That brought more laughter to the room. Grace reached up and removed the blindfold to find both men smiling at her.
In the middle of the commotion a light knock came at the drawing room door.
“Enter,” Lord Gladsby called.
A young woman not much older than Grace stepped through, a whimpering little George in her arms.
“Beggin’ your pardon, my lady. But you said to come fetch you when he got this way.”
Lady Hamdon rose from her seat and quickly scooped her son out of the nurse’s hands.
“Oh, Georgie.” She snuggled the boy to her shoulder. Barely beyond a baby, the little man child tucked into his mother and calmed.
Anthony rose and began rubbing the little one’s back. Even though she’d seen him in the role several times since George’s birth, it still seemed odd that her brother’s friend was a father. Grace’s eyes strayed to Bradley. What would it be like when he was a father?
Then her gaze shifted to Lord Gladsby, and she took an involuntary step back. He was glaring at the couple in the center of the room. Did he dislike his nephew interrupting the game so much? He was a child. These sorts of things could not be planned. Perhaps, like many, he felt that children ought not to be brought out of the nursery. Or even worse, maybe he did not care for children at all.
Come to think of it, the last time she’d seen him interact with his nephew was when the babe was a tiny newborn. Lord Gladsby had seemed comfortable then. Why the callousness now?
“Please excuse us,” Lady Hamdon said, turning slightly toward the others. “We need to help George get back to sleep, but please continue on without us.”
Something about the way George’s legs hung down Lady Hamdon’s very tiny torso made her dress seem like it was faintly bulging at the middle. It was not much, but the realization of what it might mean both thrilled and scared Grace.
Chapter 9
Alan had tossed and turned all night. Near dawn, he gave up any pretense of sleeping, dressed, and made his way to the study to await his brother-in-law.
Not in the mood to play another round of Buffy Gruffy last night, he’d excused himself and gone in search of Hamdon, but he’d been closeted in the nursery with George and Emma. The last thing Alan had wanted to do was upset Emma, especially in her condition. A condition he’d hoped she and Lord Hamdon would avoid, given her brush with death the last time she’d brought a child into the world.
That Hamdon had been so callous as to put her in this position, and so soon after George’s birth, made him angry enough to call the man out, but instead he’d left a message to meet him before breakfast.
Stepping into the study, the smell of leather and ink brought a calm he could not manage anywhere else in the house. He crossed to the window and watched the sun rise above the treetops.
“The sunrises here are some of my favorites,” his sister’s voice said from behind him.
He spun to face her. She stood just inside the room, her dressing gown pulled tightly about her.
“What are you doing up? I thought with your condition you’d be sleeping.”
Her hand slowly slid to her middle. “So you noticed. I suspected that was why you wanted to meet with my husband.”
“He told you.”
“Of course, Alan. We do not keep secrets from one another. And if I know you like I think I do, your protective older brother side took over last evening, and you wished to throttle him.”
Alan paced to the desk and placed his hands firmly on it. “And why shouldn’t I, Emma? He has placed your life in danger… again. Does the man have no restraint?”
“So you wish me to never enjoy my husband’s company again?”
The way her spine straightened and her eyebrows rose let him know he’d initiated a battle of words that he’d never win. In all his life, he’d never met a woman who matched his sister in wit. He could not count the times he’d started an argument against her only to somehow end up agreeing with her. Even so, he had to help her see reason.
“Certain types of company you can surely avoid.”
“For what? Life is never guaranteed, Alan. I may die tomorrow choking on the roast goose. Yes, bringing children into the world is a risk, but it is something I am willing to do so we might enjoy the blessing of family.”
“And if you die?”
“Then I will die knowing I have loved my husband to the fullest. ThatIhave lived to the fullest.”
