Devlin handed Mrs. Haviland down and bade her welcome. Nicholas helped Grace descend. Not a crease marred the folds of her forest green carriage dress. Beneath the small brim of her matching bonnet, not a hair was out of place. There was no sign of weariness on her face despite the length of the journey.
“Welcome to Ravenswood,” he said. “I hope your stay here will be a happy one.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him and turned to meet Gwyneth and then Devlin, who bowed over her gloved hand and raised it to his lips. She acknowledged Mama and Stephanie with a smile. Ever the cool, gracious lady.
And she was indeed beautiful. The wordperfectleaped to mind, but surely no one was perfect.
“Mr. Ware,” she said, offering her hand to Owen. “We met in London.”
Nicholas recovered his manners and shook the general’s hand and asked Mrs. Haviland if she had had a comfortable journey.
“I did, Colonel,” she assured him. “Goodness, what a noisy crowd of children. I see Mr. Cunningham is watching them. I assume they are his family?”
Mrs. Cunningham and her eldest daughter had approached to greet the new arrivals. Winifred, looking slightly flushed, was introducing her mother to Mrs. Haviland and then Grace, who smiled at them as she had smiled at everyone else. Were there never any variations in that smile? He had not particularly noticed that about her before.
“Three of them are Devlin and Gwyneth’s,” he said in answer to Mrs. Haviland’s question of a few moments before. “There is no happier sound, I think, than children at play.”
“There is a time and a place,” she murmured. She smiled as she said it, but he guessed she was less than enamored of the noise of playing children.
“There is one set of twins among them?” Grace asked.
“Emily and Susan,” Nicholas said while Miss Cunningham turned her head to look sharply at him.
“They are extraordinarily alike,” Grace said. “How does anyone ever tell them apart?”
“Susan has a tendency to tip her head slightly to the right,” he said. “Something I have not noticed in her sister. I believe it is because when they are together, they usually hold hands and Emily stands to the right of her twin.”
“How clever of you, Colonel Ware,” Mrs. Cunningham said. “I had not even noticed that myself. Had you, Winnie? I have never been able to explain how exactly we distinguish between them, though we have never found it at all difficult.”
“I had not noticed either,” Winifred said. “But I believe you are right, Colonel.”
“Alice is the giggler,” he said. “But so is Samuel.” He was showing off now for Miss Cunningham. She had not believed yesterday that he would remember the children’s names. He had acquired something of a reputation when he was on active service in the Peninsula for knowing each man under his direct command by name, down to the lowliest recruit. Miss Cunningham was looking at him with raised eyebrows.
“Allow me to escort you inside, ma’am,” Devlin said, offering his arm to Mrs. Haviland while Gwyneth slipped a hand through the general’s arm.
Nicholas turned to a smiling Grace, and they followed the others inside.
“What a magnificent house this is,” she said. “I look forward to seeing more of it in the coming days and more of the park.”
“It will be my pleasure to show them to you,” he said.
—
The following morning brought a note from Cartref, the neighboring estate to the east of Ravenswood, on the other side of the hills, inviting the Havilands and the Cunninghams and theireldest daughter to join Sir Ifor and Lady Rhys for morning coffee. Gwyneth laughed when she read it aloud at the breakfast table.
“They cannot wait to meet you all,” she said. “Shall I accept? I had promised to give everyone the grand tour of the house this morning, but I suppose it can wait. I will go with you, of course. They are my parents.”
“It is a gracious invitation,” Mrs. Haviland said. “We will be delighted to go.”
“I made arrangements with the dowager countess last evening to call upon her and her husband at their cottage this morning,” Mr. Cunningham said. “It is time I got to work.”
“It is very kind of your parents to invite us, Lady Stratton,” Mrs. Cunningham said. “I would be delighted to go, but Joel and I cannot both abandon the children.”
“I will stay with them, Mama,” Winifred said.
She was a bit disappointed by the invitation, flattering though it was, especially for Mama and Papa. She had been looking forward to the tour of the house this morning. Owen had been going to come too. He had even promised to show Winifred his favorite parts. She had been hoping for some time just with him. However, as the countess had pointed out, the tour would wait. And Mama must not feel obliged to be tied to the children every moment of her stay here.
“There is a nurse perfectly competent to care for and amuse a whole army of children,” the earl said. “Our own children adore her. She gives them what Gwyneth calls firm love. And there are a few maids who are only too happy to be called upon to assist her when there are more children in the nursery than just our own. You must feel free to enjoy your stay here, ma’am. You too, Miss Cunningham. Did I hear Owen tell you last evening that he would giveyou a bit of a personal tour this morning?” He looked at his brother with raised eyebrows.
