An Earl Like No Other (27 page)

He merely grinned at her.

“And that business in London?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Was actually further south and west,” he admitted.

She turned her attention to her family again. “Beatrice. Suzanne. Gerald. Oh, you are all so beautiful.”

“Never quite thought of myself in those precise terms,” her brother said. “Allow me to introduce my wife, Marianne. She truly is a beauty, as you can see.”

The girl blushed and curtsied.

Beatrice brought the strange man forward. “And this is my husband, Hugh Parker.”

“Suzanne?” Kate turned a questioning gaze on the sister who was her junior by six years.

Suzanne, with deep mahogany-colored hair and smoky gray eyes, was also a striking beauty. She flashed Kate a grin and said, “At twenty-three, I am the spinster in the family.”

“Only because she turns down every offer that comes her way,” Gerald scoffed.

“Kate,” Jeremy said, “why don't you take your family into the library and get reacquainted? I'll make your excuses to the other guests and you can all join us in—say—an hour or so?”

“How kind of you, Lord Kenrick,” Kate's mother said.

 

Kate spent the next hour hearing about her other siblings: a younger brother at university, another sister married and too close to her confinement to travel, and a younger brother and sister in their teens who were away at school. Gerald and Marianne were only recently married; Beatrice had left her two children at home. As Kate might have expected, the interview was most awkward with her parents. Her mother thawed rapidly, but her father remained somewhat aloof. Kate thought he was embarrassed and did her best to put him at ease.

“I am so very glad to see all of you—you have no idea!” she said, “but I am very curious as to precisely how it happened—your being here, that is.”

Beatrice, who had been the chatty one in the group, answered. “Lord Kenrick simply appeared on Papa's doorstep and announced that he intended to marry his daughter. He was not asking permission, mind you, merely informing.”

Suzanne giggled. “At first Papa thought Kenrick meant me—but of course I'd never met the man!”

Kate's father broke in. “He also pointed out to me the error of my ways and convinced me it was time to mend fences.” There were tears in his eyes—another phenomenon Kate had never associated with her father—and he shook his head ruefully. “Your future husband is a very forceful and persuasive sort, my daughter.” He wiped a tear away. “I've been a fool, Kate, and I am sorry. I know you can't forgive me—”

“But of course I can.” She moved from her chair to sit next to him on the couch he and her mother occupied. She put her arms around him awkwardly, and for a moment they simply wept together. The others were tearful too.

When they had all managed to regain control and laugh at themselves, she took them to the formal drawing room and proudly introduced them to the other guests. Kate was amused to see Robert and Major Lawrence immediately vying for Suzanne's attention and grinned when she heard Margaret's stage whisper to Robert.

“I did say the next
eligible
female.”

Before the evening meal, Kate and her family trooped up to the nursery, where she introduced them to Ned and Cassie as the three Talbot children politely hung back. The family members greeted all the children formally. “Lord Spenland. Lady Cassandra. Masters Talbot. Miss Talbot.” Kate was pleased to see that the children responded with correct, if not always smoothly executed, curtsies and bows.

“Your son is a handsome lad,” Kate's father told her.

“Yes, he is,” Kate agreed. “He looks very much like that portrait of you Grandmother Newton used to have in her parlor.” Her father looked pleased at this comment.

“Lady Cassandra has interesting features—her complexion, that black glossy hair, and those startlingly blue eyes,” Beatrice commented.

“Cassie is a beautiful child—in every way. She and Ned have become quite good friends—and that happened just when they both needed a friend,” Kate said, then added, “My soon-to-be daughter's mother was part American Indian. I hope that won't be a problem for any of you.” Her tone made it quite clear that if it were, it was
their
problem.

“No. Why should it?” Beatrice responded and the others nodded.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief, not aware until now that she had been apprehensive about their response. “Some people have been rather unkind.”

“To a child?” Suzanne was aghast and the others murmured similar views. Kate was proud of her family.

 

Jeremy and Kate had agreed that, with a houseful of guests, they would not run the risk of having her caught leaving his room in the early hours of the morning. Nevertheless, after bidding the children good night, they snatched a moment alone in the schoolroom. He kissed her, then rested his head on hers and merely held her; both savored a quiet moment of togetherness.

“I've missed you,” he said.

“And I you. Only three more days.”

They kissed again.

“Jeremy?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for giving me back my family.”

 

The wedding itself went off without a hitch. The bride—beautiful as brides always are—was attended by her sister and by her soon-to-be daughter; the groom, by his brother and by his soon-to-be son. After a wedding breakfast—at which champagne and toasts flowed freely—there was a festival in the garden for all the servants, tenants, and other locals who wanted to wish the couple well. Here too, beverages flowed freely.

To no one's surprise, the bride and groom retired early to the master bedchamber even as the party went on until the early hours of morning. They were both a little tipsy, but managed to do justice to their marriage bed—twice—and the next morning were seen to be in very good spirits, indeed.

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Copyright © 2014 by J. Wilma Counts

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First Electronic Edition: September 2014
eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-314-3
eISBN-10: 1-60183-314-8

 

First Print Edition: September 2014

ISBN: 978-1-6018-3314-3