“I sent a note to their love nest.They’ll come if they can.”
“Why, Nicholas?”she asked seriously.
He met her eyes frankly.“I’m surrounding you with friends so that you can make what decisions you must make freely.”
He had seen the problem Miss Hurstman had seen.“There’s no need for that.I trust you.I suppose,” she complained, “you’ve sent for your brother, too.”
He smiled.“No, I spared you that.Thank you for your trust, Eleanor.”He rose to his feet and moved away to examine a rather ugly vase.“Perhaps it’s that I do not trust myself.”
It was as well that Miss Hurstman bustled in at that moment, for Eleanor sensed deeper waters ahead and did not care to explore them yet.Neither, she suspected, did he.
“Ah, excellent,” Miss Hurstman said when she saw Eleanor.“I’ve no reason to gainsay the midwife and the other women here who say you must stay flat on your back, but it seems nonsensical to me.Why, I’ve seen simple women out in the fields within days of delivery.Nicholas, your groom asked me to tell you your horse has coughed … Well,” she said, looking at the door, “that certainly got rid of him.Men.Always fussing about horses.”
“But I think a cough in a horse is serious.”
“Is it?Perhaps I should offer them my special linctus.Never had much interest in the beasts except that they get me from place to place.”
“I used to like riding when I was young,” mused Eleanor, “but after father died Lionel sold off the horses we kept in the country.”
It was as a result of this that Miss Hurstman waylaid a wary Nicholas later in the day.“Horse all right?”
“Yes, thank you.A false alarm.”
“Don’t go rushing off, boy.Got something to say, and I don’t believe in hints.Fancy you’d like to give Eleanor presents.Well, she’d like a horse, even though she’s out of practice at riding.There.Don’t say I’m always unhelpful.”
On the contrary, Nicholas picked her up and kissed her, leaving her flustered and muttering but with twinkling eyes.
On his return he discovered Eleanor reading a book.
“Waverley,” he remarked.“I admit to not being a great admirer of Sir Walter.”
“He tells a good story.”Eleanor had to fight not to stare at him hungrily.She still couldn’t believe that he was back … and might stay.If she let him … “Arabella was quite shocked by one of the books at Lauriston Street.It was in Italian, so I couldn’t read it.”
“I wonder which one?Ah, yes,” he said, eyes lighting with humor.“I think I know.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me what it’s about?”
He grinned.“By no means.It will give you an incentive to learn Italian.”
“I think that very shabby,” Eleanor protested, secretly delighted by his teasing humor.
“If you have a taste for erotica, I can provide you with some in honest English.”
“What is erotica?”asked Eleanor, though she could guess from his tone.
Lord Middlethorpe came in at that moment.He looked so startled that Eleanor blushed and glared at her husband, but he was quite unrepentant.
“Really, Eleanor.Now you’ve shocked Francis.”
Eleanor regrettably gave way to an impulse and hurled Waverley at him.He caught it, straightened the pages and put it on a table.“The spoils of war.Now what are you going to amuse yourself with?”
Eleanor pointedly ignored him.“Francis, we are being very neglectful hosts.Come and tell me what you think of the estate.”
Lord Middlethorpe looked doubtfully at Nicholas, but he obeyed Eleanor’s command.
Nicholas murmured, “Pistols or swords?”
“Pistols,” he said.“I’m a better shot than you.”
