The tea room was quiet in a way that felt deliberate.
Lady Sarah sat across from Isabella, teacup raised, eyes moving slowly over the pages of the ball planning notes spread between them. Isabella sat with her own cup, nodding occasionally at nothing in particular, turning pages she hadn't actually read.
They had been doing this for about fifteen minutes.
It was, Isabella thought, possibly the most polite standoff in the history of the family.
She reached for her tea. Lady Sarah turned a page. A clock ticked somewhere on the wall. Outside, she could faintly hear Henry's voice in the garden, doing something loud that Emily was probably narrating with great concern.
Lady Sarah set down her cup carefully. "Ahem." She cleared her throat. "So. About the pregnant lady."
Isabella opened her mouth, but Lady Sarah raised one hand, effectively silencing her. It was not rude, exactly. It was more the gesture of a woman who had decided she would be speaking now, and questions could wait.
