Ethel swallowed her disappointment when Slater told her Lady Letitia was
not home.
“When do you expect her back?” she asked the butler. “Has she gone
visiting?”
Slater replied that Lady Letitia went walking.
“Ah, then she cannot be much longer.” Ethel sailed inside the house with
the easy confidence of a longtime resident. “I shall wait. Is she in the
gardens?”
“No, her ladyship went in the direction of the fields and took her
sketchbook with her,” Slater explained, following her down the hallway.
“Sketching?” Ethel held back a smile. So…Percy’s little wife had a hobby.
Probably dabbled in some horrid watercolors. And wasn’t it silly to walk in
the fields in such heat, with a storm brewing nearby? To the contrary, it
was brilliant, she decided, barely hearing Slater’s comment
