Page 44 of The Earl and His Lady

She managed to give him the barest nod.

He straightened immediately and spoke to everyone in the room again. “I’m terribly sorry, Mother. I did write about our marriage.”

“But in hardly any detail.” She huffed and sat back, glaring up at her son. “And Virginia has been telling us that she is a very recent widow. What is going on, Lucas? Why would you wed before the mourning period is concluded? What sort of match is this?”

Silence hung in the air for a long moment. Lucas stared at his mother, then turned just enough to meet Virginia’s eyes. “I would say a very good one, Mother.”

Virginia’s breath left her in a nervous laugh and Lucas’s hand, half-hidden behind her skirt, caught hers to offer the tiniest squeeze. He was leaving it to her to decide what they would share, offering his support.

“Thank you,” she said aloud, releasing his hand after returning the gesture. “But you may as well tell the whole of it, Lucas. They are your family, after all.”

“Our family,” he corrected, smiling down at her. “Perhaps you would like to see to the boys? I sent them to their room to change, but I imagine you’d like a conversation with them before they’re presented.”

It was a sensible idea and filled her with relief. She needn’t stay for the recounting of her troubles and his role as rescuer. And he was right. If her children were about to be presented to new family, and a formidable step-grandmother, she wanted the opportunity to remind them of their manners.

“That is a splendid idea. I will return with them shortly.” She looked at their guests to see all eyes trained on her with a great deal of interest. “If you will all excuse me.” She curtsied, then made her way as decorously as possible to the door. She passed the maid bringing tea but gave it little thought. Someone else could pour out perfectly well in her absence.

Lucas had arrived just in time to save her. It was obviously a habit of his, and she was incredibly grateful for it.

Chapter Sixteen

With the initial explanations out of the way, Lucas had done the other thing proper with unexpected house guests and issued his mother, brother, and sister-in-law an invitation to stay for a fortnight. But playing host meant changing his schedule. The picnic with the boys was indefinitely postponed.

Phillip and Edward took it in stride, especially when their new step-grandmother took it upon herself to start spoiling them immediately. Even her pernicious little dog, a creature of dubious descent, regarded the children as new playmates.

Lucas’s mother started receiving and making calls with Virginia immediately. She could hardly believe Virginia had not begun those functions of society yet, excepting the vicar’s wife and her relations. And Virginia’s excuse that she was in the awkward position of mourning and being a newlywed had not been enough for Lucas’s mother.

“Nonsense, my dear,” she had said at the dinner table the same night of her arrival. “People will only think untoward thoughts about such things if you do not contradict them with perfectly normal behavior.”

Ellen was necessarily taken along, despite being a guest herself, but Lucas was grateful for her quiet strength. Virginia would appreciate someone whose words were measured before being spoken.

Nearly a week passed before Lucas found himself alone with his wife for more than five minutes. He was working on his correspondence when a knock came at the door.

“Enter,” he called without looking up.

The door opened and clicked shut quickly. “Lucas, have you a moment?”

The sound of her voice had the same effect on him as a gentle breeze on a hot summer day. He stood immediately, his eyes taking in her business-like expression and sweeping across her form. Today she wore a dress of soft, purplish-gray. He didn’t know the name of it, though he guessed there would be one, and it nearly surprised him to see even a hint of color on her person other than the gold of her hair and the soft shades of pink in her cheeks and lips.

The vibrancy of her green eyes rarely dimmed.

“Virginia, come in. You may have as many moments as you wish.” He bit his tongue after speaking. Had he sounded too eager for her company? He’d missed her since the arrival of his family. He still spent nearly the same time in her company, seeing her at meals and to discuss household matters once or twice a day, but it was different. They weren’t ever really alone anymore.

Her expression softened with a smile. She came to the desk, a piece of folded paper in her hands. He walked around it and gestured to one of two chairs, taking the other for himself.

“Thank you,” she said after sitting. “I know how busy you are.” She laid the paper down in her lap and smoothed its edges.

Had he been too busy? He really ought to engage a secretary, if only to be more accessible to her needs. Not that he thought she needed him too often, but he didn’t want her to hesitate to come to him for something as trifling as being busy.

“Not at all.” He sat back in his chair, giving himself as relaxed an air as possible. “How are you doing this fine afternoon? Has my mother worn out her welcome yet?”

Virginia chuckled, raising a hand to her lips immediately after the sound escaped. “Your mother is a lovely person, and I’ll not say anything against her for fear she gets word of it.”

Lucas had to laugh at that. “She is a formidable woman, is she not?”

Her eyes brightened and she nodded. “I adore her tremendously, but she makes me question my ability to be a countess. I do not think I quite measure up to her standards.”

“No one does, except her new grandchildren and her dog.” He immediately berated himself for equating her sons with a pet, but Virginia didn’t seem to notice or mind. Why was he forever saying ridiculous things around her? At first it had been purposeful, to make her smile, but now he couldn’t seem to stop. His allies in Parliament would be rather shocked at his lack of eloquence.