Page 20 of A Momentary Marriage

“My wife prefers the solitude of the countryside,” James told his sister, putting a faint emphasis on the first two words.

“But do you not miss the balls? The plays?”

“Not the balls, but I do enjoy the theater.” Laura smiled. “And the museums.”

“Oh. How . . . unusual.”

“I am sure you would find it so,” James agreed. “Laura is peculiarly given to things of the mind.”

“Now, James, don’t tease your sister,” Tessa inserted with the ease of long practice. “I believe Laura often visits her aunt in London, don’t you, dear?”

“Sometimes,” Laura agreed. “But I preferred to stay at home to help my father.”

“Yes,” Patricia’s husband said in the languid, faintly arch drawl affected by upper-crust young gentlemen. “Your father is a . . . barrister, isn’t it?”

“No,” Laura replied evenly. “My late father chose to devote himself to medicine, much to the disapproval of his family, who, like many aristocrats, find helping people quite beneath them.”

Beside her, James, who had stiffened at Salstone’s disdainful tone, relaxed slightly, letting out a chuckle, and Walter hid a sputtering laugh behind his napkin. Even Claude smiled. Patricia’s husband was apparently not liked by any of the de Vere males. Unfortunately, from the look on Patricia’s and Archibald’s faces, Laura suspected she had made enemies of them both.

Tessa once again entered the fray. “I rarely speak ill of people.“ That brought another quickly hidden smile from her sons. “But I must say, Laura, that I have never really liked your father’s family. Your cousin Evesley seems a selfish, unimaginative man.”

“Evesley?” Archibald cast a sharp glance at Tessa. “The Earl of Evesley?”

Tessa nodded. “He’s Laura’s cousin. I pity poor Mariah, having to put up with him. Of course, she was determined to catch him. Her family hadn’t a penny; everyone knows her great-grandfather gambled it away. Still . . . I’m sure she never dreamt Evesley would live this long.”

Archibald swung his gaze to Laura. “The Earl of Evesley is your cousin?”

“Of some sort. His father and my grandmother were cousins, I believe. I’m not sure what that makes us.”

“It makes you the all-important relation to an earl, doesn’t it, Archie?” James gave his brother-in-law a smile devoid of humor. “And how is your father, the baron?”

Laura, watching James, thought she would not have wanted to be on the receiving end of his icy smile. Unsurprisingly, after that dampening exchange, conversation limped forward in spurts of polite chitchat. The chill around James was almost palpable, though Salstone, at least, seemed not to notice it. Patricia kept up a resentful silence, and Claude was politely distant.

It was a relief when the meal ended and the women left the men to their port and cigars. Laura, pleading fatigue from the day’s journey, retired to the sanctuary of her bedroom. It was, she found, large and furnished with equally massive dark furniture, embodying both grandeur and gloom. But at least it offered solitude, which she badly needed at the moment. With a sigh, Laura plopped down in the chair by the window and rested her head against the back.

What a strange, eventful day it had been. Her wedding day.

Thank heavens it was over.

chapter 8

When the butler left the room, having set out the gentlemen’s port, James fixed his brother-in-law with a glacial gaze. “Salstone . . . if you ever presume to condescend to my wife again, you will be out of this house on your backside. Do you understand?”

Salstone gaped at him. “I—I—intended no insult.”

“Even you are not that stupid. You knew exactly what you were doing and so did Patricia. But no one—” His eyes swept around the table. “No one who insults Laura will remain in this house.”

“J-James, I would never . . .”

“Not you, Walter.” James’s glance dismissed him and lit on Claude.

“Unlike Archie, I’m not an idiot,” Claude replied scornfully.

“I say, Claude . . .” Salstone began.

“I thought not.” James gave his brother a nod before turning toward Salstone. “Archie?”

“Well, of course, beg your pardon. That is to say, misspoke, all that.” Salstone took a gulp of his drink.