Theodora slipped quietly into her mother’s bedchamber the next morning and watched her at work beside the bed. “What are you doing?”

“Packing,” Mama murmured, as she continued to fuss with the few things scattered across the counterpane with only the briefest of glances in Theodora’s direction. “The housekeeper was kind enough to loan me a small trunk of Lord Maitland’s to keep our salvaged possession in. There’s not a lot of my life with your father left, is there?”

“No.” Theodora closed the door behind her, heart heavy when her mother brushed at her eyes. She was weeping again. She had thought Lady Templeton’s company last night had cheered her up, but apparently the countess’ effect was short lived, despite being such an overwhelming character. Dwelling on their loss was only going to make Mama cry harder, but Theodora could understand her need to have the few things they’d gathered from their old life close by. “Why don’t you place them about your room? Make it feel like home?”

“Because, at some point, we will have our own home again. Listening to Lady Templeton talk about her daughter’s upcoming season made me realize I mustn’t become too comfortable here.” She sighed and pressed her fingers to the counterpane. “A lady can suffer delusions that maid service six times a day is perfectly natural and that lifting a finger is completely unnecessary. Lord Maitland has been so kind, so certain that I need do nothing, that I’m starting to feel uncomfortable about it. He has a sister who will need his escort and protection soon for her season. I don’t wish to forget my place. I don’t live here. I am homeless but not without means, thank heavens.”

“What do you mean, you have means?”

Mother sank onto the bed. “Do you recall your father was going to have the clasp on my necklace repaired before he died?”

“Yes. He was so tardy at doing so that I had threatened to send Mr. Small to do the errand for him.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you before today, but it seems your father hadn’t forgotten his promise to me. He was wearing the necklace when he died. The gems were found when his body was prepared for burial.”

Theodora’s eyes burned suddenly, and she covered her face as she burst into tears.

She’d believed recovering financially would take the rest of her life. She had struggled to hide her despair of ever being settled again behind false bravado. She’d thought she’d have to work forever, but that wasn’t the case. “Oh, Papa.”

Her mother’s arms wrapped around her as she sobbed. But relief had already turned to guilt. She’d rather have her father back than the money, but they needed the money the sale of the gems would bring to live. They could travel in comfort back to India, buy land and prosper there. Mama could have her own servants again. As many as she liked, too.

Theodora pushed back from her mother, wiping her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

Her mother was crying, too. “I couldn’t speak of it. I couldn’t think of them without remembering the day your father gave them to me.”

Theodora hugged her mother quickly. “He was so happy to see you wearing them.”

“And so was I.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know. Lord Maitland tried to give them back to me after the funeral but I refused him.”

“He kept them?”

“I suppose he put them away in his safe somewhere.”

“They are not there,” Theodora said out loud. “I know the contents of his safe inside and out.”

Her mother drew back to stare at her. “You shouldn’t snoop.”

“Rent day,” Theodora promised. “You should ask him for the necklace again.”

“It’s not a necklace anymore. The stones are best left with him for now, until I decide what to do.”

Theodora led her mother to the window seat and pressed her down on the soft cushions. “You could sell the necklace. Mr. Peabody on Bond Street would give you a fair deal.”

“I suppose I will have to consider it. Your father told me the gems were very fine.”

“Only the best for you,” Theodora promised as she held her mother’s hand. “If we exchanged some of the gems, we would have a little money to spend and we could live anywhere we liked. We could return to India now.”

Her mother nodded slowly. “The moment we returned to England, you wanted to turn back.”

“That is true,” Theodora said quickly. She did not want to rush her mother into any decision, but she was excited again. There was so much to do if they would travel again. “Home has always been where we made it. Do you remember when we first arrived in India? Months at sea, suffering the worst of the confinement, only to face a strange city and such heat as we’d never felt before. We both looked at each other, knowing life there would take a great deal of adjustment. This is no different.”

“I like it here.”

“Living in England?” Theodora’s smile faltered as her mother nodded. “You want to stay?”

“I like the peace of familiar surroundings and customs,” she murmured.

“I suppose we could stay awhile.” Mother remaining in England without her had never occurred to Theodora. She couldn’t leave her parent at such a time…or ever, she suspected.

