“Thank you, my lady. If your father mentioned a Caernarfon, it was probably my father. He cared far more about parliamentary procedure than I do. But I feel some obligation to maintain the seat, so I show up when Parliament is in session. I was there yesterday, in fact.”
Adele looked startled by that. “Parliament is in session?”
“It was yesterday.”
“That must mean that my father is in town. He did not tell me.”
Lark’s eyebrows shot up. Hugh made a mental note to ask about that later.
“He is indeed in town,” said Owen. “I watched him give a speech yesterday with my own eyes.”
“Curious,” she said leaning back on the sofa. “Usually he writes me to let me know he’ll be here.”
“So you have not seen the paper, then,” said Fletcher, which got him an elbow in the ribs from Lark.
“I’ve been so busy taking care of the countess and His Grace that I haven’t really looked at the papers, although I suppose there would have been an announcement of Parliament being in session there.”
“Er, yes, that’s what I meant,” said Fletcher.
Lark rolled his eyes, which Adele didn’t appear to notice.
She stood quite suddenly. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I will go ask Cook to provide us with some refreshments.”
“You don’t have to leave,” said Hugh.
She sent him a soft smile. “I shall return in short order.”
When she was gone, Hugh said, “You fellows are not subtle, although I do not understand what this was about.”
Lark glanced at his friends, who signaled for him to speak. Lark sighed. “Are you fond of Lady Adele?”
“Yes. She has been a great help to me this last week.”
“In other ways?”
Hugh bristled.
“So, yes,” said Lark. “You should probably know, and would know if you had your wits about you still, that Lady Adele’s father is the Earl of Canbury. Canbury is a wily politician who, frankly, most MPs do not like. He aspires to a higher position in government and has been campaigning to earn it, which has put him out of favor with just about everyone.”
Hugh supposed this filled in some gaps and gave context to some of the things Adele had said the previous night. She knew that her father’s reputation was less than pristine, and she knew Hugh’s friends and family would look down on her for it. “Lady Adele is not her father,” Hugh said. “She is a good woman who has been nothing but kind to me.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” said Lark. “I am just trying to give you a complete picture.”
Hugh sat with that for a moment. “If I were interested in a lady before, would I have cared much about her reputation?”
His friends exchanged glances, which Hugh did not find comforting. Lark said, “Well, you have seemed somewhat resistant to marriage.”
“Haven’t we all?” said Owen.
“Is there a reason?” asked Hugh.
“I imagine you have a reason you haven’t told me,” said Lark, “but what I do know is that you wanted to live life to the fullest before committing yourself to matrimony. And you are not quite ready to be a father.”
Hugh nodded. “I have the sense that I have been with women before. Do I have a mistress?”
“Not at the moment as far as we know,” said Fletcher. “There was that actress, though. What was her name?”
“Marlena,” said Owen. “She’s Spanish.”
