“But you’re the youngest, too, aren’t you?” Lady Rose looked pleased at the thought. “We have that in common.”
“Rose—are you setting your cap for Lord Thornton?” Ash asked in a tone of curious amusement. “I thought you already had a beau.”
She swatted her brother on the arm. “Of course I do, as you well know. Oh, you’re impossible. Go off and get tipsy with Lord Thornton. Just don’t embarrass yourselves at dinner, or you know that Mother will scold and Papa will glower.”
With that, she tossed her head and went down the hallway.
Ash chuckled. “Sisters! You’re lucky to have a brother, at least, to mitigate the effect of so much feminine foolishness.”
“Lady Holly seems levelheaded,” Theo remarked, still thinking of her quick response.
“To the point of unyielding stubbornness.”
Theo nodded in commiseration. “Viola is much the same. Come, pour me a drink and we can discuss the merits of any new mounts you’ve added to your stables of late.”
Preferably close to the fire—the cold of the road still clung to his shoulders, and his thick hair always took a damnably long time to dry after a wetting.
“Are you really going to hare off so quickly?” Ash asked as he led Theo back out to the grand hall. “At least wait for the weather to improve.”
Underscoring his words, a spatter of rain dashed against the high windows. Theo grimaced.
“It’s December in Yorkshire. The weather’s not going to get any better. The sooner I procure my tree and make for Dovington Hall, the sooner my journey’s done.”
He trailed Ash across the echoing space and to the other wing of the house, which housed the gentleman’s studies—Ash’s father, Lord Hartley’s, being much larger of course—the smoking room, and billiards room.
Ash pushed open the door of his study and indicated the leather armchairs drawn up before the fire. “Sit—I’ll bring you a tumbler.”
He went to the mirrored sideboard and began clinking about, and Theo gratefully took one of the chairs. The study was cozy, the gold-shaded lamps illuminating shelves of books and Ash’s desk, which he kept quite tidy, in marked contrast to Theo’s own habits. Of course, like himself, Ash’s main residence was in London, where the parties and fun were to be had.
“How goes the viscountcy?” Theo asked, as his friend handed him a glass of amber liquid.
Ash settled across from him and took a sip of his brandy. “Well enough, though Papa insists on having his solicitors keep their hands in everything, and constantly advises me on how to proceed.”
“I imagine he wants you to be ready to take over the earldom, when that inevitability arises.”
“Another difference having a brother makes.” Ash grimaced. “You don’t have the specter of a dukedom looming ahead, and can simply enjoy being a feckless viscount for the rest of your life.”
Theo raised his glass in a mock toast, then took a swallow of brandy, letting the fire trail down his throat. In his opinion, Ash took his duties a tad too lightly, but it wasn’t his place to say so. And though he didn’t want to admit it, the prospect of spending the remainder of his days as a gadabout was beginning to lose its charm.
“You must forgive Rose,” Ash continued. “She’s a silly girl, but soon to marry, which ought to settle her down. I’ve no idea why she was so set on flirting with you.”
“Women.” Theo shook his head. “Even having sisters doesn’t give us much of an advantage in understanding, I fear. But what of Lady Holly? Is she likewise planning to wed?”
“She says not, despite Mama’s constant harping that Holly needs to make an advantageous match. Being a spinster bluestocking isn’t the choice I’d make, but as I said, my sister’s stubborn.”
That didn’t square with Theo’s notion of a young lady in the throes of a gambling addiction. Such a woman would be rather desperate to snare a wealthy husband in order to fund her vices, not the opposite—unless she was playing some sort of long game. Thoughtfully, he swirled his brandy in its tumbler, the spinning liquid mirroring the whirl of his thoughts.
“Marriage seems to have agreed with my sister Viola,” he said. “Although that may be because she has her husband and a new household to manage, and is therefore less intent on meddling in her brothers’ lives.”
“Egads, Thorn.” Ash’s gaze sharpened. “You’re not thinking of getting leg-shackled? I dislike the notion immensely, myself.”
Theo shrugged. “If I met the right lady, I wouldn’t be opposed to the prospect of matrimony.”
“If this is what comes of one’s siblings marrying, perhaps I should support Holly’s spinsterhood, after all! I’d thought you immune to such sentimentality as home and family.”
“Says the man spending the holidays with his parents and sister.” Theo gave his friend a pointed look.
Ash let out a bark of laughter. “Very well—we can agree to disagree on the subject. What time do you plan to go to Knavesmire tomorrow?”
