Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Iam with child,” Euphemia repeated, her lips parting into a helpless grin.
For a single second, the morning room at the Duke of Montgomery’s estate fell entirely still.
Then, as if a dam had burst, the quiet room shattered into a glorious chaos of giggles, shouts, and ecstatic laughter.
Leonora leaped from her chair, and Seraphina forced her own body to follow, descending upon their sister with all the joy she could summon.
“Oh, my goodness! You are going to have a child!” Leonora cried, her entire frame practically vibrating with excitement as she threw her arms around Euphemia’s neck. “I’m going to be an aunt!”
Euphemia laughed, burying her face in Leonora’s shoulder, her chest heaving with a happiness so rapid and dense it looked almost suffocating. As Seraphina wrapped her arms around them both, her chin resting against Euphemia’s soft hair, her mind did what it always did. It detached. It observed.
She looked at the way Euphemia sank back into the cushions of the sofa once the initial shouting subsided, her hand instinctively descending to rest over the gentle, barely noticeable curve of her abdomen.
It was a protective, involuntary reflex.
Seraphina had read about it. Euphemia’s fingers curved slightly, molding to the shape of her abdomen as if she could already shield the microscopic cluster of cellular life multiplying inside her.
“I am too excited for words,” Euphemia admitted, her voice dropping to a breathless whisper.
“But honestly, I am not nearly as excited as the twins. Ever since we told them, it has been an absolute whirlwind. Every single moment, Georgianna and Cordelia find a way to remind me that a baby is coming.” She let out a soft laugh, her eyes shining.
“They keep coming into the room just to touch my abdomen, feeling for any movement, and they play with me constantly. It has been a lot to take in.”
Seraphina watched her face closely, cataloging the subtle shifts. The dilation of her pupils, the steady, warm flush of her cheeks. It was the physical manifestation of maternal instinct.
To Seraphina, it was a completely foreign specimen.
Neither Euphemia, Leonora, nor Seraphina had ever actually experienced the love of a mother.
Their upbringing had been a stark, transactional affair.
Lady Byron, the woman who raised them, was many things...
brilliant, strategic, and an invaluable ally who had actively encouraged Seraphina’s political writing from the very beginning, but she was never motherly.
She had taught them how to survive, how to think, and how to navigate the treacherous waters of society with their wits intact, but she had never held them with that fierce, unconditional tenderness.
She had never looked at them the way Euphemia was currently looking at an unborn child.
So, how did Euphemia learn that gaze? Did it come naturally when one loved a child?
If Seraphina wanted to help Alice... the quiet, traumatized little girl currently sitting in the nursery of the Norwyn estate, she knew she had to decode this phenomenon.
It had been an entire week since she last visited Alice, an agonizing seven days of reflecting on how she had utterly failed to reach her, ultimately boring her into a state of unconsciousness.
She would be going back to Mayfair soon, and she could not afford another disaster.
‘Perhaps the childish approach failed because it was artificial’, Seraphina reasoned, analyzing Euphemia’s behavior.
‘Maternal conduct is not merely high-pitched vocalization or hollow cheerfulness. It is an emotional gravity. It is the establishing of a safe, predictable orbit where the child is the center of mass.’
If she wanted to help Alice lower her hyper-vigilant defenses, she would have to simulate this motherly state. She would have to study Euphemia’s empathy, break it down into its core components, and replicate it with practical precision.
“What of your fierce, terrifying duke?” Leonora asked, her snapping Seraphina out of her calculations. “How is he handling the news?”
Euphemia’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of crimson.
“Nathaniel has been completely spoiling me. I am practically forbidden from doing anything at all. Every single morning, he is there, and in truth... we have been sleeping in the same bedchamber for almost a year now. He refuses to let me leave his side for long.” She looked between Leonora and Seraphina, her expression turning intensely earnest, almost evangelistic.
“Oh, I hate to tell you both that I was right, but... I was definitely right. There is love in this world, and it is within our reach. I want you both to know that. Love is the most magnificent, transformative feeling. It is having a partner who listens to your thoughts, who cherishes your flaws, who shields you from the world...”
