moving them around would make you happy, I would have done it before today.”
Laughing, she kissed him. “I’m happy because you feel comfortable with me.” Releasing him, she gestured to the books. “Can I help you?”
“All right.” He removed more of his books from the shelf and set them on his desk. “I want to go in alphabetical order according to title.”
Taking a good look at the shelf, she noted that he had originally set the books according to author. “Will it really make it easier for you to find the book you want by the title?”
He nodded. “I often have the title in mind when I look for a book.”
If it was her, she would probably have organized it by the subject matter because she wasn’t as good at remembering specific titles, but if this method worked for him, then she was more than happy to help.
“Landon, were you down here all this time?” she asked as she sorted through the titles.
“I’ve been down here for an hour,” he replied, setting a few more books on the desk.
An hour? That was about the time she had started to take her bath. So he hadn’t been upstairs when she’d heard the knock on the door. She debated whether or not to mention it. In the end, she decided against it. He would probably think she had imagined the knocking, and he would probably tell her that she might have put the comb back in the drawer before checking his room but forgot she’d done it. She was sure none of that had happened, but how else could she explain what had happened?
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I think I should take a nap today. Would you mind holding me while I do that?”
He gave her a kiss. “I’ll hold you any time you want.”
Good. She was hoping he would say that. At the moment, she didn’t want to be back in her bedchamber alone. Maybe once she got enough rest, she wouldn’t hear and see things that weren’t there. Then she would be able to be alone in the bedchamber without getting scared. For now, she would feel safer if he was with her.
***
The rest of the day passed without anything strange happening, and Opal did feel better about things by the time she woke up the next morning. Everything went smoothly as she got ready for the day. There were no knocks from someone who wasn’t on the other side of the door and her comb stayed exactly where she put it.
By the middle of the day, she was beginning to wonder if she really had imagined everything because she’d been exhausted. After Opal took a nap with Landon, Guy came by to ask Landon if he wanted to join him for a horse ride through the park. Since Landon hadn’t spent much time with his brother since they married, Opal encouraged Landon to go with him.
She, in turn, decided to finish a book she’d selected from the den yesterday. She had been curious about the types of books her husband took an interest in, and to her surprise, he enjoyed a significant amount of fiction. Warren only read nonfiction, and most of that had to do with money. Iris, sharing his love of financial prowess, tended to read the same kinds of books.
So she had been immensely pleased when she saw the wide selection of fiction Landon had. Most of the books were mysteries, and since she hadn’t read one since leaving the country, she took one to read. She had started it yesterday and thought she’d finish it today. It might help her further relax if she could get lost in a story. And it worked. She was done reading within the hour.
She glanced at the clock. It wasn’t too late in the afternoon. She could probably pay Iris a visit. The twins would be awake from their naps by now. It would be nice to see them.
Decision made, she stood up and carried the book to the den. She glanced at the title on her book and got ready to put it where it belonged when she realized something was off. She stepped back and read the titles lining the shelves. It took her a moment to realize they were not in alphabetical order. They were lined along the shelves according to author.
She frowned. Did Landon come back to the den and change the books around after she had helped him sort through the titles yesterday? But when would he have had the time? After they sorted through all the books and put them on the shelves, she had taken a nap. Then they had taken a stroll together, had dinner, and then went to bed.
He had been with her through the morning, except for the half hour when they were getting dressed for the day, and a half hour wasn’t enough time to put all of these books in this kind of order. At least, it wasn’t if he was doing it by himself. A couple of people might have been able to do it. Maybe the butler had helped him? Maybe he had enlisted the help of the maid?
But when would he have had time to get dressed and shave? Maybe he didn’t do it at all. Maybe he had the butler or the maid do this for him. It didn’t seem likely he would do such a thing since he had insisted on organizing the books himself the other times he’d sorted through them, but maybe he was tired of rearranging them.
She drummed her fingers on the book in her hands. After a moment, she glanced at the cover of the book, and upon checking the author’s name, slipped the book into the correct position on the shelf.
