Here's the second chapter, sorry it took so long to update. Now that I have a working computer and decent internet I hope to be able to post on a more regular basis. Thank you to those that reviewed. While I don't write simply to get reviews, it sure is nice to get them.


Felicity woke early and, after dressing, hurried downstairs to try and see her father before he left for his business errands. She knew he would leave for home immediately once his errands were over and would travel into the night to get home to Mummy as quickly as possible. He hated being apart from her. As she hurried into the dining room, she heard the last bit of what her father was saying to Henry. "...marriage?"

"Possibly." Henry said, they were sitting across the table from each other and Henry had leaned forward, eager to speak to his Uncle. Neither one of them saw Felicity. "I don't want to make any premature assumptions or announcements but that is what I want, eventually." He noticed Felicity and then spoke again. "Felicity!" his voice was just a little too loud, "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well," Felicity said, sitting in her usual spot at Uncle John's table. "The trip wore me out, and..." Colonel Brandon waved his daughter up closer to where the men were sitting, she got up and moved to sit next to her father. "I fell asleep quickly."

"I was thinking today, that after taking you to Alice's London house, we could go on a tour of London." Henry said, "I know it's been a few years since you've been here and there are a few places that I think you would enjoy seeing."

"Sounds delightful." Felicity said, "Should I ask the cook to make us a lunch, or will we have lunch in London?"

"Ask cook to make us a lunch," Henry said. Felicity's brow furrowed as she digested the bossyness in Henry's tone. "We'll be out for some time."

"All right," Felicity conceded. She reached for the paper at the same time as Henry did, both grabbing the same section of newspaper: the business section. After some light laughter and a pretend fight over who got to read the newspaper, Henry took the business section, and handed the society page over to her.

Felicity frowned as she opened it. Henry knew she had no interest in the society page; she read it anyway, knowing that Alice was sure to talk about the people in London. At least it would be nice to have some sort of knowledge of who everyone was.

The society section was a quick read, and it was soon folded up and placed back down on the table. Felicity ate quickly, before studying the back of the business section. Although she couldn't read the entire article, the fact that some business named Willoughby Publishing was having financial trouble, seemed to pique her interest.

Breakfast finished, Felicity hurried upstairs to grab the letter she had written to her mother. After quickly scribbling a drawing of a flower on a spare piece of paper, she hurried downstairs to give both to her father. "The drawing is for Jacob," she told her father. Jacob was her 12 year old cousin. He had been very sick for much of his young childhood and was a little slower than most other children his age. Still, he loved looking at drawings and had a book he'd made of the drawings he'd received or done on his own.

"I've got something for Jacob as well," Henry added. He was walking down the stairs with a couple of boxes in his hands and some letters. "Also, I have something for Mother, Father, and Ed," he mentioned another one of his younger brothers.

"I'll deliver everything tomorrow." Papa promised then gave his daughter a hug farewell.

Henry and Felicity both hugged Colonel Brandon before he left. Felicity waved until the carriage disappeared on the street. She and Henry walked back into the house, and Felicity saw Uncle John slowly walking to the dining room. She followed him and sat next to him at the table. "Is everything alright Uncle John?" Felicity asked. "I've noticed you're moving slower."

"I'm all right Felicity." Uncle John promised. "Age is simply catching up with me." He patted her hand gently. "It's wonderful to see you again. What subjects are you learning now?"

"Last week I asked Papa to get me a tutor to teach me Italian." Felicity said, she then lowered her voice. "I'm going to see if I can't get some books sent out to the estate, about the human body so can I learn a little bit of what Henry's learning and be able to understand better what happened with Mummy." Felicity said.

Uncle John looked to Felicity, "I have some old medical texts in the Library." He said, "you can have them, to keep. I know you love to read and learn, so they are yours."

"Oh, Uncle John, are you sure?" Uncle John smiled at Felicity's excitement.

"I'm sure." He said, "I can't think of a better use for them, then your education."

Felicity threw her arms around John and kissed his cheek before rushing to the library to find the books he'd been talking about. As she raced out of the room, she passed Henry who watched her run down the hall. He looked back into the dining room and then stepped in, when he spoke his voice was low.

