The Earl and His Lady: A Regency Romance (Branches of Love Book 4)

by Sally Britton

  Virginia instinctively looked to the other two, searching for allies though she had no thought as to whether Lucas’s brother and his wife might be for or against her.

  Marcus Calvert did not resemble his brother greatly. He was red-headed where Lucas was fair and had a slightly shorter build, wider in the shoulders, too. But when he smiled at her, she recognized her husband’s charm in the expression.

  “Mother,” he said, guiding his wife forward. “Perhaps it would be best if we waited for Lucas? You could go to your room and change out of your traveling clothes.”

  “Hmph. I will do no such thing, and neither will either of you. I have questions and if Lucas cannot answer them, someone must.” She turned back to face Virginia. “Sit down, madam.”

  Although tempted to resent the woman’s presumption to order her about, Virginia swallowed her pride. She looked at Mrs. Calvert. “Won’t you please make yourself comfortable, Mrs. Calvert. Mr. Calvert.”

  They went to the two-person couch, and once they had taken their seats Virginia took hers.

  “Would you like tea, my lady?” she asked, making eye contact with Gresham who still stood in the doorway. The old servant’s eyes were wide and she couldn’t decide if he was enjoying the spectacle or was afraid to leave her with the lioness in the purple dress.

  “Yes, yes. See to it, Gresham,” the dowager countess said dismissively.

  The butler hurried to close the doors and see to his task.

  Virginia wasn’t certain they would get along if the woman continued to act as though she were mistress in the house.

  The dowager reached up to her veil and pulled it upward, revealing a lovely, if a trifle stern, face. She had hair nearly as red as her younger son and eyes that snapped in a lively, intelligent manner. “I understand your Christian name is Virginia.”

  “It is.” Virginia folded her hands in her lap. “And yours is Pamela.”

  The older woman drew herself up. “And before you became countess, you were a baroness?”

  “Yes, my lady. I thought his lordship, my husband, wrote to you of the matter.” At least she thought he must’ve. Virginia couldn’t recall Lucas ever saying whether or not he informed the family of the details of their marriage. She had thought it odd that she hadn’t received any letters of congratulations from her new kin. But surely, he must’ve told them? It would be cruel not to.

  “I only received his letter four days past. I was not in London when it arrived.”

  “She had come to visit us,” Marcus Calvert put in from where he sat. Virginia turned to look to him, noticing he was still smiling but in a commiserating manner. “It took a little time to get it turned in the right direction. And if Lucas wrote to me, I never saw the letter.”

  “Oh, dear.” Virginia closed her eyes momentarily and shook her head. “I am terribly sorry for such a mishap.”

  “It’s hardly your fault,” Marcus said.

  “The British post is entirely to blame and I intend to write the Postmaster about it,” her mother-in-law snapped, though she seemed less agitated than when she entered the room. “But that is neither here nor there. The same hour I finished the letter, I prepared to come here and meet you. Lucas did not share many details, and your marriage has taken us all by surprise.”

  Virginia looked again to the quiet couple on the sofa, this time meeting the eyes of Mrs. Calvert, who had yet to say a word. The woman’s expression was calm, but her light brown eyes glittered with some amusement. Her lips turned upward briefly when they made eye contact and she lifted her shoulders a tiny amount, as if to say, she isn’t so bad once you know her.

  Facing the dowager countess again, Virginia resisted the urge to smooth her skirts or grip the arms of her chair. She presented the most unaffected countenance she could manage. She didn’t know this woman on a personal level. Virginia didn’t know if Lucas’s mother would be predisposed to like or dislike her. The well-bred manners of society were all she could count upon.

  “I am happy to answer any questions you may have, my lady. I am terribly sorry for the shock his lordship’s message has caused.”

  Lady Pamela Calvert lifted her chin and straightened her already impeccable posture. “Good. My son informed me that he had married the widow of a baron and that you had two sons by your former husband.”

