Page 94 of In Want of a Wife
London
Three Weeks Later
Celeste,the small black kitten, hopped across the floral bedspread, each time swatting at Lily’s retreating fingers before fumbling forward onto her pink nose.
“Oh, you silly bug, you,” she cooed. “I fear it’s time for us to return to work. Enough playing for now.”
Lily rose, stretched, and cradled the kitten against her chest as she peeked out the window to the street below.
Since moving into Moore Hall last week, the old building had been a flurry of workers throughout the day. Once a hospital during the war and owned by the Duke of Dandridge, Moore Hall was quickly being transformed into Gairdner’s Seminary for Young Girls where Lily was the new headmistress.
Most days, she felt as if she didn’t have a clue where to begin, but she had never been happier.
“Where is that adorable fluff ball?” Kate bellowed from somewhereon the first floor. The floors were being refinished, and the plasterwork redone. Everything echoed for ages.
Lily was eager to choose window coverings and rugs to help dampen the sound. Moore Hall was far too empty for her liking. She looked forward to when the school finally welcomed an army of giggling pupils ready to challenge the world around them.
“We’re up here,” Lily said, shouting down through the open staircase from the girls’ dormitory.
Celeste softly snored against Lily’s chest.
“You cheat,” she whispered, smiling to herself as the kitten relaxed. Oh, to be a cat. That, Lily was sure, was the perfect life.
Kate bounded up the stairs, stopping short as she spotted Lily. “Wait, what’s happened?”
Confused, Lily looked around. Work hadn’t begun on the fourth floor yet.
Her friend laughed, padding over softly to remove the sleeping kitten from her grasp. “I only mean what happened to you, Lilybell? You are glowing this morning.”
Lily felt the blush bright on her cheeks. “It’s only I never thought this was possible for me. I don’t know if I believed I could be as happy as I am today. And content.”
Silence lasted a beat too long, the obvious hanging between them.
She was mostly happy, mostly content. But the fact remained that she hadn’t heard from Rafe, and she assumed he had sailed since their last meeting. He had broken her heart, yet she wished they hadn’t parted as they had.
“Charlotte sent me to fetch you and pry you away from work to take a ride through the park.”
“Well, that does sound nice.” Lily motioned for Kate to head downstairs to the space she was using temporarily for her office. “But I have stacks of mail to read. Charlotte ran an advertisement last week for teachers. If we are to open this autumn as she hoped, there isn’t a moment to spare.”
They entered the small room that was generously bathed in afternoon light. The ceilings were tall, dwarfing Lily’s petite frame. Shehad unpacked her books and lined them up on a small bookcase she had salvaged from another room in the building. But that was all she had for belongings.
She had sold her telescope, however foolish that plan may have been, because she believed Rafe was too scared to admit he wanted something else for himself. And perhaps it had brought him a small slice of pleasure. But now it meant she was alone in a massive building with nothing more than a temperamental kitten and her science textbooks.
Still, it was a start.
“Are you sure you don’t wish to have a position here?”
Kate scrunched up her face, cradling the kitten tighter. “I am going to return to Stonehurst with Charlotte soon. I know when I am not wanted, and I don’t wish to be in Town when the fashionable set return from their summers away.” She spun, walking backward toward the bank of large windows. “I wouldn’t mind caring for Miss Celeste, though.”
Lily chuckled, sorting through the stack of letters. “Sorry, the kitten is not part of the deal. Plus, she’s a biter.”
“So was the Marquess of Brookhouse. I didn’t complain until we were caught. The blackguard.”
“Kate!”
Her friend shrugged, her eyes wide with teasing. It seemed no matter the circumstances, their paths would finally part. At least in London, Lily hazarded to guess she would still see Charlotte and Kate.
“No, don’t make that face, now.”
