Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening (Summerset Abbey Trilogy) by T. J. Brown Page B

were pleading, and Victoria caught her breath. Prudence looked so much like Rowena, Victoria couldn’t believe they had grown up oblivious to the family resemblance.
    “I don’t want Andrew to go to the front. I know, I’m being selfish, but I want him to come home alive. I was going to ask you if you could talk to Colin, see if he can’t do something. As gentry, he may be able to have Andrew assigned to the remount depot, where he can work with the horses. Andrew would like that, and he wouldn’t be fighting.”
    The fear Prudence felt for her husband etched her pretty features with misery. When she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, Victoria’s heart swelled in sympathy. “Of course, I can ask him. I don’t know how much pull Colin has, but I will talk to him as soon as possible.”
    Prudence opened her eyes and gave Victoria a tired smile. “Thank you,” she said simply.
    “Of course! I would do anything for you, you know that. Now do you want some biscuits? Susie? Do we have any of those chocolate butter ones I like so much?”
    Susie went to fetch the biscuits while Victoria turned back to Prudence, careful to keep her expression cheerful. “Have you seen Katie lately?” she asked, to change the subject. Prudence looked relieved, and they gossiped about mutual friends until Susie came back in with a colorful tin of biscuits.
    Prudence started to choose one and then paled. Pushing the tin away, she clapped a hand to her mouth and rushed from the room. Victoria blinked. She would have followed her, but her feet were still soaking.
    “I’m going after her. She may need a cold cloth.” Susie left the room, her thin face drawn up with worry.
    Victoria turned to Eleanor. “What’s wrong with her? Go after her. You’re the nurse.”
    Eleanor shook her head. “It’ll take nine months to fix what’s wrong with her.” She looked smug.
    “Nine months? Whatever do you mean? What?” Then Victoria’s jaw dropped. “Oh!”
    “Probably more like seven months, actually,” Eleanor continued.
    Victoria jumped up, sloshing water over the side of the tub. Not bothering to dry her feet on the towel Susie had left, sheraced across the room, sliding once her feet hit the bare floor. Righting herself, she hurried down the hall to the water closet.
    Susie stood in front of the door holding a rag in her hand.
    Victoria ignored her as well as the retching noise she heard coming from the WC. She knocked on the door. “Am I going to be an auntie, Prudence? Am I?”
    Prudence retched in response and then Victoria heard a weak “Maybe . . .”
    “Hurrah!”
    Victoria grabbed Susie around the waist and did an impromptu polka down the hallway. A few minutes later Prudence emerged, pale and tired. Susie handed her the cloth while Victoria slipped an arm around her waist and helped her to the sitting room.
    “How long have you known and why didn’t you tell me straightaway?” Victoria said. “If you weren’t so wretched looking, I’d be mad at you for not telling me sooner!”
    “One hardly goes about announcing such things,” Prudence said, a blush highlighting her cheeks. “Plus, I’d only begun to suspect since I began getting sick every single morning, with no other explanation.”
    “Oh, pooh!” Victoria said. “You always were the most conventional one of us all.”
    “How far along are you?” Eleanor asked, after they had settled Prudence on the sofa.
    “I’m not sure, but I am thinking the baby will be born in late April or early May.”
    Susie brought Prudence a cup of tea and cleaned up the water mess Victoria had made. Victoria sat down and beamed. “Just think! A baby!” A sudden thought struck her. “Does Andrew know?”
    Prudence shook her head. “No. And I’m not going to tell him either. At least not while he’s training. He would just worry and there’s nothing he can do about it. The last thing I want is my husband distracted while engaging in rigorous physical