  “Yes, my lady. I was married to the Baron of Heatherton. My son, Phillip, now holds the title. He is six years old. My younger son, Edward, is four years of age.”

  “Grandchildren at last,” Marcus said brightly. “You’ve been going on about how you wanted grandchildren, Mother.”

  Virginia saw the first glimpse of humor in the woman when she gave her son a glance at his comment. “Marcus, if you cannot sit quietly and wait your turn, perhaps you ought to go change out of your travelling clothes.”

  He pressed his lips shut but maintained a smile.

  Virginia started to relax. If Lucas’s brother could be amused in this situation, it mustn’t be dire.

  The inquisition continued. “How long has your late husband been gone?” the woman asked, her tone gentling.

  “Three months and a little, my lady.”

  “Dear me.” The dowager put her hand over her heart and her eyes widened. “My dear lady, please accept my condolences. Lucas did not say how recent—” She stopped speaking, but in an instant her whole countenance had changed. She no longer appeared indignant, but sympathetic. “I beg your pardon, Lady Calvert.”

  “As you said, you were not aware.” Virginia looked down at her lap, the gray fabric easily reminding her of how recent her husband had passed. But where there had been pain, she found more strength. “My husband died of consumption. My sons and I came to stay with my cousin, Mrs. Christine Devon. That is how your son and I came to meet.”

  “But—”

  The woman’s next question was immediately cut off by the door bursting open. Virginia rose to her feet, uncertain as to who would make such an entrance. It was Lucas, striding inside the room and directly to his mother’s chair.

  “Mother, what a pleasant surprise.” He spoke with exuberance, a wide smile on his face. He bent to kiss his mother on the cheek, then whirled to face his brother and sister-in-law, still speaking. “Marcus, Ellen, it’s wonderful to see you both. I’m surprised your apple trees could spare you at this time of year.”

  It was an odd comment, until Virginia’s mind caught up with her and she remembered Lucas’s brother owned a sizable orchard.

  Marcus had stood to shake his brother’s hand and Ellen to curtsy. Strangely, Mrs. Ellen Calvert was the first to find her voice, and it was a low, gentle alto.

  “It’s good to see you, brother. I hope we are not intruding.”

  “We most certainly are intruding,” Lady Pamela Calvert said abruptly. “But it’s only necessary because you are incapable of writing sensible letters and the postmaster is equally incapable of delivering them correctly.”

  Lucas had made his way to Virginia’s side by the time his mother finished speaking. He bent, as though to kiss her cheek. Surely, that’s what it looked like to everyone in the room.

  Virginia’s heart seized up inside her and blood rushed into her cheeks. He’d never come close to such a display of affection, pretend or otherwise!

  “Are you all right?” he whispered, his lips near her ear. No one else would’ve heard him. She barely heard him over the roaring sound in her ears.

  She managed to give him the barest nod.

  He straightened immediately and spoke to everyone in the room again. “I’m terribly sorry, Mother. I did write about our marriage.”

  “But in hardly any detail.” She huffed and sat back, glaring up at her son. “And Virginia has been telling us that she is a very recent widow. What is going on, Lucas? Why would you wed before the mourning period is concluded? What sort of match is this?”

  Silence hung in the air for a long moment. Lucas stared at his mother, then turned just enough to meet Virginia’s ey
es. “I would say a very good one, Mother.”

  Virginia’s breath left her in a nervous laugh and Lucas’s hand, half-hidden behind her skirt, caught hers to offer the tiniest squeeze. He was leaving it to her to decide what they would share, offering his support.

  “Thank you,” she said aloud, releasing his hand after returning the gesture. “But you may as well tell the whole of it, Lucas. They are your family, after all.”

  “Our family,” he corrected, smiling down at her. “Perhaps you would like to see to the boys? I sent them to their room to change, but I imagine you’d like a conversation with them before they’re presented.”

