“Yourwife?”
“Youdevil,you, Syd.”
“You aremarried,Sydnam?”
“Oh, Sydnam, howwonderful!”
They all spoke at once. But surprised, even shocked, as they undoubtedly were, they did not look horrified. Not yet.
The little boy stared at Sydnam and then patted his father’s leg insistently until Viscount Ravensberg swung him up into his arms. The little girl hid her face on the viscountess’s shoulder.
The countess, regal and handsome, turned her full attention on her new daughter-in-law and smiled.
“Anne, my dear,” she said, taking both of Anne’s hands in her own and squeezing them tightly, “my son has married you and did not even inform us? Howcouldhe have been so remiss? We would have arranged a grand wedding for you. Oh, how provoking of you, Sydnam.”
“Ramshackle doings, Syd, old chap,” the viscount said. “Anne—may we call you that? I am delighted to make your acquaintance.” He smiled at her too so that his eyes crinkled attractively in the corners, and held out his free hand to shake hers.
“And I yours,” Anne said, taking it.
“Do you not remember Uncle Syd, Andrew?” he said, looking down at his son.
“The army surgeon chopped your arm off with a big knife,” the boy said, peeping at Sydnam and making a slashing motion with the side of one hand. “Papa told me.”
“And I am delighted too,” the viscountess said warmly, stepping forward to hug Anne and set one cheek against hers while she still held Sophia. “More than delighted. And how do we know, Mother, that Anne and Sydnam did not have a grand wedding? Or an equally beautifulsmallwedding? Either way I am sorry in my heart that we missed it. And David.” She turned her full attention on him and stooped slightly to hug him too. “How lovely to have a new nephew and an older cousin for Andrew and Sophie and Geoffrey, who is missing all the excitement while he enjoys his afternoon nap in the nursery.”
“You are very welcome indeed to this family, Anne,” the earl said, stepping forward and offering her a large hand. “But Sydnam has some explaining to do to his mother. Why have we known nothing at all of you until this moment?”
“We were married quietly in Bath yesterday by special license, my lord,” she said.
“By special license?” The earl frowned at Sydnam. “But why the great hurry, son? And why Bath of all places?”
“I was teaching at a girls’ school there until two days ago,” Anne explained, relaxing just a little. It looked as if after all his family was prepared to take her to its bosom. “Sydnam did not want to delay the wedding.”
“I did not,” he agreed, laughing. “I am s—”
“My mother is going to have a baby,” David said quite distinctly in his treble voice, drawing everyone’s shocked attention his way.
There was a very brief silence, during which Anne closed her eyes and then opened them again to find David looking uncertainly up at her. She tried to smile at him.
“In a little more than six months’ time,” Sydnam told his family. “We are enormously happy about it, are we not, Anne? I am going to be afather.”
The atmosphere had undergone a distinct change in less than a minute. The chill of autumn seemed to have sliced through the unseasonable warmth of the day.
“And Mr. Jewell passed away how long ago?” the countess asked, her manner suddenly stiff and formal.
Ah. All hope of a gradual introduction to Sydnam’s family was dashed.
“I have not been married before yesterday, ma’am,” Anne said.
“David Jewell!” the viscountess exclaimed suddenly. “But of course!MissJewell. You were at the Duke of Bewcastle’s Welsh estate this summer, Anne. Christine has spoken of you. She said that you were a friend of Sydnam’s.”
There was a short, awkward silence, during which they must all have realized that the two of them had been more than just friends during the summer.
“Well,” the viscount said with false heartiness, “if we stand out here on the terrace much longer, darkness will be falling. I am for my tea, and I am sure Anne and Syd must be after the long journey from Bath. Shall we go inside? David, my boy, would you like to come with Andrew and me and we will find you a room close to his? How old are you?”
“Nine, sir,” David said. “Going on ten.”
“Nine going on ten! An elder cousin indeed,” Kit said. “And I had better beUncle Kitto you since that is what I am. What are you clever at? Mathematics? Cricket? Standing on your head?”
