“It’s all right,” Reese muttered while Sarah attempted to remove her daughter from his leg, but it seemed her thin little limbs had turned to tentacles.

“Piggyback!” Julia demanded.

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said. “William used to give her piggyback rides.” She managed to peel Julia off him and propped her on a hip.

Reese pretended not to see the little girl’s arms stretching toward him as he inclined his head and rushed out the door.

It was only after he clambered into his coach and yanked off his cravat that he realized he had nowhere to rush to.

Worse, he had no one to rush to. He missed Sophie—and the way she’d made Warshire Manor feel like home.

Chapter 26

At the conclusion of Friday night’s meeting, Sophie moved to the front of the tailor’s shop and addressed the members, who were seated in their usual large circle. “Before we adjourn,” she said, “I have an announcement to make.”

The women quieted and looked at her expectantly.

Sophie swallowed as she scanned the faces she’d come to know so well: debutantes and spinsters, married women and widows, heiresses and maids. Somehow, they’d all become important to her. Sometime since the inception of the Debutante Underground, all of the members’ challenges, fears, and triumphs had become her own.

Just last week, when a self-proclaimed wallflower mentioned that she’d summoned the courage to strike up a conversation with the gentleman she’d pined after for almost a year, the whole room had erupted in cheers. Sophie’s chest had felt like it would burst—in the best possible way.

But everything would soon be changing for her, and it was time to pass the reins to someone else.

She tried to keep her tone light and upbeat as she spoke. “I’m afraid that next Friday will be the last time I’m able to chair our meeting. It’s been such a privilege for me to play a part in bringing this amazing group of women together, but after next week, personal circumstances will make it impossible for me to continue.”

A chorus of dismayed gasps and moans rolled through the group. “But we need you, Sophie,” Violet said. “You’re the one who made me feel welcome at my first meeting.”

“And you’re the one we all trust,” another woman said. “It won’t be the same without you.”

“Nonsense,” Sophie said. “All I do is recite the rules at the beginning of the meeting. It is you who bravely share your worries and your wisdom with each other. That is the heart of the Debutante Underground, and it will go on regardless of who chairs the meeting.”