"When will you tell her?"

"I'll tell her in a long letter that I'll mail after she's presented to the Queen on her birthday." John said, "I don't want to ruin her trip to London."

"The knowledge hasn't ruined my trip to London." Henry retorted.

"You're here while you're studying. I couldn't not tell you, and I'm not your Godfather." John retorted back.

"You're as good as." Henry hissed, so neither Felicity nor any of the help could overhear. Henry shook his head. "I'm sure Felicity will be more hurt about the fact that you didn't tell her about the consumption rather than then you telling her you've only got a year left."

John frowned and turned away from Henry and began to eat the breakfast in front of him. "I will tell her, but now is not the right time."

"What's not the right time?" Felicity asked, returning to the dining room. She held a thick book in her hands and she raised an eyebrow at the two men who were like an older brother and an Uncle to her.

"Now isn't the right time to be asking you or Henry to run an errand for me." John inserted cooly. "You are here to enjoy London, not work for me, I'll send Pigeon to get what I need."

Felicity had a suspicion that she was being lied to, but she didn't press the issue, maybe it was a surprise for her. "Are there any books you don't want me to take home with me?" She motioned to Henry, "Something you put in the library perhaps?"

Henry shook his head, "anything I'm currently using will be in my room, none of the texts in the library are ones I'll need."

She nodded, "All right, I'll have the maids put most of them in boxes before we leave to go home."

Christopher Brandon groaned as he stepped down from the carriage and into the stables at Barton Park. Although they had made good time and were home a couple of hours earlier than expected, it had still been a long drive and he hadn't been out of the carriage since this morning. He motioned to his servants to take his things in and went directly upstairs to see if Marianne was still awake. Although she was still quite delicate, she was sometimes unable to sleep, especially when he was away. His hunch was right and she was still awake, reading when he entered her bedroom. "You're home early!" She got out of bed and greeted him with a kiss.

"I couldn't bear to be away from you or another night." Brandon said, he wrapped her in his arms and held her for a few minutes. They parted and Brandon began to get ready for bed.

"How was your trip?" Marianne asked, "Felicity's settled with John?"

"She was so excited to see Henry and John, she barely talked to me after she got to London." Brandon groused, but Marianne could hear the happiness in his voice. He was glad that Felicity was so close to both Henry and John.

"How is John?"

"The same as when he wrote to us." Christopher said, "I'm glad that Henry is there, to help him when the doctor isn't there."

Marianne nodded, "I am as well."

Brandon looked over to where Marianne was sitting up in bed. "I know you wanted a son." His voice was so quiet that she could hardly hear him.

"I'm happy with you and Felicity." Marianne promised, she got up again and met him halfway across the room. "You don't normally talk of this, what's wrong?"

"Henry and I were talking this morning, at breakfast." Christopher said, "He's been seeing someone in London, she occasionally goes there with her family and they have been seeing each other quietly. He spoke of a family with her. No announcements yet, but he's looking for it to go to marriage."

Marianne's eyes lit up at the words family and marriage. "Our Henry?" she asked.

Christopher nodded, "Although I don't know how much Elinor knows, so..."

"I won't say anything until an announcement is made." Marianne promised, "Who is she?"

"He never used a name, but the conversation with Henry made me think of..." Christopher trailed off, the pain clear on his face now. "Our son, he'd be ten, next month." It came out strained.

Marianne bit her lip and nodded, "But it was wonderful to have him for the time we did." Her voice was quiet. "My only regret is that Felicity never had the chance to meet him."

"She would have adored him." Christopher said. "But I'll never have that with Baby Christopher. I'll never talk with him about the woman who he wants to marry, or talk with him and have Felicity run in and join us for breakfast." The anguish was clear in his voice. "Most of the time, I've accepted that we'll only have one child, I can't stop thinking about Christopher today."

Marianne took his hand." Come to bed, things will look better in the morning."

The Colonel followed Marianne to her bed. He pulled her close and kissed her. "I've missed you."

Marianne kissed him back. "I've missed you too."


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