Her mother’s face fell. “Without your father, I don’t know what to do with myself. Lady Templeton suggested I remain here, but Lord Maitland’s kindness reminds me of all I’ve lost. I miss your father. I miss the life we had together.”

Theodora caught her mother in a tight hug. “Oh, Mama. I miss him too.”

When her mother began to cry softly, Theodora held her until she stopped. She’d become so busy with her new position that she had forgotten Mama had next to nothing to do with her days. The hours must seem very long with so little to occupy her mind.

Eventually, Mama quieted and drew back. “What can I do? I don’t have callers or call on friends while we’re in mourning. No one has come around to inquire about us since the night of the fire, have they?”

“I’m sure they simply don’t have our new directions,” Theodora suggested, unsure if that was true or not. Someone should have been concerned enough to call by now. “Should you like me to write to our friends and let everyone know where we are, and that we suffered no harm?”

Her mother nodded slowly. “I had not thought of that. People used to come and see your father all the time, and at all hours.”

“I know.” She thought a moment, unsure of what to suggest. “Perhaps someone we know will call today. Shall we go downstairs together and see?”

“I don’t want to watch you toiling over the viscount’s papers again.”

“I am sure that is dull for you,” Theodora murmured apologetically. What fascinated Theodora about business and finance had always bored her mother. “How about instead, we take tea outside? I noticed a small table and chairs in the walled courtyard at the back of the house that no one seems to use. I’m sure Lord Maitland won’t mind if we make it our own for a little while.”

“I’d like that.”

Mama hurried to wipe her tears away, and together they headed toward the main staircase. As they reached the head of it, they heard Lord Maitland in conversation with someone in his study. She had not known he was meeting with anyone today. Curious, Theodora listened carefully.

“You know you are a very pretty lady,” he said, chuckling softly. “Come here, my dear.”

Theodora grimaced. Flirting with another woman in the study? Where she worked? Theodora would put an end to that sort of nonsense immediately. She entered the room without knocking.

“Ah, there you are, Dalton,” Lord Maitland exclaimed. “I was just about to send for you.”

“Were you?” Theodora looked about, but there was only Lord Maitland occupying the space.

“Come meet my new friend,” he begged, gesturing her urgently toward the high-backed chair nearest him.

Theodora rounded the seat—and saw a small black puppy had been placed on the cushion, and it was chewing the brim of Lord Maitland’s hat.

“It’s a dog.”

“Very clever of you to notice,” he said, laughing. “I found this little waif near the stables, and since she was in danger of being trampled, I thought to save her.”

Theodora wasn’t fond of dogs, having been nipped by them as a child too often, but her mother had always doted on them. “Mother, come and see what Lord Maitland found outside today,” Theodora called.

Her mother came in unsmiling, but brightened immediately when she saw the black pup slobbering all over Lord Maitland’s hat. “Oh,” she cried out. “You shouldn’t let her do that,” she chided the viscount.

The man merely smiled. “Do you know about dogs, Mrs. Dalton?”

“I do indeed. I haven’t had one for a long time.” Mama reached for the pup and scooped it up against her chest. The pup licked her face excitedly, and she laughed. “What a darling little creature. Her coat is so soft. Is she yours?”

“I think she might prefer to be yours,” Quinn suggested, scratching the pup behind the ears. “I had a groom bathe some of the dirt out of her coat but there’s likely more than a house pet should have still there. She’s a bit of a lightweight, too. Someone needs to care for her. Would you like her, madam?”

“I would take very good care of her, my lord.” Mama stifled a sniff and then pressed a kiss to the dog’s wriggling head. “Thank you.”

“She’ll need a name if she’s to stay in the house,” he suggested next.

All of her attention focused on the excited pup, Mama nodded. “Soot. Yes, that is a good name for her.”

Lord Maitland threw Theodora a pleased smile, and her heart melted. He’d done just the right thing to cheer her mother up. How clever of him to realize Mama needed something special to distract her from grief, too. “Thank you,” she mouthed to him.

He winked and then stepped to her mother’s side. “I’m sure you and Soot will become the best of friends in no time,” he murmured before leaving them. “The walled courtyard is just the place for her to play.”