“Hush,” he said, and then he sighed. He realized then she had grown tired after all. For the Penelope he’d always known would not be hushed so easily. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head and closed his eyes.
Marriage was proving to be a complicated business, indeed.
* * *
In the week that followed, there was something of a truce between them. Penelope completed the requisite two days in her chambers and then began venturing out in gradually increasingly long bouts of activity. Nothing strenuous physically, but more than most ladies of quality did under normal circumstances. After learning the details involved in the running of Land’s End’s domestic endeavors, she turned her inquisitive mind to that of the more interesting aspects of the estate, such as details regarding livestock, tenants, farming, and other investments. These were when she was most stimulated.
While perusing some reports from ancient times—for how could one understand an estate in its current condition, truly, when one does not know what has prospered and failed in the past—Penelope sat tucked on a comfortable chair in the study, while Hugh labored over some accounting books sent down from the new steward of Augusta Heights.
She was not really learning anything she would not already have guessed and so her mind wandered a bit. She knew that Hugh was concentrating intently. His brows were furrowed, and he’d loosened his cravat.
In his unguarded moments, she could find herself nearly overwhelmed by his good looks.
“I suppose I ought to write to my mother,” Penelope said, breaking into the silence. “My parents probably ought to be informed of our marriage.”
Hugh glanced up. He’d been so absorbed it took him a moment or two to comprehend what she’d said. “I hadn’t considered them.” He grimaced. “Does she know about the other…?”
“Oh, Heavens, no.” Penelope closed her book and tucked it under her chin. “I can only imagine her reaction.” There would be fainting, the smelling salts, the moaning and berating of her only daughter… and then? The realization that her daughter was married. The realization that she would become a grandmamma. Never mind the little matter of such a thing as a five, four, or would it be a three-month long pregnancy?
“Before you arrived, I was up to my ears in correspondence regarding mother’s passing.” That shadow flitted across his features but only for a moment. She assumed one never adjusted completely to the loss of one’s parents. Poor Hugh. “I suppose I ought to send a notice to the papers in London.”
The season would be winding down now. Families would be packing up in preparation of returning to their country estates. It was a wonder how much her life would be different than it had been before. For years now, she’d flitted from country house parties to more intimate visits with friends during the off-season, her most pressing concerns being growing her library and tolerating the inevitable insipids in attendance.
“All the debs shall go into mourning. I’ll be the most hated woman in all of England.” She smiled at him. He had been considered a most fortunate catch. He’d never been netted, however. Until…
Hugh smiled weakly. Unsettled matters remained between them. It was difficult to be with him, in moments such as this, and not feel the urge to convince him he was her children’s father.
They had not been intimate again, either.
Perhaps it was time she took matters into her own hands. He most likely was still fearful. She hoped he’d not been repelled by her condition. He had not seemed repelled before. Not at all. Hopefully he had simply been waiting for a sign from her.
The summer sun burned warm and the doors and windows had been thrown wide open. Over the past several days, they’d developed a comfortable understanding by avoiding any discussions of their relationship. They’d covered politics, crops, estate matters, even stories from both of their youths, but never addressed the tension, the unnamed emotions simmering between them. Their stale mate called for a change of scenery.
“It’s a beautiful afternoon. Would you be opposed to taking tea outside? As a picnic?” He’d spent several hours outdoors, riding, visiting tenants, working with the very capable steward here but Penelope had kept close to the manor.
He shrugged but then nodded. “Are you certain?”
Rising to her feet, Penelope waved away his concerns. “You can show me some of the grounds. It will be good for me.” She pulled the bell cord and instructed the servant to have Cook prepare a small basket. “Give me a moment to collect my bonnet.” She wrinkled up her nose. “An unfortunate side effect of my red hair is the intolerance of my complexion for direct sunlight.”
Hugh’s eyes went to her hair. They then settled back on her face. “Then I would have you collect a large and floppy one, for I’ve a fondness for both your hair and your complexion.”
Warmed by the compliment, she held his gaze steadily before dropping her lashes with a nod. She would flirt with her husband, pregnant or not.
Chapter 23
Hugh did not have to wait long for Penelope to reappear, and just as she returned, a footman delivered a basket with picnic rations. The only change she’d made to her appearance was to don a straw hat with a large floppy brim.
“That is not a bonnet,” he said jokingly. At first, he’d been a bit annoyed by her suggestion, but the thought of an outdoor excursionwasappealing. And ironically enough, he was eager to show her more of the estate, the grounds where he’d spent most of his boyhood.
She laughed at his comment. “The sun is so high and bright today that I decided I needed all the shade I could get.”
He picked up the basket and held out his arm. “Where would you like to go?”
She leaned into him. “Take me somewhere secret, Hugh. Someplace where you played as a child when you could escape all of the adults.”
Her request surprised him. At first, he drew a blank, but then a long tucked away memory surfaced. Therewassuch a place. He’d not been allowed to go down to the cove without an adult, but he and Margaret had found a most excellent substitute. And it was not too far for Penelope, he did not think.
As they stepped outdoors, a very slight breeze was the only indication that they were near the sea. It was unique to Land’s End, salty and yet fresh at the same time.
