Free Love's Fortune by Laura Frantz Page A

prodigal has returned. Oh my . . .”
    Izannah noted the slight lift of Wren’s brows. “There are no prodigals in this family, Aunt Elspeth. Not even you.” She picked up a plate of tea sandwiches and passed them round the table. “Rowena and her father have just arrived in time for the wedding.”
    “Ah, the wedding. I don’t suppose I received an invitation.” Elspeth looked to her maid, who shook her head in confirmation. “Well, I’ll stay here with Ellie and the baby, then.”
    “You’ve been invited to the reception, which will be at the Monongahela House,” Grandmother told her. “The bride is a beautiful girl from Boston—”
    “Boston!”
    “Yes, Boston. Charlotte met Bennett while he was studying at Harvard.”
    “But I don’t believe in Pittsburghers marrying foreigners.”
    “Charlotte shan’t be a foreigner come Saturday,” Grandmother replied. “She’ll be a Ballantyne.”
    “Sister, do you always have an answer for everything?” Elspeth returned her attention to Wren. “I suppose you’ll be next—a debut ball, a groom. Izannah hasn’t had much luck with either.”
    Izannah bit her lip, feeling a familiar bristling. Oh, that the wedding on Saturday was my own, and a babe to follow. Lifting Chloe out of her mother’s arms, Izannah handed her to Grandmother, praying for a turn in conversation.
    “She has your blue eyes, Ellie, and Jack’s fair hair. And there’s no mistaking the Ballantyne nose.” Grandmother’s pleasure knew no bounds. “Such a big baby! I do hope you’ll consider a wet nurse till you regain your strength.”
    “The midwife said the same, but I’m not sure.” Fever glazed Mama’s eyes, stealing Izannah’s joy.
    “Why don’t you let me stay here with you a few days?” Grandmother’s gracious offer only fueled Izannah’s worries. “I’ve not forgotten all the years I spent at the foundling hospital in Philadelphia. Babies have always been second nature to me.”
    “But what about the wedding and all those guests, Mama?”
    “Andra and the staff have all in hand. Wren has been a blessing as well. I daresay I won’t be missed.”
    With a loud harrumph, Elspeth got to her feet, cane inhand. “All this family harmony gives me indigestion. I must go and see what might be suitable to wear to the reception, other than the straitjacket Jack keeps talking about.”
    Hiding her relief, Izannah bent and kissed Elspeth’s wrinkled cheek, showing her out. The maid waited in the corridor, biding her time with a bit of knitting. Izannah shut the door after them and returned to Wren while Mama spoke in quiet tones with Grandmother.
    “I apologize for Elspeth.”
    Wren simply smiled. “She’s the great-aunt you told me about. The one who doesn’t make as much trouble as she used to.”
    “Sometimes I wonder. Her tongue still seems sharp as a rapier.”
    “I’ve never met anybody like her.”
    “Pray you never will.” Izannah reached for a tea cake, hungry again after so long a night. “How are you faring at New Hope? Isn’t Mama’s old room quaint?” At Wren’s nod, she said quietly, “Grandmother is fond of keeping things as they used to be. Other than the new wing, the old house is quite the antique.”
    “Papa said it has changed little in time.” Wren sat back, teacup in hand. “New Hope’s beautiful, but I miss Kentucky and long to get back there.”
    “Oh?” Izannah masked her surprise. There’d been no talk of returning to Kentucky, not that she knew of. Uncle Ansel had even confided to Daddy his plans to build a home on acreage west of New Hope. Obviously Wren didn’t know, and Izannah wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.
    Her comely cousin seemed to be unaware of a great many things, Izannah realized, the least of which was Wren’s inexplicable hold on James Sackett’s heart.

9
    When sorrows come, they come not as single spies, but in battalions!
    W ILLIAM S HAKESPEARE
    More than seventy years of weather and the sun’s