“We might even sleep,” he said. “Afterward.”
•••
Abigail arrived at Lord Hodges’s house on Curzon Street the following afternoon with her mother, Marcel, and Estelle, who had come to the Pulteney Hotel for her. Gil had taken Beauty for a walk in Hyde Park. After that he had an appointment with his agent.
Everyone else had arrived before them, perhaps by design, Abigail thought, since she surely was the guest of honor. They had gathered to seeher. It was not long since she had waved them all on their way back to town from Hinsford. But of course everything had changed since then.
She felt ridiculously nervous as Colin and Elizabeth’s butler escorted them upstairs and announced them after opening the drawing room doors. “The Marquess and Marchioness of Dorchester, Lady Estelle Lamarr, and Mrs. Bennington.” Just as though they were stepping into someone’s ballroom for a grandtonevent. Not that Abigail had ever experienced one of those in person.
Mrs. Bennington.It still sounded strange.
Alexander was standing with his back to the fireplace.Abigail’s grandmother, the Dowager Countess of Riverdale, was seated in a large chair to one side of it, Aunt Matilda standing beside her chair, vinaigrette in hand on the chance that her mother might need to be revived in the excitement of the moment. Aunt Mildred and Uncle Thomas, Lord and Lady Molenor, were seated side by side on a love seat. Aunt Louise, the Dowager Duchess of Netherby, was sitting with Jessica and Wren on a sofa. Cousin Althea Westcott, Elizabeth’s mother, was sitting on another chair, Anna perched on the arm. Avery, Duke of Netherby, was seated somewhat apart from everyone else, as though he considered himself more an observer than a participant. Bertrand was standing beside him. Colin and Elizabeth, both on their feet, both smiling warmly, were coming toward them, hands outstretched to greet them.
Abigail drew a deep breath and smiled. She understood perfectly why Gil could not face this.
“Well, Abigail,” her grandmother said. “Explain yourself.”
“You must not excite yourself, Mama,” Aunt Matilda said.
“I am not excited,” the dowager told her. “And put that thing in your hand away unless you intend on using it yourself. Abigail?”
Colin, having smiled at Estelle, shaken Marcel by the hand, and kissed Viola’s cheek, had just turned to Abigail to take her hand in both his own. He laughed. “Allow the poor lady to catch her breath and be seated first, if you will, ma’am,” he said, offering his arm. “We have kept the chair by the fireplace for you, Abigail. We are delighted you have come.”
She was not to escape so easily to the relative safety of the chair, however.
“But a hug before you sit down, Abby,” Anna said,hurrying toward them and pulling Abigail into her arms. “I liked Lieutenant Colonel Bennington extremely well while we were at Hinsford, and I wish you both all the happiness in the world.”
“Thank you,” Abigail said.
“So did I, and sodoI,” Wren said, hugging Abigail after Anna had let her go.
“Abby.” Jessica caught hold of her next. “I did not know what to think when I heard. I still do not. You might have knocked me over with a feather. I was quite convinced that you wouldnevermarry, and the thought made me miserable. I do know you would never have married where your heart was not engaged, so I must be happy for you. But I am not sure I willeverforgive you for not inviting me to your wedding. I have not even decided yet if I will even talk to you again.” All the while she was squeezing Abigail tightly.
“I feel the same way,” Estelle said.
“Well, I hope you both decide in my favor,” Abigail said, “or I will have to be content with delivering monologues whenever I am in company with you.”
Aunt Louise claimed a hug next. “Goodness me, you took us all by surprise, Abigail,” she said. “I did not see it coming while we were at Hinsford. And even looking back I cannot see any signs of what was in the wind.”
“I do not believe anythingwasin the wind while we were there, Louise,” Uncle Thomas said. He had come to shake Abigail heartily by the hand and kiss her cheek. “I wish you well, my dear. Lieutenant Colonel Bennington seems like a fine young man.”
“Oh, Abigail,” Aunt Mildred said when she hugged her. “It really is quite romantic. Just as Avery’s dashing off with Anna to marry quietly while we were all planning a grand wedding for them was.”
“I just wish,” Cousin Althea said, “that Lieutenant Colonel Bennington had come with you, Abigail. He looked very uncomfortable yesterday afternoon when I met him for the first time. But he will get used to us.”
“We all know why he has not come,” Abigail’s grandmother said when Abigail sat down at last and everyone else had resumed their places. The hubbub of sound stopped with her words. “And why he will not allow a wedding breakfast. We know everything except why you did it, Abigail. Why you married a man you knew to be ineligible, a man with problems that may well drag you and your family down into the dust. Why you married him in such a havey-cavey manner, without letting even your mother know. Do you have such little respect for yourself?”
“Mama!”
“No, Mother, I will not have Abigail harassed.”
“Perhaps we ought—”
Aunt Matilda, Abigail’s mother, and Elizabeth spoke simultaneously. Aunt Matilda even forgot to try pressing the vinaigrette upon Grandmama.
Alexander stopped them with a raised hand. “No,” he said. “The concern is one we all feel. Perhaps we needed Cousin Eugenia to express it so bluntly. And perhaps we ought to give Abigail a chance to answer for herself.”
An uneasy silence settled on the room.