No matter how hard she tried, something didn’t seem right about this. She was sure he would have told her that he was going to do this. With a sigh, she scanned the room. The horse inkwell she’d given him was on the desk. The two paintings he’d bought the day they went shopping in the market were on the wall. Everything else was in its rightful place.
She rubbed her head. She shouldn’t overthink this. She should just wait until he got home and then ask him about it. In the meantime, it might be in her best interest to get out of the townhouse and pay Iris a visit. Releasing her breath, she left the den and went down the hall.
Her slippers were soft on the floor, and from behind her, she heard a tapping sound. It didn’t sound exactly like someone was walking, but there was definitely someone making some kind of noise. She turned and the noise stopped.
She frowned. The hallway wasn’t that long, but portions of it were shadowed in places the sunlight coming in through the rooms didn’t reach. Even so, she didn’t see anyone. Perhaps there was a rat. But weren’t rats quieter than the noise she’d just heard?
With a newfound apprehension, she turned back around and proceeded down the hall, this time her steps slower than before. And, just as she feared, the strange tapping sound returned. She focused in on it. Yes, it was a light tap. Maybe it was a rat. She spun around, hoping to catch the vermin. But again, she saw nothing. And she heard nothing.
I’m not imagining it. I did hear it. It was real.
This time, when she took a step toward the entryway, she backed up to it, keeping her focus on the hall, searching for any reasonable explanation to the tapping.
“My lady, is there something you need?” came the footman’s voice from behind her.
Gasping, she turned around.
The footman stood in front of her and offered her a smile. “My apologies, my lady. I didn’t intend to startle you.”
She let out a nervous laugh. “I’m fine. I heard something coming from that direction.” She motioned down the hallway. “I think we have a rat in this townhouse.”
“I’ll have the matter taken care of,” he assured her.
“Thank you.” She glanced at the door. “I think I’ll head out for a couple of hours. Let Lord Farewell know I went to visit my sister-in-law.”
“I’ll do as you wish.”
He went with her to the door and opened it for her. Thanking him again, she headed for Iris’, at once feeling better to be away from the place.
Chapter Sixteen
“It’ll be nice that our children will grow up playing together,” Opal told Iris.
“Yes, it will. I have a feeling that, like us, they’ll be close,” Iris replied.
The two ladies sat in the drawing room. Opal held
Danielle, and Iris held Stuart. The twins had just been fed, and while Stuart was dozing off to sleep, Danielle was wide-awake and seemed to be intent on studying her surroundings.
“You’ll love being a mother,” Iris said. “It’s the most wonderful thing in the world. You’ll have the pleasure of feeling your baby move inside your womb, and then after you give birth, you’ll hold the little darling and marvel that your body could produce such a miracle.”
Opal smiled at Iris’ words, though she couldn’t help but wonder what her own mother had thought while she was pregnant with her. She knew her mother was disappointed that she was a girl. Her mother had wanted all boys. Byron wasn’t the heir because Opal’s father had Warren with his first wife, but if something had happened to Warren, that would have secured the spot for Byron to assume the title. And if something had happened to Byron, she could have taken the title if she’d been a boy.
However, even though Byron was a boy, he and their mother had shared an odd relationship. Growing up, their mother had fussed over him, telling him exactly how he should do even the smallest thing, like how to pronounce each word or how to sit. She’d done the same with Opal, except there had been a contempt she’d had for Opal that hadn’t been there with Byron. She had at least liked Byron. At least until Byron went off to London.
After that, the two mostly argued. Not that Opal could blame Byron. Their mother had lost control over him, and though she had struggled to get it back, he had gained the upper hand each time she went against him. Getting the two into the same room was like waiting for someone to start a fire. Opal could never be sure what either would say that would start the shouting match.
Opal was under no illusion that Byron had been a saint. She’d overheard his coarse talk and knew very well he had his fair share of brandy, gambling, and ladies. These were things Warren had despised him for. Instead of being ashamed that he couldn’t live up to Warren’s expectations, he seemed to enjoy it. In some ways, Opal thought Byron engaged in the behaviors he did out of spite. It was his way of rebelling against their mother and against Warren. And their mother had despised him for it, often commenting that she wished she had never given birth to him, that he had disgraced the family name.
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