“Might I accompany you?” He moved further into the room, his hands clasped behind his back. “I confess I know little of such matters, but I should like to learn how you manage these affairs. You have such an excellent eye for—” He gestured vaguely. “For everything, it seems.”
Amelia felt warmth creep up her neck and spread to her cheeks. She was not used to compliments. At all.
“You flatter me unnecessarily, my lord.”
“I merely speak the truth.” His eyes held hers with an intensity that made her pulse quicken. “The household runs more smoothly under your direction than it ever did when—” He stopped himself, clearing his throat. “That is, you possess a remarkable talent for management.”
When Edward was alive, she finished silently. That was what he had been about to say. She dropped her gaze to the ledger, uncomfortable with the comparison, though she could not articulate why.
“I should be pleased to have your company to Canterbury,” she said, her voice carefully neutral. “Though I warn you, selecting drapery fabric is perhaps the dullest occupation imaginable.”
“I doubt anything could be dull in your company.”
The words hung between them, weighted with something she dared not examine too closely. Before she could formulate a response, Henry’s excited squeal carried from the nursery above, and they both looked up.
“He sounds in fine spirits this morning,” Tobias observed, looking up. “I have been hoping that you would not object… if I wanted to spend more time with him. I would very much like to get to know… my nephew.”
My nephew.
She looked up at him, and her heart suddenly started beating with a strange warmth. Since Henry’s birth,
“Of course,” she managed. “Henry would enjoy that immensely. He… I believe he quite likes you.”
“He does? I mean…” Tobias grinned. “That is good to hear,” he settled.
An awkward silence settled between them, neither quite meeting the other’s gaze. Amelia found herself acutely aware of every detail—the way his cravat sat slightly askew, as though he had tied it himself without his valet’s assistance. The faint shadow along his jaw suggested he had risen early. The particular shade of grey his eyes became when...
She forced her attention back to the ledger. “Was there anything else you required, my lord?”
“No. That is, yes. Perhaps.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I thought that perhaps, if you have time later, I thought we might review the estate accounts together? Pemberton believes I should understand the household expenses as well as the agricultural matters, and I believe that you are far more knowledgeable about such things than I.”
He waited almost hopefully, and she took a few seconds to think before nodding.
“This afternoon?” she suggested. “After Henry’s nap?”
“Perfect. Thank you, Amelia.”
He had let her name slip through his lips without the accompanying ‘lady’ more and more over the last few days. Not that it meant anything, of course. It was just… something she’d noticed. He nodded now and walked off without another word, though she was certain that he had muttered something under his breath.
Only when his footsteps had faded did she sink down into a seat.
What had brought about this transformation? There was almost a gentleness to him suddenly, and she was not quite sure what to make of it. How to handle it.
No, she decided firmly. She would not ponder it too much. There were things to be done.
She managed to keep herself busy, the morning passing in its usual rhythm of domestic obligations. Still, Amelia found her mind wandering repeatedly to Tobias and how… odd… he had been acting.
She’d never experienced such warmth before. It… frightened her.
By early afternoon, she desperately needed air.
“Come, darling,” she told Henry, lifting him from his play with the wooden horse. “Let us visit the garden, shall we? The roses are blooming beautifully.”
The child clapped his hands with enthusiasm. “Pretty flowers!”
His vocabulary had expanded considerably over the past few weeks, with new words tumbling out of him daily. She settled him on her hip and made her way through the French doors opening onto the garden.
The afternoon had turned gloriously warm, a mere light breeze dancing on the leaves—though not one that cooled the air significantly. Henry seemed to be in his element, here outside between the flowers. He reached for one clumsily, and she caught his hand.
