Two days later, Kat received a different gentleman caller, and she was clearly very fond of him as well. Amala realized that Kat really had no idea what real love felt like, and while she was conscious of seeking out the right characteristics in a man that would make him a good husband, she was seeing the men who came within her circle much the way she would consider choosing the right gown for an upcoming ball. Amala felt certain she had nothing to worry about in regard to Kat.

The day after that, Henry came to visit without Chit, and her parents were overtly thrilled to see him. But Henry was no less thrilled. Amala thought of what he’d told her about his own parents and the home he’d grown up in—and lived in now—and she found the interaction between him and her parents rather touching. Oliver and Viola had so much love to give, and they gave it so effortlessly. And Henry was sorely in need of the elements of home and family that he’d never received in his life—at least not since his father’s death. She noted how comfortable and relaxed he had become and how eagerly her parents invited him to make himself at home in every way. Her father even went so far as to say, “If you feel like taking a nap or something, find a spare couch and do so. If you’re hungry, just follow your nose to the kitchen.”

Henry chuckled and thanked Oliver for his kind hospitality, but she could see that the invitation was meaningful to him, and she wouldn’t be surprised if eventually he did those very things.

That afternoon it began to rain, and Kat received an unexpected visitor, a female friend she’d been acquainted with for years who had been traveling by carriage through this part of the county and had impulsively stopped to see if Kat might be at home. The two women went off to a parlor to visit at about the same time that Viola declared she was feeling the need for a nap and went upstairs. Noting that her father looked a little sleepy himself, Amala graciously offered to show Henry the library.

“A lovely place to spend the afternoon when rain keeps us away from the gardens,” Oliver declared before adding that he’d leave Amala to see that Henry had what he needed, and that he was going to follow his wife’s example and indulge in a nap.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” Henry said. “There’s no need for you to feel like you need to entertain me every minute I’m here.”

“Oh, we’re past that,” Oliver said with a chuckle. “But you’ll stay for supper?”

“I’d love to,” Henry said. “Far better company here than at the pub; the cook at my house won’t be expecting me.”