She giggled as she said it, and Spencer winced. He had not thought of that result of the evening’s activities.
“Are you in any pain?” he asked, and she carefully got to her feet.
“It would seem I am not,” she said as she put a nightgown around herself. “I told you that I was ready.”
“You certainly were. It was incredible. I should have told you as much last night, but–”
“The exhaustion, yes? I cannot say I blame you. That was why we all went to bed early, if I recall correctly, but some people simply have to be restless.”
“People, yes,” he winked, and she curtseyed with a look of pride on her face.
“What do you have planned for today?” she asked. “You are to see a friend, yes?”
“Alexander,” he nodded. “Though, if I am honest, I do not wish to leave this room. I would much sooner forget everything that is out there and stay here with you.”
“As would I, but we are married to our duty as well to one another. Will you be home in time for lunch?”
“I plan to be, but if not, I suppose you could enjoy a meal with your new sister-in-law. Or your cousin, if you plan to go forward with that plan of yours.”
She laughed, folding her arms.
“That was merely an idea! I am trying to find a way for all of this to be remedied, you know.”
“I do, and it is admirable. I can only hope that it will be as simple as you want it to be.”
And hoped he did, but he knew it would not be. Thetonhad its views, and it had a particular way of picking stories apart until they got to a narrative they enjoyed, no matter how fanciful it might be. Spencer could not allow that to happen, and to have himself and his wife seen as liars on top of everything else. If they did not do everything correctly, there would be no coming back from it.
“In any case, we will find a way through this,” she assured him. “Sophia will be alright, as will her son. I will speak with her today and see if I can do anything to help.”
“I must warn you, Anna. She does not take kindly to being assisted. I have tried for the past year, and she refuses every idea I have.”
“I know. If she truly would rather be elsewhere, then that is what will have to happen. I know better than to try and force a stubborn lady’s hand, after all.”
She gave him a smile and handed his clothes to him. Spencer hoped that she would say something to convince his sister to stay, for he could not stomach the idea of having to leave Anna again. It was a dangerous dynamic, for he could not afford to fall for her, but he had to admit that he liked her presence, and he did not want to be away from it.
And yet, he had arranged to see his friend, and Alexander was not a man who liked to be kept waiting.
“That sounds an awful lot like love,” Alexander pointed out when Spencer arrived and explained everything.
“It is not,” he protested. “I told you, I am not the sort of gentleman to feel that sort of thing. I am just like you.”
“Nonsense,” his friend said firmly, handing him a drink as they sat in his study. “You have always been softer than I. Have I not told you what would happen if I learned of a sister? I would send her enough money to become self-sufficient, if used wisely, then wash my hands of the situation.”
“Yes, well, I would have said the same thing had you asked me that years ago. When it actually happens, it is not as simple as that.”
“I would say that it is.”
“And I would say that you are not half as cruel as you pretend to be.”
“Cruel? I would not call myself that. I am one to enjoy the company of ladies, though, and a duty elsewhere would dampen that.”
“Or open you to the possibility of more ladies,” Spencer countered, “though I cannot speak for whether or not they engage in that.”
“Such a loyal husband. One has to wonder why that is. Love, perhaps?”
“I do not love her,” he protested. “I swore I never would.”
But his glass was already empty. He hated lying, and it showed in him too easily to get away with it, even when he had to. It was a fruitless endeavor, especially when speaking to someone who knew him as well as Alexander did.
