Mabena stood there watching him until he disappeared, arms wrapped around herself even though she was far from cold in the summer morning air. Just . . . savoring. Feeling. Holding it all in.

“Mind telling me how that happened?”

Mabena smiled at Beth’s voice, turning her head but otherwise not moving. “You vanish for over a month and you miss a few things, cousin.” It was a relief, though, to see her back here where she belonged. Strolling toward her with the front garden as a perfect backdrop to her pretty dress, her pretty face. Mabena sighed. “Where have you been? All this time?”

Beth gestured to the southwest. “One of the abandoned cottages on Samson, mostly.”

Mabena frowned. “Where your grandmother and Tas-gwyn went to find you? But—how could she have known? Her eyesight isn’t so good that she could have spotted you.”

“No one would spot me.” But Beth frowned. “What do you mean, that she knew?”

She told her briefly about the scare the other day, with the grandparents having vanished, and what Libby and Oliver had told her about finding them. Then added, “It isn’t the only odd thing she’d done lately either. She’s the one who sent Oliver to St. Mary’s the day after we arrived to see where you were.”

Beth folded her arms over her chest, her gaze distant. “The veil’s slipping.”

“What?”

But Beth shook her head, and her eyes refocused on Mabena’s face. “Just something she used to say. About her own grandmother. I’m going to go and sit with her for a while. Coming in?”

“I’d better.” She sent a look in the general direction of the library. “I have a feeling the gentlemen aren’t coming to any helpful conclusions—and Libby’s probably about ready to curl up on the floor with her cat and howl in frustration.”

An echo of a smile touched Beth’s lips. “She’s not what I expected. From your letters.”

“No?” What had she written that was wrong? She tried to send her mind back over all the words, but they were a muddle in her mind, confused with the pain she was determined to ignore. She opted for a grin to deflect that truth. “Your brother certainly likes her.”

“So I noticed. Not certain what I think about that yet—though it’s no secret what her brother thinks.”

Mabena chuckled and meandered back toward the front door with Beth. “He’ll come around or he won’t—but I don’t think Ollie means to let her go back at the end of summer. And I hope she agrees. They fit.” She hadn’t thought to expect it. But now, having seen them together this month . . . she couldn’t honestly imagine anyone else making either of them happy.