Amala was nearly to the stairs when she heard Kat call her name and turned to see her coming from a side hallway. She looked very much the same except for the obvious evidence that she was pregnant. Her belly wasn’t terribly big, since she had months yet to go, but there was no hiding the fact. Amala was taken aback for only a quick second by the thought that this was Henry’s baby; then she focused on her sweet reunion with her sister.

“Oh, Amala,” Kat said softly, her voice quivering as they walked toward each other, coming together with an embrace that felt as if they were twins who had been joined in the womb and their being reunited now took them back somehow to that crucial and essential bond. They touched each other’s faces and wiped each other’s tears while Amala considered the evidence that Kat seemed well and strong, which alleviated one more source of Amala’s concern.

With their parents and Paulina looking on, Kat and Amala talked for a few minutes, throwing questions at each other and trying to answer them in a way that made their conversation a jumble that just ended in laughter and a declaration that they had a great deal they needed to talk about and plenty of time to do it.

Amala was relieved at the evidence that everything seemed fine with her sister and her parents, and her concerns shifted as she asked, “Where is Henry? Is he—”

“Oh, he’s just outside the west parlor, near the garden,” Kat reported. “He likes to read there in the afternoon sun. You must go and say hello to him.”

Amala quickly debated whether to do so now or wait until she’d had a chance to freshen up. She decided she didn’t want to dread it any longer and said, “I think I’ll hurry and just let him know we’re here.” Keenly aware of the dramatic change of circumstances and wanting to maintain perfect propriety, she took hold of Kat’s hand. “You’ll come with me?”

“Oh, you don’t need me,” Kat said with a little laugh. “I confess that I was on my way to get a little something to eat; I’m feeling a bit nauseated.”

Amala scanned the other faces of her family members, wondering how to ask if someone would come with her, but Oliver declared with a grin, “Just go and surprise him and we’ll see you at tea.”

Paulina offered a nod of encouragement, as if she believed this would be better; and Paulina was the only one who knew everything about her history with Henry. Amala wasn’t certain she agreed, but she didn’t want to behave awkwardly and draw any undue attention to her angst.

“Very well,” Amala said. “I’ll see you all in a while, then.”