“We’ll all go.” Without so much as an acknowledgment from him, she’d set the knitting aside, and taken up a piece of paper and pencil.
“Are you certain, Mother? You wish to leave London for the summer then?”
“It’s time, son.” She smiled up at him.
Rising from his chair, Gabriel found himself feeling satisfied indeed with his accomplishments for the day.
If only the mail had brought the missive he’d been watching for. He supposed that he ought to assume Olivia had no need of him.
She’d not returned his letter. Which ought to indicate that they had managed to avoid any… complications.
Because it would have complicated everything.
As a gentleman, honor would have forced him to offer her and their child the protection of his name. He’d have had no choice but to bow out of his betrothal with Victoria. It was the only possible scenario where he would have gone against his father’s wishes.
But she had not written.
His disappointment was quite unexpected.
Of course, it was not the thing at all, for an unmarried lady and a gentleman to correspond in such a manner, but they were rather beyond such formalities… and he would have liked to know how she fared.
Crawford had written on a few occasions with questions regarding reopening the mine. From what Gabriel understood, however, operations would move at a snail’s pace and when future concerns arose, they would be halted until the problems were addressed and resolved. All of the bodies had been recovered and although a handful of the initial workers were returning, a good deal of them had stayed away.
Crawford’s letters had mentioned that some believed that if the mine hadn’t been cursed before, it became so when Olivia visited it. And, damn his eyes, Gabriel would take the blame for that, too.
Hell, he only hoped she hadn’t heard of such ridiculousness. She’d seemed practical enough most of the time, but she’d also been innocent, naïve, too giving by far. Good Lord, she’d been willing to marry a common laborer so that she could help raise four children who were not her own.
He wished he understood her better. Was she mourning the loss of her fiancé, despite the nature of their very short engagement? Crawford had also written that he and his duchess had taken responsibility for the raising of Smith’s orphaned children, moving all four boys over to Ashton Acres and setting them up as though they were their very own.
Olivia had expected she’d become their mother. She would be happy that the children had been placed in such a bountiful home, but Gabriel knew it would be a loss to her, of sorts, to see her sister embrace the motherhood she’d been willing to take on herself.
In far more primitive conditions.
Olivia deserved more, damnit.
“I’ll inform the servants.” He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets.
His mother nodded. “And your fiancée.”
“Eh?”
“Victoria. You’d best inform Miss Shipley.”
Ah. Yes. Mrs. Beasley would be none too pleased.
Chapter 21
Mothers and House Parties
As it was,upon returning to Sky Manor, Gabriel found himself reliving far more happy memories than those of his father’s last days. The servants had greeted him enthusiastically with needed upgrades and a few staffing issues and since arriving, he’d had little opportunity to contemplate his personal affairs.
Romantic or otherwise…
His brothers had come and gone over the Christmas holidays and since then, life had reverted to such mundane matters as corresponding with political colleagues and addressing improvements with his estate manager. And after all the upheaval of last spring, he valued all of it.
Contentment. Serenity. Peace.
Even a certain level of boredom did not go unappreciated.
