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“The girls I’ve danced with always complimented my cravats and made me feel ten feet tall,” Jacob said with a smile.

Susan shrugged. “I don’t pay much attention to men, but I like it when people are kind. It makes me feel all warm.”

Caroline had tears in her eyes by the end of tea. This had been a step in the right direction. Not just for her efforts to win over Arabella, but in healing her family.

Her heart felt full to bursting.

* * *

Arabella packed up the last of her belongings and looked around the bedchamber that had been hers since she moved in with Matthew and Rachel. She would miss living here, but her heart felt light as she thought of the little cottage by the sea that she had purchased last week.

It was a dream come true.

Rachel peered in through the doorway. “Matthew has gone to borrow a wagon and a donkey to bring everything to your new home.”

Arabella felt a pang. “You truly don’t mind me leaving?”

“You shall be a scant five-minute walk away,” Rachel said, and drew her in for a hug. “We shall be frequent visitors, and you are always welcome for Sunday dinner.”

Rachel was looking less peaky these days now that she was further than half-way through her pregnancy.

“I loved having you live with us. But I understand the need for independence. I left my parents’ house to marry Matthew and set up my own life, and I never thought that you could have the same opportunity if you didn’t marry. Of course you may wish to have a home of your own. It’s perfectly natural.”

Natural.

After so many years of fearing that she was anything but, the word felt like a healing balm.

“Thank you, Rachel. You’ve always been the best of sisters. I could not love you more if you were my sister by blood instead of marriage.”

She felt tears welling, and Rachel poked her gently in the arm.

“There’s no need for tears. This is a happy occasion. Come now, I hear the wagon outside—let’s get you settled.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

The cottage was everything Arabella had hoped it would be.

After Matthew and Rachel left, Arabella wandered through each room. All of them were hers. It was more than large enough for one person. There was an extra bedroom that she would use as a studio, and a parlor where she would entertain as she pleased. There was a thriving kitchen garden in the back of the house before the grass tapered off into sand.

She could set out a dinner or tea of her choosing for her own guests and welcome them to her own space. There was nothing that felt more freeing.

She spent the rest of the day unpacking the few cartons of her belongings. Matthew had already arranged all the furniture for her, some of which came from his attic, and some of which she had purchased new from her savings.

Tomorrow she would set about finding servants to live with her, but tonight, the house was her own. She latched the door, changed her chemise, and pulled the sheet to her chin when she got into the bed.

Byron leapt onto the bed, unconcerned about his change in surroundings, and she pulled him close to her chest for comfort. She sank her fingers into his thick fur and listened to him purr. It made her feel like everything could be all right.

It was an unfamiliar view of the night sky through her window, and the sounds were different here. The waves were louder, the crickets quieter.

There was one sound that she hadn’t heard in years, and she sat up like a shot when she heard it.

Pebbles. Thrown at a glass window.

Her heart stuttered in her chest.

But the odds of it being miscreants were low.

The odds of it being a Reeve—well, she would put her money on that in a second.