  It was a sensible idea and filled her with relief. She needn’t stay for the recounting of her troubles and his role as rescuer. And he was right. If her children were about to be presented to new family, and a formidable step-grandmother, she wanted the opportunity to remind them of their manners.

  “That is a splendid idea. I will return with them shortly.” She looked at their guests to see all eyes trained on her with a great deal of interest. “If you will all excuse me.” She curtsied, then made her way as decorously as possible to the door. She passed the maid bringing tea but gave it little thought. Someone else could pour out perfectly well in her absence.

  Lucas had arrived just in time to save her. It was obviously a habit of his, and she was incredibly grateful for it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  With the initial explanations out of the way, Lucas had done the other thing proper with unexpected house guests and issued his mother, brother, and sister-in-law an invitation to stay for a fortnight. But playing host meant changing his schedule. The picnic with the boys was indefinitely postponed.

  Phillip and Edward took it in stride, especially when their new step-grandmother took it upon herself to start spoiling them immediately. Even her pernicious little dog, a creature of dubious descent, regarded the children as new playmates.

  Lucas’s mother started receiving and making calls with Virginia immediately. She could hardly believe Virginia had not begun those functions of society yet, excepting the vicar’s wife and her relations. And Virginia’s excuse that she was in the awkward position of mourning and being a newlywed had not been enough for Lucas’s mother.

  “Nonsense, my dear,” she had said at the dinner table the same night of her arrival. “People will only think untoward thoughts about such things if you do not contradict them with perfectly normal behavior.”

  Ellen was necessarily taken along, despite being a guest herself, but Lucas was grateful for her quiet strength. Virginia would appreciate someone whose words were measured before being spoken.

  Nearly a week passed before Lucas found himself alone with his wife for more than five minutes. He was working on his correspondence when a knock came at the door.

  “Enter,” he called without looking up.

  The door opened and clicked shut quickly. “Lucas, have you a moment?”

  The sound of her voice had the same effect on him as a gentle breeze on a hot summer day. He stood immediately, his eyes taking in her business-like expression and sweeping across her form. Today she wore a dress of soft, purplish-gray. He didn’t know the name of it, though he guessed there would be one, and it nearly surprised him to see even a hint of color on her person other than the gold of her hair and the soft shades of pink in her cheeks and lips.

  The vibrancy of her green eyes rarely dimmed.

  “Virginia, come in. You may have as many moments as you wish.” He bit his tongue after speaking. Had he sounded too eager for her company? He’d missed her since the arrival of his family. He still spent nearly the same time in her company, seeing her at meals and to discuss household matters once or twice a day, but it was different. They weren’t ever really alone anymore.

  Her expression softened with a smile. She came to the desk, a piece of folded paper in her hands. He walked around it and gestured to one of two chairs, taking the other for himself.

  “Thank you,” she said after sitting. “I know how busy you are.” She laid the paper down in her lap and smoothed its edges.

  Had he been too busy? He really ought to engage a secretary, if only to be more accessible to her needs. Not that he thought she needed him too often, but he didn’t want her to hesitate to come to him for something as trifling as being busy.

  “Not at all.” He sat back in his chair, giving himself as relaxed an air as possible. “How are you doing this fine afternoon? Has my mother worn out her welcome yet?”

  Virginia chuckled, raising a hand to her lips immediately after the sound escaped. “Your mother is a lovely person, and I’ll not say anything against her for fear she gets word of it.”

  Lucas had to laugh at that. “She is a formidable woman, is she not?”

  Her eyes brightened and she nodded. “I adore her tremendously, but she makes me question my ability to be a countess. I do not think I quite measure up to her standards.”

  “No one does, except her new grandchildren and her dog.” He immediately berated himself for equating her sons with a pet, but Virginia didn’t seem to notice or mind. Why was he forever saying ridiculous things around her? At first it had been purposeful, to make her smile, but now he couldn’t seem to stop. His allies in Parliament would be rather shocked at his lack of eloquence.

