Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
But the more she pondered it, the more she felt sure a life was growing inside her, a baby made of her and August together. How wonderful and awe-inspiring! With so much family around them, they’d have plenty of help learning to be good parents. Townsend and Jane had brought their older children to enjoy the festivities, as had her brother Wescott and his wife Ophelia. Rosalind and Marlow had two toddlers up in the nursery. Indeed, the young ones would grow up playmates, just as they had all done years ago.
Now, from that group of playmates, she and August were married, and Marlow and Rosalind as well.
“Are you quite all right?” asked Rosalind.
Elizabeth realized her eyes were filling with happy tears. “I’m fine. Just…emotional.”
“You are so, so definitely having a baby.” Her friend laughed. “Let’s go find our husbands and seek out some courtyard where we might find fresh air. It’s stifling in here.”
They reunited with the men, all of whom seemed relieved to extricate themselves from the press of the crowded stateroom. They went out to the palace courtyard for a while, but found it too busy with the constant arrival and departure of the king’s guests. Back inside, Marlow and Wescott struck up a conversation with a man who turned out to be the architect of the new palace expansions. He spoke at length about the changes, guiding their group here and there.
“Perhaps I ought to take you home,” said August. “You will grow tired.”
“I’m quite all right.” After her conversation with Rosalind, Elizabeth dreaded to be seen as too “delicate.” “We haven’t even visited with Carlo or Felicity yet.” She noted with satisfaction that she no longer felt any jealousy or sadness at the thought of Felicity. “I wonder where they are. I saw them in the main room earlier.”
She and August walked about, passing their parents again and exchanging greetings with some of their acquaintances. They saw the king seated across the room and turned as one to avoid his presence, nearly colliding with a bevy of royal guards. In fact, the guards suddenly seemed to be everywhere, reminding Elizabeth of her previous royal adventure.
“Perhaps we ought to go home after all,” she told August.
But as she spoke, Felicity appeared at her side, flanked by her husband.
“Hello, Felicity. Prince Carlo.” She curtsied to the royal couple. “I was just thinking I might have missed you…”
Her words faded as she noted Felicity’s panicked expression. The couple’s agitation was palpable.
“Elizabeth, darling. I must have a word with you,” said Felicity, pulling her aside.
“What is it?”
The guests about them turned to listen. Guards hovered. Even the king heaved his bulk from his chair.
“My youngest boy. My baby Antonino. He’s missing and we can’t find him. I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh, dear.” She clasped Felicity’s trembling hands. “Why, he’s barely three years old. He cannot have gone far.”
“But the guards are searching everywhere, and he hasn’t been found.”
“Oh, Felicity.”
“How long has he been gone?” asked August.
“Nearly an hour now. I thought he was with his sister, getting some sweets. I ought to have put him in the nursery, but he wished to be part of the fun—”
A sob escaped her. Carlo embraced his wife, murmuring calming words.
“What if he’s been kidnapped?” she cried.
“Kidnapped?” The king arrived, blustering. “Kidnapped from my court? If it’s true, the villain shall hang.” He shouted at his guards. “You knaves! Find the boy, why don’t you?”
His temper wasn’t helping matters, nor the guards running about in their agitated state.
“I’m so sorry to ask, Elizabeth, but I don’t know w-who else would be able to help.” Felicity looked about, knowing the entire room watched them. Her mother’s desperation won out. “Can you please help me? Help me find Antonino with your special senses, your gifts?” She began to weep, clutching her hands again. “Darling, I am beside myself.”
“This young woman is not able to help you,” the king interrupted, loudly enough for the whole room to hear. “By my reckoning, Lady Augustine has no extraordinary powers of perception. None at all.”
“It’s all right, Your Majesty,” she whispered to the monarch. “I shall find the child if you will only look after your anxious guests.”
“But your exhaustion,” he said, his deep jowls trembling with concern. “If you must use your powers…”
“I will rest afterward. Now, I need a place away, a silent place where I can think.”
“Come this way,” said one of the guards.
The four of them, August, Elizabeth, Felicity, and Carlo departed the crowded parlor. Townsend and Jane gathered up the other children to remain with their cousins, promising their brother would be found.
“We need a quiet room so she can concentrate,” August demanded of the guard.
“No,” said Elizabeth. “We need the nursery.”
“They’ve already checked the nursery,” said Felicity. “Checked it high and low, and every room around it.”