“All right, all right, all right!” Leonora interrupted with a loud laugh, throwing her hands up in absolute surrender. “Stop selling the idea to us so fiercely! You are simply trying to make us terribly jealous at this point!”
Seraphina forced a smile to remain on her face, but internally, the weight of her own secret was pressing heavily against her chest. She had made Leonora swear she would not mention anything about the Duke of Norwyn to Euphemia so they did not worry her, but Leonora revealed that she could not keep the column a secret.
She had to pick one because she needed to tell Euphemia something.
“I’m so in love!” Euphemia beamed.
The contrast between Euphemia’s pristine, romantic reality and the absolute chaos of her own life was staggering.
Euphemia was floating on the peak of human happiness, completely oblivious to the fact that the very foundation of their family’s past survival was currently teetering on the edge of total ruin.
“In truth,” Euphemia began again, her eyes flashing with scandalous mischief as she leaned forward. “We were wrong as to what the term ‘making love’ really means.”
Leonora leaned in instantly, her eyebrows arching high. “What did you find out, Euphemia?”
“Oh, that is something else completely. I shall have to explain it to you both properly so you can be prepared,” Euphemia said, waving a hand through the air. “In fact, we might very well need writing materials so I can map it all out for you.”
But as the playful words left her mouth, her voice began to dwindle. Euphemia’s gaze shifted entirely, bypassing Leonora and landing squarely on Seraphina. The joy vanished from her face, replaced by concern. She had noticed her sister’s silence.
“Seraphina, what is the matter? What is wrong?” Euphemia asked softly.
Before Seraphina could formulate a calculated lie, Leonora chimed in.
“She is in trouble, Euphemia. That is the other reason we came to visit you today. There is trouble brewing, Effie, but we will not truly know the depth of it until Seraphina goes to visit with Lady Byron first. Apparently, she needs to see her before anything else, and when she returns, she will tell us exactly what has happened.”
Seraphina kept her face perfectly smooth, but a cold prickle of determination flared within her.
Leonora honestly believed they were going back to the countryside to seek Lady Byron’s counsel.
She truly thought they would run to their guardian for protection.
But Seraphina was entirely determined that they would do no such thing.
Lady Byron had given them the tools to be independent, and Seraphina refused to crawl back to her like a defeated child the moment a shadow fell over her work.
The threat was hers to handle. She would deal with the blackmailer in London, under her own terms, with the Duke of Norwyn’s assistance.
But she could not say that here. She could not risk fracturing Euphemia’s peace, especially not now, with a child on the way.
“Please, do not panic, Euphemia,” Seraphina said gently, reaching across the small gap between them to squeeze her hand. “You are with child. But I have a secret I must tell you. It is time.”
“What do you mean it is time?” Euphemia asked, her eyes moving rapidly between Leonora and Seraphina, her breathing catching. “What secrets are you talking about?”
Seraphina took a deep breath, letting her gaze sweep across the morning room before locking onto her sister’s.
“For years now, I have been writing under a pseudonym about various political and social matters, and I have been publishing my work in London. But a severe problem has arisen. I have been receiving letters indicating that someone has discovered my true identity.”
Euphemia sat completely frozen, her jaw dropping in utter shock. “A pseudonym, Seraphina? I don’t... What?”
“Didn’t I tell you, Euphemia?” Leonora asked, shaking her head as she looked upon their sister, now heavy with child.
“Didn’t I tell you that Seraphina had her own reasons for wanting to come to London when we first arrived?
Look at it now. I was right. It wasn’t just me who had an ulterior motive.
Seraphina had her own all along, and it was to be closer to this publisher she has been writing to. ”
“You publish, Seraphina?” Euphemia pressed on, her voice rising slightly. “What pseudonym? What do you write about? Is it scandalous?”
“I promise I will tell you every single detail the moment I return,” Seraphina lied smoothly, squeezing her hand again to reinforce the falsehood, letting her sister believe that a trip to Lady Byron was indeed their next logical step.
