Page 50 of The Earl and His Lady

He resisted the desire to lift her hand, to hold it in his.

Lucas could never have sent her on this journey alone, but he began to question how he would make it through the trip without revealing more than was appropriate of his feelings.

“I will do my best. I have my work cut out for me with Phillip.”

Keep talking about the children. Being a parent. Just keep talking.

“He’s always been a trifle serious. I think he is warming up to you, though. It was clever, giving him responsibility before leaving. I think putting trust in him will allow him to do the same for you.” At last she removed her hand. Virginia began to fold the drawing in her lap.

Lucas kept on in that vein, asking her question after question about her sons. Virginia grew animated as she told him stories of their earlier childhood. Stories about frogs in gardens, sliding down banisters, their first words. She filled the carriage with her memories and Lucas took them all in, watching her all the while.

Her love for her sons knew no bounds. No wonder she had been willing to marry a stranger, on the hope that it would all work for the better. Virginia would do anything for Phillip and Edward.

And for her sake, and theirs, Lucas knew that he would too.

Chapter Eighteen

The sounds in the courtyard woke her. The inn’s bell sounded loudly, signaling the arrival of a mail coach. Virginia laid still, staring up at the ceiling. Her body didn’t ache as much as it usually did after a day of travel. Limiting the first leg of their journey to only a few hours had been wise, and Lucas’s carriage was well sprung. Another two or three hours of the journey awaited them.

What would they talk about today? All the day before, Lucas had been content to let her prattle on about anything and everything. First Charles, then the boys, then her growing up. After changing horses the first time, he asked more about Heatherton Hall and the management of the estate. He asked about its tenants and her neighbors.

He knew nearly everything about her after one carriage ride.

Nearly.

She hadn’t told him how nervous she was to return to her neighborhood. To meet old acquaintances and explain about her married state. Or how much she dreaded the moment when she would visit Charles’s grave. She had not seen it yet. What would it be like to stand before a tombstone bearing his name? Would it make the pain fresh again?

When she’d spoken of Charles the day before, answering Lucas’s questions, she had waited for the knife of loneliness to pierce her. She’d expected to feel her heart crumbling a little more with each mention of his name. But those feelings didn’t come. There was an ache, an empty space, in her heart that Charles had once filled. But it was not as painful as it had been.

Months remained to mourn him. Ought she to hurt more as she had at the start?

Virginia turned her thoughts from there, ignoring the guilt creeping in upon her.

I will make Lucas talk today, she told herself firmly. She would ask the questions, she would learn all about him, come to understand why he felt the need to rescue her, a complete stranger.

Louisa, her lady’s maid, entered the room quietly, holding a tray. Virginia sat up slowly and smiled when they made eye contact.

“Good morning, my lady.” Louisa dipped a curtsy and hurried to put the tray down on a small table. “I thought you might prefer your breakfast here. The private parlor is full up with another party and the public room is frightfully loud.” She opened the thick curtains and then the window.

“Thank you, Louisa. Is his lordship up yet?” Virginia ran a hand down her braid, checking that it all stayed in place. She still felt gritty from travel, but when she arrived at Heatherton Hall she intended to take a bath.

“Yes, my lady. He is taking his breakfast, too.” Louisa brought over Virginia’s tray, then bustled about to lay out what Virginia would need for her travels.

Virginia began nibbling at her ham and eggs, her thoughts on the carriage ride from the day before. “How was your journey yesterday, Louisa?”

“Quite lovely, my lady. But I don’t know that we can hope for the same today. There are clouds in the sky.” She pointed to the window and Virginia looked. She had thought it only to be early, but now she saw the gray skies.

“I had better hurry then, so you and his lordship’s valet can get a good start.” Virginia took a quick swallow of tea and set the tray aside, moving to begin her preparations.

“As you say, my lady.”

Between the two of them, Virginia was ready in under a quarter of an hour. In her more youthful days, Virginia was known to take hours to get ready in the morning. She smiled and shook her head at that thought, then paused.

It was the most rushed toilette she’d had in a long while, yet when she looked in the mirror she felt she would do. The color in her cheeks was heightened, likely due to her rush, and her bonnet hid any deficiencies in her hair. And really, how could one fuss and fret over whether a gray traveling gown looked fashionable enough?

But it was more than that.

She was eager to begin her travels again. Eager to join Lucas in the carriage and begin her line of questioning. And, she told herself firmly, she was impatient to return to her home. Heatherton Hall was waiting, along with a great deal of work. The sooner she arrived, the sooner she could get things settled and return to her children.