When the butler allowed them entry, Eugenia greeted them almost immediately. She rushed their way and hugged Marianne before curtsying deeply. “It is so good to see both of you. I feellike it has been so long since I last laid eyes on you. But I know how it is to be young and in love.”
“Indeed,” Marianne replied with a smile Lucien could tell was fake. He knew her well enough now to be able to tell the difference between a smile that came from somewhere within her and a smile that was put on for the benefit of others.
“Marianne!” Henry burst out of the doorway on the right and launched himself at Marianne. She staggered backwards, but to her credit, recovered quickly and wrapped her arms around the little boy.
“Henry, there you are,” she said. “Did you have a pleasant day?”
“I did,” he said. “Uncle Rhys said that he has never seen a boy who was quicker to spot birds hiding in trees than me.”
“Did he now?” Lucien said and lifted him up. “And where is this uncle Rhys of yours?”
Henry pointed to the drawing room, and Lucien indicated with his chin for Marianne to follow him. She looked up at Lucien before whispering. “Does he always make it a habit of launching himself at people?”
“Only those that he likes,” he replied with a chuckle. “And he clearly likes you.” A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as he said this.
Yes, she was stiff with Henry. Yes, she was not used to children, but she was warming to him.
She didn’t need to love him. She wouldn’t be here long enough to love Henry. And he didn’t want Henry to begin loving her either. But Lucien wanted them to be friends.
Perhaps that had not been something he had thought through very well. Truly, what Marianne’s presence would mean to Henry wasn’t something he had considered. He had thought of the benefits for himself more than anything else.
Rhys stood and clapped his hands together. He greeted Lucien warmly and placed a kiss on Marianne’s cheek. Lucien looked around the room. Marianne’s sisters were there. And of course, Rhys and Nathaniel. Then, he spotted a third person sitting in the corner, and his stomach dropped.
Gideon Marsh.
He had known Gideon since their days at Cambridge. Gideon had always been Rhys’s friend more so than Lucien’s. Lucien had never liked him. He was quick with wit and had a sharp tongue. Qualities Lucien always found questionable because one could never know when one would find oneself at the receiving end of said quick wit and sharp tongue.
“Lucien,” he said. Lucien set Henry down. Marianne made her way to her sisters, and the three chatted while Eugenia rang the bell to indicate that they were ready for dinner.
“Well, well, Wexford,” Gideon said. “I had to come and see it with my own two eyes. You, married. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“True. Well, one does what one has to.”
“I dare say you have done quite well for yourself. I had an eye on Marianne myself,” he said.
Lucien wasn’t quite sure if this was said in jest, as he had never heard Gideon mention Marianne before, but a little prickle emerged in his stomach, and he knew immediately what it was.
Jealousy.
He didn’t want Gideon to like Marianne. Not now, not in the past.
“Well,” Rhys said, “I for one am happy to call Lucien my brother, even if only by law.”
“Yes, I suppose things have rather changed between the three of us now,” Gideon said. “I shall never be able to elevate myself to such a position, given that there are no more sisters. At least none that I know of.”
“I got the last one,” Lucien said with a smile. Then he glanced at Marianne. She was busy conversing with Charlotte. As she stood underneath the chandelier, the candlelight cast a pretty glow on her face. She smiled, and then she raised her head, and her eyesmet his. He couldn’t quite take his eyes away from her, even though he knew he should. The corners of his lips curled up and she mirrored the expression.
“I see you are quite madly in love with your wife,” Gideon said. “Well, I shall consider myself thoroughly defeated then.”
“Defeated how?” Rhys said. “You never stood a chance anyway. It’s lucky that he got Marianne before she took a vow.”
“Oh yes, I thought she had a mind to become a nun,” Gideon said. “What a waste that would’ve been. Good on you for having saved her from that fate.” He smacked his shoulder into Lucien’s in what was meant to be a friendly movement, but Lucien only managed a weak smile.
“Shall we eat?” Rhys said, and they settled around the table. Marianne was beside Lucien, and he glanced at her, smiling once more when he felt Gideon’s eyes on him.
Gideon, who sat on his other side, smirked and leaned over. “I dare say I was quite right. Utterly besotted you are.”
“I am...” He was about to add the word ‘not’, but then remembered they were pretending. It was good if Gideon thought that he was really in love with her, wasn’t it?