“Please, do not panic. Nothing is completely broken yet, and everything will be under control. Just allow me to go and see Lady Byron first.”
Euphemia shook her head, her mind visibly reeling as she tried to process the reality of the sister she thought she knew. “I cannot believe this. I truly cannot wrap my head around it. You have been a published author for years? How could you do something so incredibly risky?”
“Euphemia, think for a moment,” Seraphina countered softly.
“We were lucky that the Duke did not ask for a dowry from our family because he did not want it. But have you ever stopped to wonder, if he had demanded a dowry, how we were ever going to pay for it? This was how, Euphemia. It was because of the income from this pseudonym that we were able to afford some of the comforts we had. It is because of this writing that we survived. So please, do not be so quick to dismiss it as a mere mistake. Do not worry, and trust me. Stop panicking, please.”
The mention of their past financial survival seemed to work like a mathematical proof, cutting through Euphemia’s emotional distress. Her rapid breathing slowed, her initial panic beginning to calm as she chose to rely on Seraphina’s capability.
“Whatever it is,” Euphemia said softly, her fingers wrapping tightly around Seraphina’s. “You must let me know if I can help you. We will figure this out.”
Leonora smiled, placing her hand over theirs, completing the triad. “Sisters will always stick together. No matter what comes our way, we will handle it together as sisters.”
Just then, the door to the morning room swung open, and Nathaniel walked into the space. The defensive atmosphere they had built vanished in an instant. Leonora and Seraphina stood up seamlessly, masking their conspiracy with warm, cheerful greetings for the Duke.
“We shall excuse ourselves for a bit, Your Grace,” Leonora said with a smile, gesturing toward the door. “Seraphina and I are rather famished from our travels, and we intend to grab something to eat downstairs.”
With a final, silent look of reassurance directed at Euphemia, Leonora and Seraphina slipped quietly out of the room, leaving the husband and wife alone in the drawing room.
Once outside, Seraphina stood in the corridor for a brief second, staring at the floor.
She had a week before she had to return to Mayfair, a week to completely redefine her approach to Alice.
Watching Euphemia hadn’t given her an emotional epiphany, but it had given her a hypothesis.
Being a mother wasn’t about baby talk; it was about providing an absolute, unyielding center of gravity that absorbed a child’s chaos.
She would study it. She would map it, and when she went back to the Norwyn nursery, she would execute it flawlessly.
The carriage ride back to London was mostly quiet. The silence of the night match the exhaustion settling deep into Seraphina’s bones. By the time the horses hauled them up to the cobblestones outside their front door, the city had long since gone dark. It was well past midnight.
“We should have told Effie about the Duke,” Leonora finally said. Seraphina knew she was going to say something.
“I know,” she responded.
“She is a duchess now,” she continued. “Her husband has connections; he can help.”
“It is my problem to solve,” Seraphina countered.
“When are you going to willingly accept help, Seraphina? Why are you so stubborn?”
Seraphina shut her eyes. “Leo. Please. Not now.”
Seraphina stepped down from the carriage, fully intending to immediately retire to her bedchamber to begin drafting her strategic notes on maternal behavior. But the moment the front door swung open, the routine of the late hour shattered.
Standing in the dimly lit entry hall was a man she recognized instantly. It was the butler of the Norwyn household staff. She had not caught his name. The moment his eyes landed on Seraphina, he bowed and rushed forward.
“Miss Seraphina,” the man breathed. “Thank heavens you have returned. You must come with me at once. The carriage is already waiting.”
Seraphina stepped forward, her heart skipping a beat. “What is wrong, Sir?”
“It is Lady Alice,” he gasped, shaking his head. “She is burning with a terrible sickness. She woke up screaming hours ago, and the physician cannot calm her. His Grace sent me himself, he demands you come to the estate immediately. To try and put her to sleep.”
A cold dread dropped straight into Seraphina’s stomach.
“Seraphina?” Leonora whispered from behind her. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ll be back soon.”
Without another word of complaint, she turned right back toward the street, her heart hammering in her chest as she stepped into the carriage.