  “The boys are entirely besotted with her, too. I am afraid the only grandmotherly influence in their lives thus far has been my mother, and she is not well known for tenderness of feeling. We see her exactly once a year, unless we go to London.” Virginia shook her head. “And when I wrote to tell her of my marriage, I received a very succinct reply congratulating me for my rise in rank and suggesting I not appear in London until I am out of mourning, lest people feel inclined to speculate.” Virginia waggled her eyebrows up and down.

  Lucas tilted his head to one side, inspecting her as she spoke of her mother. It was the second time she’d mentioned the Dowager Countess of Vinespar. He hadn’t met the woman, though he’d heard of her a time or two in London. If anything, Virginia seemed amused by her mother’s personality, not hurt or offended.

  “Should we invite her to come stay with us next?” he asked with complete seriousness. “I wouldn’t want her to feel slighted, or to deprive you of her company.”

  Virginia waved the offer away at once. “Not at present. Perhaps next month. She detests London in August, but dislikes my brother even more, so she usually visits me then. I warn you, she is not nearly as pleasant a companion as your mother.”

  He wanted to continue the conversation, learn more about her family and why she spoke of them so rarely, but she had sought him out for a purpose. It would be rude to continue a topic without seeing to her needs.

  “Is there something I can do for you today, Virginia? If you won’t let me invite your mother to stay, that is.”

  “There is something I would like to consult you about. It concerns the barony.” Virginia lifted the paper and held it out to him. “I received this letter from the steward. It has been some months since I’ve been to Heatherton Hall and, while I trust him, with the strange summer weather I worry for the tenants and the land. I thought I might ask the steward, Mr. Ferris, if he would come visit here and bring the accounts with him.”

  Lucas took the paper as she spoke and started reading. It was a short, formal letter, no more than a note, assuring her all was well and giving her a very basic accounting of expenditures and estate income.

  If he were to receive such a note from one of the stewards at his holdings, he would be most dissatisfied. There was no word about the tenants, the state of the land, the expected harvest, or any indication the weather would cause problems. There was nothing about household matters. No questions. The whole of the note was less than three paragraphs long.

  “Having him visit wouldn’t be enough, in my opinion.” Lucas glanced up at her, over the edge of the paper. “Though you trust him, making a personal inspection of the property would do more
to reassure you, and your tenants, that all is as it should be.” He handed the letter back and steepled his hands together in front of him.

  Virginia’s eyes fell to the letter which she folded, slowly, then ran her fingertips over the creases. A thoughtful frown brought her eyebrows together and turned her lips downward.

  “That was my initial thought, but I cannot see how it would be possible. The trip would take at least two days, as it is some eighty miles from here. Then I would want two or three days to see to everything before my return here. I would be gone for a week or more.” She pressed her fingers to her temple. “I wouldn’t wish to take the boys. The journey would already be long and difficult, depending upon the state of the roads, and there is no reason to pack up all their trappings and Nurse Smythe for such a short visit.”

  Lucas nodded, mentally going through the preparation with her. She could likely need more than a few days to see to everything, especially given her lack of knowledge on the running of the estate. It was rare a woman knew all the business dealings of her husband, because their duties were so divided.

  He didn’t like the idea of her going alone for more reasons than that. But would she want him to come?

  “May I offer my services to you, my lady?” he asked, concealing his hope for her answer in the affirmative. “I’ll gladly make the journey with you, as protector, and see to Phillip’s estate. I will advise you with all the care I use in my own dealings.” He watched her, waited for her to speak, his heart rising in his chest. The chance to be of service to her was not his primary motivation, though it was a close second. He would have time alone with her, for several days. While he would conduct himself as a complete gentleman, of course, he wanted very much to understand his feelings for her.

  Virginia’s cheeks went pink and her eyes widened. “Oh, Lucas, I couldn’t ask that of you. It would take too much of your time.”