Lords of Honor (79 page)

“Micajah?” Libby
gave
Micah
a curious look
.

“
It is m
y given name
, and is a
n old family name
.
I loathe it
.
But I
must tell you, I
was named after grandfather
, so don’t make ment
ion of it
.
He fancies the name,
” Micah
whispered
.
He
gave Libby a wink
.

“Come closer, child, my eyes aren’t what they used to be, you know
.”
The elderly Lord Chilcompton stood
from his seat at the head of the very long table
.
He
was
tall and thin, a mere few inches shorter than Micah.

His hands shook slightly as he reached out to take Libby’s hands
in his
as
they
neared
him
.

“My goodness, you are a beauty, child
.
A diamond of the first water, I daresay.”
He smiled as he peered at her
through his spectacles
.

Libby smiled
.
“Thank you, my Lord.”

“None of that formality is necessary, child
.
You’ll call me Grandfather
.
We are family now
.”
He adjusted his spectacles and leaned closer to examine her wounded face
.
“Micajah told me of your wound
in his letter
.
You must not worry about it…what is your name, dear, is it Elizabeth?”

“Elizabeth, but my family calls me Libby, Grandfather.”

“
I will call you Elizabeth
.
It’s s
uch a beautiful, regal name
,
quite
perfect for a beauty such as you, my dear
.
As I was saying
Elizabeth
, you do not worry about that wound
.
It will heal in good time
.
I’ll send for my physician tomorrow, he’s the best in London
.
He’ll check to make certain you are healing properly
.”
Lord Chilcompton
tenderly patted her hand he still held and
turned
to Micah, “
Is it too soon for him to check her to see if she’s expecting
our
heir yet?”

“A little
soon, grandfather
.
We’ve
been married
less than
three weeks,” Micah
winked
at Libby and
returned his attention to
the
elderly
Earl
.

Libby blushed
.

“We’ll give it a few more weeks, eh
?
Elizabeth,
dear
,
come
sit next to me so we can
get
to know one another better
.”

Micah seated his wife
.
He
then took his place across from her.

The two long tables
in the huge room
were filling up as members of their party filtered in and made their plates at
two long
sideboard
s
.

Lord Chilcompton looked
to
Micah
.
“Be a considerate husband and fix your wife a plate, Micajah, whilst she and I
converse.
”

“Yes, sir,” Micah smiled at Libby and
went to do
as he was bid.

“I daresay
, Elizabeth, you and Micajah shall produce the handsomest generation of heirs the Wychcombe family has yet seen
.
Which one of these gentl
emen is Fitzlewis, your brother?
”

“He has not arrived
yet, Grandfather
.
He should be
at Wychcombe House
soon.
”

“Micajah tells me you’ve brains as well as beauty, eh?”

“I do study a great deal
.
Micah, er, Micajah and I have many of the same interests.”

“It’s good you have brains, Elizabeth
.
I like intelligent women
.
They are far more interesting to converse with
.
He said you are interested in Egyptian artifacts, is this true
?”

Libby saw the elderly man’s eyes light up
.
“Yes
.
I love to study and read about Egypt, Grandfather.”

“You haven’t been to Egypt, Elizabeth?”

Libby shook her head
.
“No
.
I have not.”

“I’ll send you two on a trip to Egypt after your heirs are born
.
The children can stay here with me while you travel
.
Did Micajah tell you of my Egyptian collection?”

“He did mention it, Grandfather,
”
Libby grinned.

“Tomorrow I will show it to you
.
I will have Micajah bring you to my museum
room
before I come downstairs
.
It is more difficult for me to navigate the stairs
these few years past
.
I come down at breakfast and return upstairs
in early afternoon for a nap
.
I
dress for dinner
and come down the stairs once again
.
My collection is the result of f
orty years of collecting and digging in Egypt
.
I think you will like it, Elizabeth.”

Libby smiled
happily
.
“I’m certain I will, Grandfather
.
I am eager to see it.
”

Micah returned with two plates
.
He set one before his wife
.
He returned to his seat.

