Cas stared for a long moment. "Damn. You have been gone a long time. Elektra is expecting. As big as a house, according to Dade. Miranda was only ill the first few months. She tells me that it's not uncommon for some women to unpack their baskets every single day of their condition."

His family had moved on without him. Poll took a breath. "Damn. I can't imagine Elektra is taking that well at all. She hates admitting to weakness."

Cas let out a long sigh. "Don't we all?"

"What about Lysander? Isn't he helping out?"

Cas turned to stare at Poll. "I thought Lysander was with you. He was sent to bring you back."

Poll blinked. "I had a letter from Miranda and rode hard home, night and day. I have no idea where Lysander is."

The two stared at each other in consternation for a long moment. The silence was broken by a thready whisper from the curtained bed.

"Then I daresay … someone ought to go find him … at once."

ATTIE LEFT CAS AND POLL to their reunion and wandered down the front stairs, too edgy to even consider riding down the banister. This would have been alarming if her worried thoughts could have settled on the notion for more than a split second.

Poll had come home without Lysander.

This was not acceptable. Attie had made a plan. Lysander would ride out and do Attie's bidding, both freeing himself from his quietly desperate state of agitation and serving the doubly useful purpose of bringing home the unbearably absent Poll. It was a perfectly efficient notion.

Had she made a mistake? Attie wasn't much into self-examination, so she dismissed the notion out of hand. Someone, somewhere, had undoubtedly committed a grave error, but she was quite certain it had not been she.

After all, Castor and Pollux Worthington were at that moment having a civil conversation, right at Iris's sickbed yet! If anything could revive Iris's will to survive, it would be the reunion of her beloved twin sons.

In the front hall, Miranda had risen and dressed and was bouncing Aurora on her hip as she turned away from the front door.

Attie wasn't terribly concerned with clothing and hair and the presentation thereof, but she was not blind to the fact that Miranda looked a bit more well turned out than had been her custom these last worrisome weeks.

Attie sat down on the bottom step and plunked her elbows on her knees and her chin on her fists. "Did you change your dress when you knew that Poll had come home?" It was always best to begin with the real question. It saved a great deal of time and had the added benefit of making people want to be rid of her, which distracted certain ladylike persons from urging Attie to put a ribbon in her hair or change out of her brother's old clothes.