The person who had spoken, made her way towards Aliya, but then she gave her a brief smile, sidestepped Aliya, and greeted Shelby,
"Thank you for coming, Mrs Thornston." She was very enthusiastic in her greeting, but this was so over the top that it sounded fake.
All the people gathered knew how much Ian doted on his wife. In fact, most of them had been at Alex's birthday party and had seen how Ian's aunts had even suffered. Who were they to place themselves in the path of social destruction?
They also knew how to keep up appearances. No matter what they wanted to do, they knew that Ian would always find a way to get to know the proceedings of the tea party even if he was not there.
"Thank you for having me," Shelby replied politely.
Other women gathered around her,
"Will Madam Geneva be coming here today?"
"No, Mum has other things to do today."
