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Emily hurried over to where her sister still hunched over the vase, patting her on the back. “Oh, Daff, you must be so ill,” she sighed. “We’ll fetch a doctor immediately.”

“I’m sorry,” Daphne mumbled, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I was sick this morning, and I thought it wouldstayin the morning. I didn’t think there would be sickness after breakfast!”

There was a pause where Octavia and Emily exchanged wide-eyed glances.

“Daphne,” Emily ventured, “are you talking about morning sickness? Are you with child?”

A flush spread across Daphne’s face, and her hands hovered over her stomach. There was no curve there yet, of course, but there was a sort of glow about her that virtually screamed that she was with child.

“It’s true,” Daphne admitted, smiling nervously. “I’m going to have a baby.”

There was a brief pause, and then Emily shrieked with delight, bouncing to her feet. She wrapped her arms around her sister, seconds before Octavia joined them, laughing and smiling.

“It’s very early,” Daphne added, pulling away and glancing at them both sternly. “Edward and I don’t want anybody to know. We haven’t decided how to tell Alex yet. Perhaps he’ll be excited. I daresay he will, but I want it to happen on our terms.”

“Of course.” Emily nodded, beaming. “Oh, Daff, I’m so excited.”

“So, you’ll come promenading, then? We can talk about it. I’ve sent a note to Anna, who will be joining us,” Daphne asked, her eyes glinting with mischief. “I can’t wait to tell her. She’ll be thrilled for me, I know.”

Emily bit back a sigh, eyeing the rain pattering outside.

“Very well,” she muttered. “I shall fetch my umbrella. And some galoshes, I think.”

CHAPTER12

The rain had not let up in the slightest. Hyde Park was, unsurprisingly, almost empty. Grumbling to herself, Emily turned up the collar of her coat against the damp and stamped onwards through the puddles to catch up with her sisters.

Anna and Daphne walked arm-in-arm, talking in low voices.

“Motherhood is not easy,” Anna was saying, smiling fondly down at her younger sister. “As long as you know that, you’ll be quite all right.Expectdifficulties. Edward is a good man, and I know he’ll support you. Being with child is… well, it’s atrial. I’ve spoken to women wholovethose few months, and I can’t say that I agree with that, but never mind. We’ll all be here every step of the way, however.”

Daphne gave a relieved smile. “Thank you, Anna.”

With a jolt, Emily realized that Daphne wasafraid. She was scared, nervous about the prospect of giving birth and raising a child.

And I never noticed. I just assumed that Daphne was brash and fearless, as always.

What sort of sister am I?

Before Emily had a chance to sink into her guilt, Daphne twisted around to grin at her, holding out her free arm.

“Come on, Emmie. Walk with us. We’re going to splash through the puddles like we did when we were children.”

Anna snorted. “No,you twoare going to splash through the puddles, and I am going to shriek and try to keep my skirts dry. That’s what I did when you were children, and I shall keep doing it now.”

Emily tried to smile, but she felt sadness bubbling inside her like a stuck fountain.

Anna paused, frowning ever so slightly. “Emily? What is it?”

“It’s just…” Emily paused, sighing. “We’re all so grown-up now. Look at you two. You’re married, both of you, and you have your own homes. You’re a mother already, Anna, and you, Daphne, will be one soon. Even though you already are a mother to sweet Alex. It’s just all happening so fast.”

She could hear the childish tone in her voice, the petulant whine of a girl who didn’t want the world to change around her.

Anna did not sigh or roll her eyes. She wrapped her arm around Emily’s shoulders, pulling her close. Daphne joined in the embrace, the three of them huddled together under Anna’s umbrella, water dappling the muddy puddles around them.

“To live is to change, my darling,” Anna whispered. “It’s not anything we can control. On the other hand, it’s entirely natural to feel ill at ease and unhappy about the changes. Nobody blames you.”

“I feel as though I’m being left behind,” Emily mumbled, her cheek smushed against her older sister’s shoulder. “I love Mama, but it’s soquietwith just the two of us in the house. I miss you both. I miss Papa too, and I thought I’d finished grieving him.”