Darling had not seen enough of her friend Jemima for her liking of late. She did not know if this was because Jemima was avoiding her, the pregnancy, a mix of these or simply a conflict of their schedules. After all, Jemima was a married woman now and thus likely had things she needed to do that Darling could not yet fully comprehend.

She had been in the neighbourhood, so to speak, so had swallowed her distaste at being an imposition by dropping by unannounced. She had been glad to hear that her friend was indeed home and she had been settled into a parlour seat to await her friend.