“Why?”
“I would like to get to know all of your family.”
His gaze returned to his plate with the kind of focus I rarely saw without a saber in his hand. “I suppose you may invite him. Although I must warn you, he will not attend.”
“Still, he should be afforded the opportunity, he is family after all.”
Hugh offered a barely audible huff at that comment. “You will be the one to tell Mother,” he directed.
“Of course.” It was a fair, if unappetizing assignment. Content with a goal achieved, I returned to my own supper.
* * *
He was actually attending.Michael had agreed to attend.
I had to admit to some surprise. While the tone of my invitation had been somewhere between begging and manipulation, the man owed me nothing.
When I received a folded and sealed response from Anna this morning at the breakfast table, I nearly fell over.
“Michael is attending supper? You’re certain?” Anna flushed, the words burst from her rapidly. She pulled the note from my hand, eyes stuttering rapidly over the page before flipping the note over, searching the empty back for something.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. That was unbearably rude. I just—I hadn’t thought he would…” Her face and her chest now matched the flames of her hair. Suddenly I thought I might be missing something essential.
“Anna, is everything all right?”
“What?” she asked distractedly, still flipping the single page front to back, searching for information that was not there to be found. “Oh, yes. Everything is fine. I just thought he might…”
“Might what? Anna, what am I missing?”
Finally, she set the pages down beside me at the table with a resigned sigh. Her expression was more forlorn than I had ever seen before. In fact, I had never seen Anna anything other than cheerful. It was disconcerting.
“I thought he might bring someone with him.”
“Who? Was there someone I should have invited?”
“No. No one.”
“Anna?”
“I just… I hoped he might bring Augie with him.”
What’s an augie?“Augie?”
“Augustus Ainsley, the old stable master’s son. He was a footman here before he left to help Michael at Wayland’s.”
Oh… That’s an Augie—must be a handsome one.
“I see… Should I amend the invitation?”
“Oh, no. He would never join a formal dinner. I just thought he might join us downstairs in the kitchens. I haven’t seen him since his father passed, you see. It would be nice to catch up.”
“There’s nothing in the response to suggest that he would not bring his friend with him, particularly if he does not wish for a place setting.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Her flush was receding slightly, leaving behind the prettiest blush on just the apples of her cheeks.
“Anna? Perhaps Mary can attend to me tonight? You might have some time to freshen up?”
