Six Months Later

Emilia sighed as Anna ran down the dunes and onto the sandy beach. There was no chance of keeping up with her now.

“Don’t run off too far, Anna! I can’t keep up!”

“I’ll be fine!” Anna called back, her voice almost carrying on the wind. “Don’t fuss so much, Emilia!”

Beside Emilia, Thomas laughed.

“You do worry too much about Anna. She’s going to be fine.”

Emilia huffed. “You know what she’s like. She gets easily distracted.”

“She’s a child. That’s allowed.” Thomas wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and kissed her head. “And the easily distracted thing sounds like something she’s taken from you.”

“Not fair!” Emilia swatted his hand. “I don’t get easily distracted.”

“You do when I’m around.”

He did have a point. Emilia could be very focused when needed, but once Thomas was about and she was aware of what was on his mind, that focus just disappeared. Unless it involved her husband, preferably naked and all over her. Even with a few changes to her body, their lovemaking was remarkably still strong. And inventive with their positions.

Emilia spread a hand over her swollen belly. Just a couple more months, and she would have a baby of her own. It would be nice to have their child finally here; Emilia enjoyed the feeling of knowing she would be having a baby, but the physical changes towards the end were frustrating. She felt fat and seemed to lumber about. It wasn’t very attractive, but Thomas didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed to find her more enticing, which had surprised Emilia. She didn’t think a pregnant woman would be arousing.

Then again, she didn’t think she would truly understand men.

The main worry had been Anna, who might have seen the pregnancy as replacing her. She had been excited for Emilia to join the family, but the news of another child would have brought a different reaction. That wasn’t the case, and Emilia watched as Anna got more and more delighted about the chance of becoming a big sister. She wasn’t sure, out of the three of them, which one was the more excited.

At least they would be able to have some time together, as a family of three, before they became a family of four. Thomas had some relatives he hadn’t seen in a long time and had been unable to attend his wedding, so they were travelling to meet with them. The relatives lived in Devon, right on the coast, so they were taking the weekend to travel; Emilia couldn’t manage too long in the coach before it got too uncomfortable. They had just spent the night in Southampton and were taking a walk before breakfast and moving on.

Emilia couldn’t wait to be done with the travelling. She hadn’t been keen on it before she was pregnant, and now it just made her feel worse. Thomas had promised to wait on her hand and foot if she did this for him, and that was what Emilia was aiming for.

She was starving now. Hopefully, they would be able to eat sooner rather than later. They just needed to make sure Anna didn’t go off too quickly. She seemed to have grown physically in the last six months, especially since turning thirteen two months before. It was like she was three inches taller and much faster. Emilia couldn’t barely keep up with her.

At least she was old enough that Emilia could take a step back for a bit, and she wasn’t the governess anymore, not officially, so there was that.

Thomas started to slow, and Emilia stopped. She looked up to see her husband staring ahead of him, his smile fading.

“Darling?”

“We’ve got company.”

Emilia looked around, staring as she saw a tall, thin middle-aged man walking towards them. His thick silver hair was blowing gently in the sea breeze, his hat in one hand and his cane in the other. He looked like every other person they had passed in the early morning, someone who was out for a walk before breakfast. It was brisk but warm enough for one. But from Thomas’ reaction, he didn’t think this was a mere coincidence.

From the look on the other man’s face as he approached, he had expected to come across the two of them at some point.

“Thomas?”

“It’s fine, love.” Even as he spoke, Thomas’ arm tightened around her. “Let me do the talking.”

The older man approached them, stopping before Thomas. Emilia could feel the awkwardness in the air as the man gave Thomas a slight bow.

“Mr. Andrews, and I presume this is Mrs. Andrews?”

“Yes, Lord Latimer.” Thomas’ nod was pleasant enough. “Good morning.”

Was this Evelyn’s father? She stared at the man, who was pointedly looking away from her. He wasn’t even looking right at Thomas, choosing to look at a point over his shoulder.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Thomas said slowly. It was like he was expecting an ambush.

“We’re visiting my daughter before she gets on the boat.” Latimer shrugged. “One last excursion, so to speak.”

