Kit shook his head slowly. “Poor Thomas.”
Marianne rolled her eyes, smiling. “It was hardly so bad. We spent most of our time conversing with tenants and shopkeepers.”
“And which shops did you like best?”
She shrugged out of her spencer and handed it to the maid with a smile. “Well, the milliner had some lovely things that I did not expect to see outside of London, and the modiste was quite as skilled as anything I could find on Bond Street, but I hardly needed anything from either of them.”
He smiled at her warmly. “The bank will be delighted to hear it.”
She smirked in response and rubbed her hands together to warm them. “The confectioner’s shop was rather delightful, and he insisted I sample several things at no charge. I don’t know that I shall be able to eat supper at this point.” She grinned at the memory and looked up at him. “Your sisters will run ragged over him when they come and stay with us here.”
His face became slightly arrested, and then eased back into the warm smile that had become her favorite thing. He looked far too pleased with her statement for her comfort, and yet she craved more of the same.
She had to look away, and chose her fingers for an intense study. “Other than that, I mostly explored the area. I had several small tour guides willing to show me all the fascinating, and some not so fascinating, details.”
He chuckled softly. “I bet they did.”
She glanced back at him with a hint of a smile. “I did buy a book though.”
He looked rather impressed and folded his arms. “Did you indeed? What, pray tell, warranted the pleasure of being your purchase?”
“The last book by Miss Austen,” she retorted with a sniff, clasping her hands behind her and taking a meandering path towards him. “It has been out for some years now, but I have never gotten around to reading it. And Mr. Henderson gave me quite a good price.”
Kit snorted and shook his head. “That woman’s work will give women an unrealistic expectation of men in general.”
Marianne bit back a grin and nodded sagely. “Too right, and it’s about time someone held you all to a higher standard.”
He looked playfully shocked, and pushed off of the stairs. “Oh, really?”
She tilted her head back to look at him with a teasing smile. “Yes, really.”
He gazed down at her, smiling in his eyes and on his lips, and he gently touched the line of her jaw, tracing it down to her chin. She nearly shivered at the contact, and forced herself to remain still beneath his fingers.
“And what if I rose to that higher standard?” he asked in a very low voice that made her heart skip a beat. “What if…?”
An insistent pounding at the front door interrupted him, and Marianne had never been so inclined to curse in her entire life. Kit looked much the same and she leaned forward to rest her head against him. They were so close to something…
Reynolds answered the door and had to almost jump back as the impatient rider burst into the house. “Mr. Gerrard?” he asked the butler, panting and covered in travel dust.
“Here,” Kit said with firm command, stepping forward.
The rider swept of his hat and handed a note from his pocket to him.
Marianne took in the state of the lad, surely no more than twenty, and wondered if she ought to offer him something. What was a mistress of the house supposed to do for an express rider? Send him to the inn down in the village? Some protocols she just could not remember, no matter that she ought to have.
Kit sighed heavily and nodded. “Very well. Thank you for your speed. Please, go on down to the village to the inn, and have yourself a hot meal and a room, if you like. Tell the innkeeper I have sent you.”
“Thank you, sir,” the lad replied with a relieved smile, bowing to him, then to Marianne as well, before sweeping back out, leaving Reynolds to shake his head at the dust that had settled in the hall.
Kit turned slowly to face Marianne, his expression a bit dark.
A jolt of concern hit her somewhere below her ribs. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
Kit shook his head and a reluctant smile formed. “Not really, no. In fact, it should probably be regarded as excellent news.”
The discrepancy between his words and his expression confused her and she folded her arms. “Tell me, then.”
“Susannah’s pains have started.”
Marianne’s brows shot up in surprise. “Colin sent you a missive about that?”
“He’s very nervous.”
That did not surprise her at all, given Colin’s manner and excessive devotion to his wife. She tried not to laugh. “Doesn’t he remember that she has done this before?”
Kit seemed to be having the same trouble restraining himself. “Yes, but he was not there for that, so it doesn’t count. I daresay the physician will have to tend to him just as much as he does Susannah.” He looked down at the note and exhaled again. “I suppose I must be off soon. I could make it to Amberley before dawn if I push hard.”
“Surely the baby will already be born by now,” she said, taking the note from him, looking for some indication of time. “If this was sent this morning, surely…”
“Apparently, Susannah takes quite a while,” Kit replied with an uncomfortable clearing of his throat. “With Freddie, it was nearly two days.”
Marianne blanched and put a hand to her throat. “Good lord…” Then she shook her head, smiling. “Colin will be dead before you get there.”
Kit barked a laugh and started for the stairs. “Undoubtedly. I’ll be just a moment, don’t go anywhere.”
Within a few minutes, he was back down in fresh clothing, appearing perfect and pristine, as he was every day in London. And appearing just as untouchable. He hardly looked like the man who had kissed her so thoroughly mere hours ago, and impossibly, she felt her old defenses rising to the surface.
But then he saw her, and he smiled.
And just like that, her knees quivered and her breath caught and her walls came tumbling down.
“You didn’t actually have to stay in the same spot,” Kit told her as he came down, nodding at the nearest footman, who then went out to the stables.
