Now, it seemed, she would pay for them. “Perhaps I will soon.” How long could Mr. Osborne possibly continue his charade? He would find whatever he needed, and he would make his escape. Then she could leave too.
As if distance would change anything. Dev still expected to marry her. And with the house and its secrets at stake, no doubt he wouldn’t accept no for an answer. Especially given the fact that months ago she had agreed to his whispered proposal. Perhaps she had drawn away a degree yesterday morning, before she discovered the truth. But it wouldn’t have been enough to mean a break. Not if Granddad hadn’t put the chisel into that crack and slammed it wider.
“I do hope so. I know you are loath to leave Lucille alone, but Dev can care for her, and she has her servants. She would be fine.”
Did Mother Hughes have any idea in what her sons were involved? Marietta smoothed the napkin flat again and let the images run through her mind. None gave her decisive answers. She had always defended her mother-in-law’s loyalties, but really, why would the woman be loyal to anything but the society she had been born and raised a part of? All the rest of the Fortiers were fighting for the Confederacy.
“Mari!”
Her father’s voice brought her head up and a smile to her lips. She stood and rushed to meet him. “Daddy! I’ve missed you.”
His arms closed around her as he chuckled. “And I you. How has my little girl been?”
“Well enough.” She pulled back to take his measure. He was thinner than when last she saw him, with new lines around his mouth. But still he was the same Jack Arnaud she had always equated with solidity. “When will this war be over so you can come home?”
Weariness saturated his exhale. “Soon, I think. I hope. Though we were only putting in for supplies and repairs, and then back out we must go to our place in the blockade. Sorry I missed you yesterday.”
“I would have stayed longer, but we had that aid meeting—”
“I understand.” He clasped her shoulders before planting a resounding kiss on her forehead. “But you will join us for dinner this evening, won’t you?”
“Of course.” It would give her an excuse to miss sharing a meal with Dev and Mr. Osborne.
“Good.” He looked past her, to Mama, and his smile shifted as it always did when he saw his wife.
As she had thought Lucien’s did for her. Thought Dev’s did too. But it wasn’t quite the same, was it? Daddy’s had something more…and something less. Crucial somethings.
“I need to go see your father for a few minutes, Lenna. Would you care for a walk?” Daddy was the only one to ever call her that. Most everyone else called her Julie, except for Grandmama, who called her Julienne. But when Marietta heard her talking to herself, Daddy’s nickname was the name she chose. Come now, Lenna, she would say. Where did you put it?
Evidence of the kind of love they shared. That even in that, they identified.
Mama smiled but made no move to rise. “I shall stay inside where it’s warm, but perhaps Marietta would enjoy the exercise.”
“I would indeed.” More, she hoped she might get her grandfather alone for a few minutes, so she could ask him if he knew how long Slade Osborne would be invading her world.
“Well, so long as I have at least one beautiful girl to accompany me.” He winked and went over to his wife, no doubt to exchange a kiss or quiet word. Marietta smiled as she stepped out in search of her cape and bonnet.
A few minutes later, she and her father were out in the crisp air, her hand secure in the crook of his elbow. Neither spoke until they reached the corner, at which point he looked down at her with somber eyes.
“Your granddad said he paid you a visit yesterday. A rather startling one.”
She sucked in a breath. “He told you?”
“I should think so. I am as much involved in the family trade as he is himself, and as my father.”
Granddad had said as much yesterday morning, but those words had been lost amidst the others. Now they reemerged. Her father, her uncles, who were spread all about the country now, Hez, and even Grandpapa Alain. “It is so difficult to believe we even have such a thing as the Culpers.”
He hummed and led her around the corner, heading for the house Thaddeus Lane had called home for more than fifty years. “I’m sorry we had to involve you. We wanted to avoid it if we could. But given the Hugheses’s affiliations…”
Her hand tightened around his arm. “Did you know, Daddy? Before I married him?”
He patted her fingers. “Thad found it out the day of your wedding. A bit late to step in. Especially,” he added, grinning down at her, “given your stubborn refusal to listen to any of our concerns.”
“I’m so sorry. For so much.” So much he didn’t even know about.
“As are we. We have been trying these four years to put a stop to the war, and to the so-called ‘fifth column,’ without your needing to know. But the times are dire, Mari.”
“I know.” They had been dire for years. And while much of the reality of war had become routine, some parts never did.