“On the boat?” Thomas blinked. “Evelyn’s leaving the country?”

“She’s going to America. My brother moved out there a few years ago, so she’s going to live with him. We decided that it would be best for her, considering everything that has happened.”

Emilia stared. She hadn’t heard anything about Evelyn since just after she left, and she assumed that things had been settled. Time and distance would have been enough for Evelyn to realize that she had been behaving like a fool and she would turn into something close to a decent person. Emilia knew that the woman was not permitted to come back to Ipswich, having been shipped off to stay with relatives, but to send her out of the country entirely? That said something more was going on that she didn’t know about.

“Is she still determined to have my husband?” she asked.

Thomas grimaced. Latimer nodded with a grimace.

“I’m afraid so. She became hysterical when she heard that he married again. My daughter was determined to come back and find Thomas again. So, we decided it would be better if she was taken out of the country entirely. We only got word from my brother last week that she could go to America with him.”

Emilia looked up at her husband. “Did you know about this?”

“Latimer notified me of Evelyn’s decision to come back and I told him that I would not have her on our property anywhere near you or Anna. Especially when you were with child.” Thomas sighed.

“Just so, Mr. Andrews.” Latimer sighed. “I don’t want to have to do this with my daughter, but I can tell that her obsession is not healthy. Even time in Southampton hasn’t worked, and she’s still desperate to come back.”

“Is she going to go willingly?” Emilia asked. “I can’t see her doing that.”

“She won’t have a choice. She needs to realize that what she believes in is very unhealthy. A change of scenery will do her good.” Latimer paused. “She is at our hotel, refusing to leave, but if she sees you from her window…”

“We were only stopping here on our way to Devon.” Thomas’ arm tightened around Emilia’s shoulders. “We won’t be here long enough for her to know.”

“I understand.” Latimer glanced down at Emilia’s belly. “And congratulations on the impending arrival, Mrs. Andrews.”

“Thank you.”

There was another moment of awkward silence. Then Latimer cleared his throat and tapped his cane on the ground.

“I… I’ll leave you to it, then. And I hope you don’t hold any bitterness over Evelyn’s actions, Mr. Andrews.”

“Towards you and Lady Latimer, no.” Thomas shook his head. “You’re not responsible for how she thinks. And I’m sure all of our lives will be a lot easier once she’s gone.”

Latimer nodded stiffly. Then he stepped around them, bowing his head, and hurried on. Emilia turned to watch him go. She did have some sympathy for the man, who had to deal with a daughter who refused to listen to anyone when it came to reason. She had had seeds planted in her head and they grew rapidly. It was just a shame no one was able to cut them down before it got too much.

“Emilia?” Thomas was frowning at her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Emilia sighed. “I know she’s done a lot and she almost ruined everything for you, but I do feel some pity for Lady Wilson.”

Thomas blinked. “You feel pity for the woman who chased off all the governesses I hired and tried to make me send my daughter away?”

“I said I felt some pity, not a lot of it. Your grandmother has a lot to answer for.”

“I won’t argue with that.” He grunted. “If she was still alive, she would certainly be saying that I should have married Evelyn after Olivia died, almost as soon as was publicly possible. I doubt she would have approved of us.”

Emilia didn’t think she would have liked the grandmother. She had started all this and was unfortunate to pick a woman who was so easily led that she was prepared to ruin everything else just to have him. She squeezed Thomas’ arm.

“Good thing you don’t listen to old ladies long dead, then, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t have listened to her when I was alive. Besides,” Thomas drew her in close and kissed her softly. “I don’t need her approval. Just my own.”

Emilia liked the sound of that. A lot. She leaned into the kiss and drew back with a smile.

“How long until we get to where we’re going?” She asked.

“If we leave soon after breakfast, we’ll get there by early afternoon.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to resting properly.” Emilia tugged her husband’s head down. “After you’ve made up for taking me on a long journey.”

Thomas groaned.

“You’re going to make me your servant for the time we’re staying at my cousin’s place, aren’t you?”

Emilia grinned.

“Definitely.”

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