His
Grandfather said, “Micajah, you made an excellent choice in wife
.
Elizabeth is a treasure
.
You must always treat her as such.”

“I agree with you
, Grandfather
.
I shall treasure her always.” Micah winked at Libby.

She smiled across the table at her husband.

“Micajah, it is good to have a houseful again, is it not?”

Micah smiled at Lord Chilcompton, “It is indeed, Grandfather
.
It has been a long time since the house has been full.”

“We generally only have Mary, and her husband and children for Christmas
.
Soon, Elizabeth, you and Micajah shall have children and we shall come closer to a houseful at Christmastime
.”
Lord Chilcompton
be
amed as he patted her hand
.
Chilcompton
looked across the room
.
He squinted and adjusted his spectacles.
“Harry
,
Lyon, is that you just coming in
?
And Penrose!
”

“Yes, Lord Chilcompton,
”
Harry called out
.
 

“Micajah told me you’ve both married
.
Bring your wives here to me
.
Your Grace, come sit with us at once
!”

Micah made the introductions
between his grandfather and Rowen
a
and Sophia
.

“I say, the three of you rakehells made out, didn’t you
.
Who would have thought the three of you could have landed such beauties, eh
?
Sit at this
end of the table with us
.
It has
been a long time since we’ve
been graced with
the presence of
such lovely ladies for company in
this
house
.
Your Grace
, you are the image of your father
, I must say
!
”

“Thank you, my Lord
.
I take that as a compliment
.”
Trevan
grinned
at Lord Chilcompton.

“It
was meant as a compliment
.
And what,
your Grace,
no wife for you
as yet
?”

Trevan
appeared to be
stricken for a moment
.
He
said
simply,
“No
.
I have no plans to marry of yet
, sir
.”

Rowena looked to Harry
in confusion
.

Harry shot her a warn
ing brow
.
“Leave it be, Rowena,
”
he whispered
in her ear
.

The party fell into easy conversation.

Fiske
approached
Micah and bent to whisper something in his ear
.

Micah smiled
at Libby
.
“Libby, Owen and Gabriel found little Alice
last evening
.
They were retired when we arrived
.
Owen wanted you to know they will be down shortly
.
Grace and Alice are having a little reunion.”

Libby smiled happily
.
She wonder
ed
where Grace was this morning.
Owen found his daughter, her niece.

Harry said, “Well,
that changes our plans entirely
.
May we use the library for our meeting after breakfast, Lord Chilcompton?”

“Absolutely, Harry
.
I shall keep the ladies company in the drawing room
.”
Lord Chilcompton nodded his head of thinning whit
e hair
.
His eyes were similar to Micah’s, though
a little
greener
than
gray
.
They twinkled merrily.

Libby smiled at him
.
She liked Micah’s grandfather.

“Owen
!”
Libby stood from her seat in the drawing room
wh
ere she sat and conversed with H
arry’s sister, Caroline and Lyon’s sister, Sarah
.
She hurried
to
ward
her brother
.
He held a beautiful little girl in his arms
.

Owen embraced his sister with his free arm.

“I’m so happy you found your daughter, Owen, Grace
!”
Libby
reached out to squeeze Grace’s hand when she
realized the little girl
in her brother’s arms
peer
ed
curiously at her.

“Alice, this is your Aunt Libby!”
Owen said proudly.

“Aunt Wibby.
”

“Hello, Alice
.”
Libby reached up to tousle the child’s dark curls.

“Hello.
You pretty.” Alice gave Libby a crooked grin.

“Thank you, Alice
, you are very pretty
.”
Libby smiled
.
“Come, Owen, Grace, you must meet Micah’s grandfather.”

Lord Chilcompton insisted on standing, though it took him a bit to straighten
to his full height
.
“Fitzlewis, y
ou’ve the look of your father
.
I knew him fairly well
.
And this beautiful imp in your arms is your daughter?”

“Yes, my Lord
.”
Owen beamed.

“We Wychcombes are fortunate that
handsome
looks run in your family, for they do not in ours
.
I was telling your sister earlier that she and Micajah will bear the
handsomest
Wychcombe
heirs
yet.”