TWO ALONG THEIR WAY ┃a. bridgerton

12: family

Even with the new gloom that both Anna and Mary Sharma seemed to be swimming in, the younger of the pair thought they might as well take advantage of the sun. Her cat, Boudica, was more than happy to accompany her mother into the garden while she prepared some perfectly flavourful the way they best liked it, a far cry from English tea.

She found her mother sat contemplatively on one of the benches at the centre of Lady Danbury's gardens, gazing into the central fountain with Boudica curled up in her lap. Every time she stroked the cat, a few white hairs would come loose and float through the air. It was a peaceful image, and there was even the hint of a smile on her face. That, in itself, made Anna smile too.

"You are feeling well, mama?" she asked softly, setting two teacups down in the middle of the bench and taking a seat herself on the other side.

"I am," Mary replied with only a hint of sadness. She looked around the gardens, to the flowers, the statues and the large hedges that provided them with privacy. "It is a lovely spot, is it not? It reminds me of the courtyard of the palace where we used to live."

Anna smiled at the memory. The palace was one of the best homes she had. Not for the grandness of it, but for the good people there who'd taught her skills beyond that of most ladies, and for the aid they provided the Sharmas after their Appa died. After his death, they'd left the palace for a smaller house, but still some of the folks had remained close by, eventually helping her to gain a good income through her breeding and selling of horses. These gardens did remind her of that palace, the ones Edwina grew up running around in, but they reminded her of even earlier times too.

"They remind me of the time Henry was running far too fast and ended up in that fountain," she recalled. Mary laughed loudly, and Anna could not help laughing at the memory too. A good one, one that made her appreciate that not every single thing was as sorrowful as it seemed, so long as she ignored that there were few memories with Henry after it. "I was always grateful to Lady Danbury for letting us play here. It felt like the only time we could just be children and not pawns on our father's chessboard of life."

It might've been the wrong thing to say, to remind Mary of the man she'd been forced to marry when she herself was only a teenager at the time. Her smile slowly dropped to think of that period in her life. The only good thing to have come from that period in their life was Anna's birth. But if Mary had never met Lord Buckthought, had found Mr Sharma earlier and moved to India to have just Kate and Edwina as her daughters, her life would have surely been happier for it.

"Nobody would blame you if you were to take sick tomorrow, mama," Anna said gently. She lifted a cup of tea and handed it to her mother, who accepted gratefully. "I am sure they would survive it. You should take care of yourself first."

Mary shook her head. "Lady Danbury has made it quite clear that it is necessary for all of us to attend."

"Then I will tell her otherwise, I am not afraid of her!" Anna insisted. Her mother smiled and chuckled again. Gosh, it filled her heart to see her mother so free of worry, even with the sword hanging over their heads. "Mother, I am being quite serious. I know they are your parents, and forgive me for saying, but they are undeserving of your attention. You should only give it if you wish to give it, not because you are forced to."

"But I know for a fact that you would go, whether you wanted to or not," Mary pointed out. She lifted a single hand and tucked a strand of hair behind Anna's ear. "And this is a shared pain, my daughter. It is not one I would let you face alone."

"I can never equate my pain to yours, mama," Anna shook her head in denial. "I was a child, unknowing of it all. Back then, you held it all on your shoulders, and I do not want you to have to go through it again."