“Vanessa, hold a moment. Didn’t you tell me just this morning that your brother would be arriving tomorrow morning?” Edmund asked. “We couldn’t leave him here while we went out to dinner.”
Cassandra considered Edmund’s ploy to be a master stroke to get out of spending more time with the Duchess and others who might have more questions about his treatment of her. It had become obvious to her in the last few months that Edmund enjoyed his ability to control her. Perhaps because he’d never been able to control his nephew.
Vanessa’s face fell. “Yes, I quite forgot,” she said weakly.
The Duchess and Cassandra exchanged glances.
“Why don’t you bring your brother with you?” the Duchess offered. “And that other gentleman, too, that you mentioned the other night, Lady Darkford, your husband’s cousin, I believe?”
Vanessa looked ecstatic while her husband looked like he’d tasted a bitter fruit.
“Raymond Stillworth,” supplied Cassandra. “I don’t know if he is in town, but if he is, I am sure he would welcome the invite. And I think you should like Raymond, Your Grace. He is almost the image of my late husband but with a more open and sociable manner about him. At least Richard and I always found him good company. I can give you his direction.”
Edmund nodded. “Good man, Stillworth. He is the son of my late sister Bernice and her husband, David Stillworth.”
“Mrs. Tidemark, what is your brother’s name? I’ll have an invitation sent here for him.”
Vanessa beamed. “Harrison Farrow, Your Grace. And thank you, Your Grace, thank you.”
The Duchess waved her hand negligently. “Well, now that we have had our tea and our comfortable coze, where is the young man I came to meet?”
“Waiting to meet you, Your Grace,” said Cassandra, smiling. She rang the bell. When the butler answered the bell, she requested Alex to come downstairs with his nursemaid.
“Immediately, my lady,” the butler said with an answering smile.
Within moments they heard a clatter down the stairs and loud whispers of “Wait, my lord! Wait!” before the double doors opened and Alex entered.
His appearance drew a tear to Cassandra’s proud mama's eyes. He stood very straight and tall and moved slowly into the room. He looked around at everyone, his eyes darting to the Duchess, but he stopped by his mother. “You wished to see me?” he asked formally. He was dressed like a little gentleman and his dark wavy locks combed and pomaded into obedience.
“Yes,” she said. She turned him toward the Duchess. “Your Grace, allow me to present my son, the Marquess of Darkford, Alexander Samuel Raymond Tidemark. Alex, this is Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess of Malmsby.”
Alex executed a formal bow toward the Duchess.
The Duchess chuckled. “Well, now that the formal introduction is done, come over here and talk to me. I understand you met my grandchildren yesterday.”
“Grandchildren?” Alex parroted, confused, as he crossed over to where the Duchess sat.
“Yes, Lady Guinevere and Viscount Lakehurst.”
Alex brightened. “Lady Guinevere is fun! I like her!” he said enthusiastically.
“I like her, too,” the Duchess told him as she pulled him onto her lap. “Did you know she plays the violin?”
“She does?”
“Yes, and very well, too. Do you play an instrument?”
“No, at least not yet. I’m only just turned six,” he seriously explained to her.
“Well, I’m sure sometime this year, you will start to learn all manner of things.”
“I already know my numbers and my letters… well, mostly. Mama teaches me,” he confided to the Duchess.
“Excellent!” the Duchess said. “And I’m sure your mother has done a wonderful job.”
“I have made the request to Edmund in the past to see about a governess or tutor for Alex. He says it is too soon,” Cassandra said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Edmund shift in his chair.
The Duchess raised an eyebrow in the direction of Edmund. “I am sure he will. Most likely, he didn’tnoticehow ready the young Marquess is for his lessons,” she said.