Marianne couldn’t resist smiling at him, shrugging a little. “I didn’t. I walked the entire perimeter of the room a time or two, and you are quite right.”
He cocked his head, looking amused. “About what?”
“The statues. They’re dreadful.”
He grinned and glanced at the nearest one. “I’m sure someone somewhere is very proud of them, but they hardly lend themselves to much praise, in my opinion.”
Marianne snickered and shook her head. “No, indeed, nor in mine. I think I shall get rid of them after all.”
“I wondered if you were keeping them to spite me.”
“Of course I was.”
He reared back in shock at the simplicity of her answer, then laughed heartily. “Why?”
She grinned and stepped closer to him, her fingers itching to toy with the buttons on his coat. “You glared so fiercely every time you saw them, and you started to develop a tick in your right eye whenever you walked through the great hall. How could I resist that?”
Kit’s smile faded into something warm and almost tender, and he reached up to cup her cheek. He said nothing, but his eyes searched hers with an intensity that stole her breath and had her leaning closer, laying her cheek more fully into his hands, her own hands finding their way to his coat after all.
His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out. His brow furrowed, and his fingers curved slightly against her skin.
“What?” she asked softly, curling her fingers into his coat.
“This is mad,” he half-whispered. “I’m about to ride across two counties as fast as I can to attend my brother while he waits for the birth of his child. He’ll be surrounded by friends, all of us men who can do nothing but wait with him. It makes no sense, and yet…”
&nbs
p; She smiled a little and nudged him softly. “Yes, it is mad, but you would be mad not to do it. He’s your twin brother, and you have to go. Go, and then come back and tell me everything.”
He stared at her for a long moment, his hand settling more firmly against her face. He shook his head ever so slightly. “Don’t change while I’m gone,” he murmured.
She jerked a little in surprise, then smiled up at him. “Into what? I’ll be here all alone, so unless Mr. Reynolds and Mrs. Dinstable corrupt me…”
That produced a faint smile. “I wouldn’t put it past them.” Then his smile faded and the furrow returned, and he could not seem to find the words he wanted.
But she understood. They had both changed so much, and so quickly, it seemed. They hardly knew who they were at any given moment, let alone who the other was. But the last few days had been fairly perfect, and if he were gone for a while… If she changed… Or if he did…
She was afraid of it, too. But she could promise him one thing.
She tugged on his coat a little. “I promise that the wife you leave is the wife you will return to.” She smiled at the relief she saw in his eyes, and gave an impish wink. “Perhaps even a little better.”
“Better?” he asked with disbelief, his eyes twinkling. “How so?”
“Well, absence supposedly makes the heart grow fonder. You’ll likely think better of me for having not seen me.”
Kit nodded thoughtfully in understanding. “You think I’ll miss you.”
She gave him a wry little smile. “Won’t you?”
He smiled, but said nothing. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to her forehead, lingering a while. “Don’t change,” he whispered against her skin.
She inhaled a shaky breath and gave the barest hint of a nod.
Somehow staying in contact with her skin, his lips moved down to the corner of her mouth, and pressed the gentlest of kisses there. His fingers brushed her cheek tenderly, and then she was slowly, and very reluctantly, set back from him.
Her eyes fluttered open and caught sight of his face, handsome and warm and studying every feature as if she would not be here when he returned. Then he smiled, nodded, and turned from the house.
Marianne followed on unsteady feet and leaned against the door as she watched him mount his horse. He saw her there and waved, grinning when she returned it. Then he turned towards the road and galloped away very fast, looking effortless and powerful all at once.
Unable to keep from smiling as she watched him, a rather fluttering sigh escaped and she settled more heavily against the doorframe.
If that was goodbye, whatever would he do for hello?
Her smile broadened and her heart pattered in anticipation. Hope was alive and well within her, and ready to burst into flame at the slightest encouragement.
Chapter Seventeen
“A daughter.”
“Yes, so you’ve said.”
“It’s a girl.”
“That would follow, yes.”
“I haven’t the faintest idea what to do with a girl.”
Kit shook his head and rubbed at his eyes, grinning. “Colin, you’ve spent quite a long time with our sisters, I think you can manage a girl of your own.”
His brother rolled his head to look at him blearily, striving for his usual sardonic glare. “A daughter is not a sister, Kit, and you know what a muck I’ve made of the girls.”
Kit snorted and took a drink of the brandy before him. He’d already drunk too much, but not nearly as much as Colin had. Colin had been so anxious for the entire duration of Susannah’s labor and progression that his friends had plied him with the stuff, and still he had not been himself. When the word had come of the successful and healthy delivery of a daughter, and of Susannah’s own health and safety, Colin had sunk into a chair and sobbed like a child. Only after he had calmed himself would he go and see his wife and daughter, and he’d stayed for hours, leaving Kit with his friends.
“Is that a normal response?” Kit had asked them with a wry smile.
That had prompted stories of their own reactions, some of which were far more amusing than he had expected.
