A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle (54 page)

For the first time in their brief
acquaintance, Lady Grace laughed out loud in his
presence.

“
Oh, she is not truly a
bear,” Alex rushed on. “She is just determined. Possibly to the
point of obstinacy, but she means well. Please don’t think poorly
of her because her son is terrified of her.”

Lady Grace laughed louder this time,
more gaily. For the first time since they met, she seemed carefree.
She visibly relaxed her jaw and looked at him with eyes full of
mischief. “My lord, I’m certain I couldn’t think poorly of a woman
who had borne six children. Simply putting up with all of you was
likely enough to create more than just a touch of stubbornness.
Why, I’d imagine most women in her circumstances would be on the
verge of madness from you alone.”

“
Touché, my lady,
touché.”

Finally, she’d said more than a single
sentence of response. Thank goodness. Maybe she would not be such
poor company after all.

Lady Grace stopped and looked out at a
section of the gardens filled with poppy, pimpernel, and clover,
all dancing in the soft breeze. “You don’t truly fear your mother,
do you? I have a difficult time imagining a mother who should be
feared. There are plenty of other things in this world to be afraid
of.” She bent to smell a bright red poppy.

Every bone in his body itched to learn
what she feared, but he wanted to keep her talking. She might very
well turn reticent again if he were so impertinent as to ask. That
could wait for another day. “Fear Mama? No, of course not. She’s a
wonderful lady and loves her children as no one has ever loved
before. All six of us.”

Her smile was as bright as the sun
when she stood to rejoin him, brightening her face and softening
her eyes. He wished he would never see her in any other manner
again, than at that moment—smiling in the evening, summer sun with
a flower tucked behind her ear, without a care to weigh her
down.

“
Tell me about your
siblings,” she said. Then she blushed again. He’d never seen
anything more lovely. “That is, will you? Please.”

So very charming, this Lady Grace,
even with her social ineptitude. He wanted to kiss the chagrin out
of her expression.

“
My siblings? Peter’s the
eldest. After our father passed away several years ago, he became
the Duke of Somerton. None of us could be better suited for the
task. He takes his responsibilities quite seriously, so some people
think him a little overbearing. But underneath, he’s just Peter.
He’s a widower now, with two little ones running amok, helping to
make him crazy.”

She placed her hand gently on his arm
again, and he led her through the garden again. “There is a
wilderness walk up ahead,” he said. “Would you like to explore
that? It’s rather beautiful all year long.”

Lady Grace inclined her head, so he
headed in that direction.

“
Where was I? Oh
yes—Richard. He’s the one all the unmarried young misses of the ton
fawn over at the balls. A handsome devil, if ever there was one.
Tall and broad, and perfect, all the ladies tell me.” Alex
chuckled. “He’s been in the military for several years now. A
major. Mama wishes he would sell his commission and come home, but
the military life seems to suit him. He is different now. Changed.
Serious. Well, he always was serious, so I can’t blame the change
entirely on the wars.”

“
It must be quite difficult
on you all to have him so far away. It sounds as though you’re very
close to your family.”

“
Yes, we’re a close lot.
Almost a clan, if you will. We even share the same hair
color.”

She laughed again, a lilting
sound.

He could become accustomed to hearing
it with no complaints. “Sophie is the eldest of the girls—she comes
just after me. She’s always wanted to do things her own way, not
the expected way. I suppose she manages due to her position in
society. But she’s already bucked tradition a bit too much for
Mama’s tastes, by remaining a singleton far after she ought to have
selected a husband and started filling a nursery.”

“
And she is allowed to do
so?” Lady Grace’s eyes held curiosity more than shock.

Alex nodded. “Peter won’t force her to
marry. He won’t insist on any of us marrying if it isn’t what we
want—not after…well, never mind that. Besides, she reached her
majority long ago. Sophie can do as she pleases, no matter how
stricken in years she might become.”

“
Oh…”

When he looked down upon her, her lips
formed an O shape. His family must be very different from hers, to
have such an effect upon her.

“
Neil came next, much to
Mama’s chagrin. He is rather enjoying himself, I imagine, doing all
the illicit things a young man about Town will do. None of which
are appropriate for tender ears, so I shall leave it at that for
him.”

“
Is he a…a rogue?” Her free
hand rushed to her lips, those delicious, delectable lips, almost
to take the word and replace it where it had come from.

Alex chuckled. “I doubt he
has fallen
too
far
into depravity, ma’am. Peter will rein him in, if he needs to. But
for now, he is being allowed to sow his wild oats.”

“
I see. So your mother—she
does not take a hand in such discipline?”

Her curiosity about his
family seemed odd. The Hardwickes were not all
that
unusual, as far as aristocratic
families went. The girls may have slightly irregular views on the
world, but overall, they were rather…normal. Almost boring, even,
at least in the eyes of the
ton
. What must Lady Grace’s family be
like, for her to seem so thunderstruck by them?

How very intriguing.

He shook his head. “Once Father died,
Peter became the head of the family. Mama sees to certain aspects,
of course, but Peter ultimately makes any family
decisions.”

“
Oh. Of course.”

Of course? How he wished to understand
the workings of her mind. “And the last member of the Hardwicke
clan is young Charlotte. She’s still in the schoolroom, not yet out
in society, but I daresay she will turn heads when she makes her
debut. Char is…well, she’s hard to pin down to any one thing. She
is exuberant and gay and will utterly charm your stockings off, but
at the same time, she is very…I don’t know how to put it other than
to say she’s special and not disinclined to scandal. As I’ve
already mentioned, she’s an artist, like you. She paints in
watercolors.”

“
Oh, I daresay I might like
her.”

