“But Kitty—”
“Have you told your sister about our plans for the Continent?” Lord Dawson asked, coming up behind them as Louisa and Kitty finished fixing their plates. “We’ll be traveling for three months.”
“The Continent? Surely you don’t mean to go to France?”
“Of course. The war is officially over, or it will be come this summer. I don’t see a reason not to visit.”
A stolen glance at Rhys made Louisa note that he certainly seemed aware of a dozen reasons not to visit, but then Lord Dawson hadn’t fought in the war.
Breakfast was a tense affair, if only for half of the company. While Lord Dawson and Kitty seemed immune to questioning, Louisa and Rhys were almost too aware of the inconsistencies in their romance. For instance, Lord Dawson stated that he had never felt the way he did when he first saw Kitty a year prior at the Houghtons’ ball. Kitty hadn’t attended, however, and when corrected, he stated that the woman only looked very similar to Kitty. It left a bad taste in Louisa’s mouth.
When the meal finished, Rhys offered to take Lord Dawson around the property, but the man was too tired from the carriageride and opted to rest instead. Louisa was about to clear the table when Rhys’s hand stopped her.
She glanced at him, perplexed.
“Take Kitty into the village and hire a proper cook, two house maids, and a scullery maid.”
“But—”
“Please.”
Having rarely heard a please from Rhys, Louisa closed her mouth and nodded. She supposed that while they had been enjoying their empty house, it was time to hire proper servants, particularly since the upstairs had finally finished renovations.
“Where are you going?”
“Mr. Trench and I are to inspect the roofs on the tenant houses. If they’re satisfactory, we should be able to hire tenant farmers by the end of the month.”
Rhys kissed her on the cheek in front of Kitty and while it was chaste, Louisa felt herself blush. Once he left, she turned to Kitty, who was smiling from ear to ear.
“He seems to really be taken with you.”
“Oh, no,” Louisa said, shaking her head. “We’re just, very good partners, that’s all.”
“As husband and wife.”
“No. Well, yes, but… Rhys and I are different in many ways. Of course, we’re similar too.”
Kitty’s brows cinched together.
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.”
“Just that, well… Rhys and I are compatible. Surprisingly, considering how we met and all.”
Kitty nodded.
“Yes. I find that Lord Dawson and I often seem to be thinking the exact same thing at all times.”
“How do you know?”
“Well, he’ll ask me my opinion on something and usually always agrees. For instance, when we were in London and he first mentioned wanting to marry me, I said I shouldn’t wish to wait a very long time and he agreed instantly. It was his idea to flee the city.” She sighed, her eyes glazed over in a lovestruck way. “Isn’t it terribly romantic?”
No, not at all, but Louisa couldn’t tell Kitty that. So, instead she swallowed her discomfort and merely nodded.
“Well then,” Louisa said. “Shall we to town?”
Chapter Nine
“Unfortunately, two ofthe tenant houses will need to be stripped down and rebuilt,” Mr. Trench was saying to Rhys in the office. Rhys had been trying his hardest to focus on the man’s words, but he could barely drum up enough curiosity about the drawings laid out before him on the desk, or any of Mr. Trench’s suggestions. The only thing Rhys could think of was Louisa and how quiet she had become since the arrival of her sister and Lord Dawson.
