“We did not, and I won’t be rescuing you. I will be wooing Anna with my handsome countenance and vast wealth. You’re not to interrupt. You might distract her with your wealth and countenance.”
“That seems unlikely, but I wish you the best of luck. Two quick rings of the bell followed by two slow then?”
“I’ll leave you to rot.”
“Good luck with your wooing. Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding.”
Augie scampered off eagerly down the side alley to the servants’ entrance, leaving me with the chafing prospect of knocking on the door to the home I’d funded for seven years. Eventually, I managed the several steps to the door, suddenly regretting my decision to limit myself to two glasses of brandy with Johnson. I knocked before I lost my nerve.
Weston, the butler, opened the door with all due ceremony—until he saw me. His polite greeting was cut abruptly with the recognition, and he hauled me in the house with one hand, embracing me with the other. The uncharacteristic affection soothed the last of my nerves, and I returned it freely.
I was about to ask after his family when I heard a throaty, feminine “Oh,” from off to the side. “You must be Michael… Mr. Wayland, I mean. I’m Kate, I mean, Lady Katherine.”
I turned from Weston to face her. The woman before me was nothing like what I expected from my brother. The first surprise was her size. She was quite short, but what she lacked in height, she made up for in curves. With skin too pale and eyes and lips too big for her face, she was the exact opposite of the ton’s ideal. And her introduction, far easier of manner and less demure than I expected from Hugh’s choice. I offered her a respectful bow before the man himself stepped into the entry, presumably in search of his wife.
My brother and I had communicated solely through letters and solicitors in recent years. I wasn’t prepared for the sight of him. He was a gangly lad of eighteen when I handed the estate and ledgers over to him. He had filled out in the interim, grown into his height. He had several inches on me now and likely a full stone. It was all muscle. His hair was as dark as mine but straighter and cropped closer to his head. Of my brothers, my complexion was the darkest, a golden tone. Hugh’s eyes were a dark gray in sharp contrast to my brown. He had alwaysfitin the ton in a way I’d never managed. Still, the resemblance between Hugh, Tom, and myself was unmistakable. Despite my father’s best efforts to label me as a ward, there was no question of our relation.
Hugh towered over his diminutive wife, hand resting possessively on the small of her back as he outstretched the other toward me.
“Hugh, good to see you,” I said.
Instead of a greeting, I was met with a flustered response. “What on earth happened to your eye?” I had honestly forgotten the dull throbbing until Hugh’s outburst.
It was a stupid question given my profession. But faced with Hugh’s disapproving face, I couldn’t help myself. “Do you know, it was the strangest thing. I was promenading in Hyde Park, as I like to do. Out of nowhere, this enormous swan dove straight from the sky at me. Beak first! Went right for my eye. Honestly, it’s a miracle I wasn’t killed.”
His stern slash of a mouth was evidence of his irritation, but his viscountess’s giggle reminded him of her presence and somewhat endeared her to me.
“Kate, this is my brother Michael. Michael, this is Lady Katherine Grayson, my wife.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Lady Katherine.”
“Oh, do call me Kate! I’ve always wanted more brothers, and now I have two to add to Kit.”
I barely managed to cover my derisive snort with a cough. Still, I detected no lie in her countenance. She genuinely seemed to believe this farce of a meal was all that was needed to bring us together. If her efforts were directed toward anyone else, I would find them charming. Toward me, they were just an annoyance.
Weston gave a pointed cough, and Kate finally remembered to invite me into the drawing room for drinks before supper.
Even in the hall, I could hear the shrill protestations of the dowager viscountess. I pitied whichever servant was receiving her wrath. Pausing for a fortifying breath at the threshold of the drawing room, I considered my escape options. Weston, sensing my hesitation, gave me a sharp thunk on the back with his fist. I collapsed into the room in an ungainly pile of limbs. Righting myself, I closed the double doors and shot the man a glare for his efforts. He merely grinned in return with a cheeky wave.
Resolutely, I turned to face Agatha for the first time in four years. Distracted as she was by her abuse of the footman, I had a moment to take in my surroundings. The drawing room had been redone; likely the new viscountess’s doing. The wall coverings and carpetings were now a soft pink color with beige accents. Far more tasteful than in Agatha’s day. I believe she also added wall sconces, resulting in a brighter and more welcoming room.
The footman Agatha was berating from her position on the settee was new. She screeched at the poor lad, something about a failure to provide plates in lieu of napkins for the nuts placed on the center table.
She caught sight of her daughter-in-law, and her ire shifted. I watched the poor girl actually shrink under the weight of Agatha’s displeased gaze. She was much too short to lose any further height.
“I suppose in the backwater county you hail from, they eat out of their hands like rodents?” Agatha’s sardonic tone was more subtle than the one she reserved for me, but I could see the girl flinch as the barb landed. The answering silence stretched a moment too long. It became clear that Hugh had no intention of checking his mother. I was left to rescue his bride myself.
Fortunately, it took only my presence to thoroughly distract Agatha from her replacement’s inferior hosting efforts. With a bow, I addressed her in my most deferential tone. “Good evening. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I hope you’re in fine health.”
Agatha’s indignant attention swung to me, and Kate offered a grateful smile in return. The smile was soon wiped away, replaced with horror as the full extent of my stepmother’s hatred became apparent.
Agatha’s address was filled with all the venom she possessed. “What are you doing here?” Ah, so no one told her to expect me. Even better.
“I was invited.”
She turned back to Kate. “Who would do that? Katherine? Did you invite this knave into my home?”
The girl moved to answer, but I discouraged her with a surreptitious shake of the head.