He cocked a brow in her direction.
“You might? Are you inclined to scandal?” Her cheeks turned a
delicious shade of pink again.

“
Well, no. I’m not. I mean,
I don’t wish to be.” Her eyebrows scrunched together.

What a very odd sentiment.
She does not
wish
to be inclined to scandal. Lady Grace grew more intriguing by
the moment.

“
I mean that Lady Charlotte
sounds very interesting to me because she has something she is
passionate about.”

He could almost see the thoughts
racing in her eyes.

“
I should think I would
quite like her.” Lady Grace nodded after a moment, a very forceful,
made-up-her-mind sort of nod.

“
I think you would as
well,” Alex murmured. “Perhaps someday you will meet her and become
friends.”

They walked in silence for a stretch
along the wilderness walk, amongst the trees and a pond, and an
abundance of flowers. It was not uncomfortable, rather
companionable. But the end of the walk drew close.

“
I am afraid we’ll be
forced to turn back now, Lady Grace.”

She slowed and glanced ahead of them.
“My lord, what is that, up by the hill?” She stretched onto her
tiptoes and pointed off to the horizon.

“
Oh, that’s my brother’s
estate, Somerton Court. You can almost see the main house from
here, though it is still a good way off.”

Her eyes squinted in concentration.
“The duke? Peter?”

“
Yes, Peter. His property
borders Lord Rotheby’s property. We all spent a good deal of time
tromping through his fields as children, and otherwise getting into
things we ought not to have done.”

They looked for a few more minutes,
and then she sighed. Turning to head back with him, she took a
single wistful glance over her shoulder.

“
Well, we spent the entire
walk out discussing my family. Will you tell me about yours?”
Apprehension flickered through her eyes. He rushed on. “Do you have
any siblings?”

Her hand tensed on his elbow and the
carefree look was instantly gone. “No, I have no
siblings.”

He waited, but she said no more. “What
about your mother? It doesn’t sound as though you are afraid of
her?” Alex winked so she’d know he was teasing her. He hoped to
keep her talking. Her gentleness beckoned to him and drew him
closer—which he rather enjoyed, almost despite himself.

Lady Grace’s smile fell completely
away from her face and her eyes returned to their cold stare. “My
mother passed away many years ago.” Then she fell mute again. They
walked in silence for several more minutes.

The quiet would kill him if it went on
much longer. “I am very sorry, my lady. I did not realize. It seems
I’ll spend the whole of the evening apologizing to you at this
rate. Forgive me.” He searched for another topic, something to
return the lightness to her visage.

Before he could speak, Lady Grace
blurted out, “I believe I should return to my aunt and uncle. They
will miss me. You must excuse me, my lord.” She abruptly removed
her hand from his arm and set out toward the main house at a brisk
pace.

Alex cursed beneath his breath and
jogged behind her. “Lady Grace, please at least allow me to return
you to your relatives. I don’t wish for them to believe I have been
such a cad as to have abandoned you here on the wilderness walk.”
Never mind the fact he had done far worse.

He placed a firm hand on her elbow,
which slowed her pace to a more decorous walk. She continued on her
way, never once deigning to look at him again. He admired her quiet
reserve, almost despite himself. Alex deposited her with Sir
Laurence, Lady Kensington, and Gil before taking his
leave.

He needed to ride and cool off. He
bloody well needed to stop thinking about this woman, a woman whom
he had told virtually everything about his life, but who could not
be bothered to tell him one whit about her own. A woman who set his
blood to boiling in more ways than one. A woman who confounded him
at every turn.

A woman he might never stop thinking
about.

Chapter Seven

Grace had been with the Kensingtons
for the better part of a fortnight and was much happier now than we
she arrived, even though she still hadn’t told them the reason for
her rather abrupt arrival. She had started to confide in them more
about her life, often while working on needlework with Aunt
Dorothea or digging in the gardens with Uncle Laurence.

Mr. Finchley, the gardener, had gone
into fits the first time he caught the two digging together, but
Uncle Laurence had calmly explained to him that he would have to
accept their interference in his job. Since then, Mr. Finchley
watched from a distance with a frown, but kept his opinions to
himself.

Grace still listened more than she
talked, and thought more than she listened, but her laughter had
somehow become a frequent occurrence at New Hill Cottage. More and
more often, she even caught herself smiling—something she had done
only infrequently for years.

Sometimes at night, she still woke
with nightmares. They served as a reminder her of her reason for
being there. Not that she could forget if she tried.

Nearly two months had passed since
Grace last saw her courses, and now she was experiencing several of
the other joys of being with child—if one could call them that.
Occasionally she would lose her breakfast, and the smell of fish
turned her stomach in an instant. Afternoon walks with Uncle
Laurence quickly tired her. She frequently retired to her
bedchamber for a nap, sometimes even missing afternoon tea due to
her growing fatigue.

Only two days previously, she had
fallen asleep while working on some needlework with Aunt Dorothea.
She didn’t wake until she pricked herself with a needle.

Fortunately, there were still no
visible signs of her condition. Here, Grace was able to live a
somewhat normal life with the Kensingtons. She rejoiced in their
kindness, but she must tell them of her condition, and soon. They
had to be growing suspicious of something being out of the
ordinary, simply due to how easily she tired.

Sir Laurence and Lady Kensington had
accepted Grace as though she were their own daughter. They had
never had their own children, and seemed thrilled to pretend—at
least for the time being—that she belonged with them.

Grace was all too happy to go ahead
and pretend alongside them. Of course, she could only stay with
them for a time, so tried to brace herself against the heartache of
impending separation by not growing too close. It would only hurt
worse when she was forced to leave.