Colin was away for most of that day, tending to his wife and child, and probably making himself quite a nuisance. Kit had spent the time with his sisters and nephew, once the guests had departed for Nathan’s estate only a few miles away. They’d come back the day after for more visiting and well-wishes, and the ladies had wanted to check on Susannah, as well as spoil the other children in the house, much to their delight and Kit’s hesitation. But he was assured that it was their duty, and he really had no choice in the matter.
The children were all in lessons now, some attempt at reestablishing normalcy, and Colin had descended from the upstairs rooms with a peculiar sort of grin and said that he desperately needed a drink with his brother, and here they had sat for the last hour, at least.
Kit shook his head as he looked at his brother once more. “You’ve not made a muck of anything, Colin. We have delightful sisters, and between the pair of us, we do a fair job of raising them.”
Colin considered that, then leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m a father, Kit.”
That drew a smile from him. “God help that poor thing,” he muttered good-naturedly, to which his brother merely held out his glass for Kit to clink with his own. “She’s a pretty lass, if I do say so myself.”
“The most beautiful child on the face of the earth,” Colin announced with an imperious finger in the air. “No matter what Derek or Kate have to say on the subject.”
“And you know,” Kit said slowly, swirling his brandy carefully, “you already were a father.”
Colin opened his eyes and looked over at Kit in confusion, then his expression cleared and a warm smile spread. “Yes… yes, I was, wasn’t I?” He laughed softly and sipped from his glass. “Freddie. There’s a lad after our hearts for you. He’s got your brains and honor, yet my knack for mischief and fun. He’ll either become Prime Minister, or a pirate captain. And he’ll do a fine job of either. Perhaps both.”
Kit chuckled and sat back in his chair, looking up at the painting that hung above the mantle. “He’s a fine lad. He’ll do you proud.”
“Aye, he will. And he’s already asking when he can read to Olivia.” Colin grinned and shook his head. “I love him as if he truly were mine, Kit. No father could be prouder of his son.” He bit his lip for a moment, his brow furrowing in thought. “I don’t think I really understood until now. Seeing Olivia, knowing that she is mine… It changes a man, Kit. I never even dreamed what this would feel like. I’m destined to be a much better father to Freddie for feeling what Olivia has brought me.” He shook his head and leaned it back once more. “And if she’s half as pretty as her mother, I will have a devil of a time in about sixteen years.”
“She’ll have Susannah’s wit and intelligence, too, if God is merciful,” Kit reminded him ruefully. “That will save her a lot of trouble.”
“Or give me more.”
“Well, if she needs some help, I am sure her uncle Derek will prove quite a powerful ally.”
Colin shuddered and downed the last of his drink. “He’ll be a duke by then. Can you imagine?”
Kit actually could, but he thought it best to keep silent about that.
“How is Marianne?”
He couldn’t keep from jerking a little at the sudden question, somehow managing to feel guilty being asked about her. “What?” he asked sharply, his voice several notches too high.
Colin gave him a curious, slightly devious look. “Do you normally look like a poorly behaved schoolboy when asked about your wife?”
Kit glowered and sat forward, setting his glass on the table nearest them. “No.”
Colin smiled briefly. “So how is she? Well, I presume, as you are alive.”
“She is very well. She is…” He trailed off, wondering how he could possibly describe what exactly his wife was now. He’d thought of
her a thousand times at least since being here, wondering what she was doing, how she fared, remembering how she’d looked when he left, curious if she missed him… Something about seeing his niece, holding her in his arms, had tugged at something in his heart, and he wanted Marianne by his side at that moment more fiercely than he’d wanted anything in his life. Bitty had even asked him about “Mrs. Kit” and if he thought she’d like her new dress, and he’d fumbled his way through an answer, which apparently had delighted her.
Marianne had told him before she was not particularly fond of children. Could that change?
He’d never thought himself particularly partial to them before his sisters had dropped into his lap, but now everything was different. Suddenly he wanted what his brother had, was envious to an untold degree. He wanted to be a father.
Could Marianne experience the same change?
“I’ve lost you, haven’t I?”
Kit shook himself and looked back over at his brother with a half smile. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Colin said with a slow shake of his head and a bit of a smirk. “I enjoy seeing you like this. It’s not often you look so completely lost and indecisive. I like it.”
Kit groaned and rubbed his hands over his face, then glanced at Colin. “Things are complicated. With Marianne.”
“I rather expected they might be.”
Colin’s drollness made him laugh and he shook his head. “Not in the way you think, actually. The last week… perhaps two, have been quite enlightening.”
“You’ve only been there three, how could two of them be so illuminating for you?”
Kit shrugged and attempted to explain things to Colin, without giving him too many details. Colin was really only seven years of age and would not properly handle the information. But he could tell him about the horse racing and their dealings with the tenants and the statues and the music room, about their times reading in the library, about Marianne’s unfortunate incident in the rain, about his venture to save Fanny Hayes, and then, quite suddenly, he was talking about how Marianne had changed. How he had changed. How it was harder and harder to find fault with her, how much fun he was having… well, having fun with her. And how he’d found himself confiding in her without fear or resistance.
A Bride Worth Taking (Arrangements, Book 6) Page 21