Claudia smiled.“I own I have already done so.It felt most luxurious.”
“Have you visited the vicarage that will be your new home?”April asked.“Will you want to make changes there?”
For the next ten minutes, they discussed the vicarage, comfort versus character and antiquity, colours for sunny rooms and for darker ones, and, in fact, were getting along very well when the gentlemen joined them, rather more punctually than they had the evening before.
April looked over at once, as she always did when expecting Piers.In fact, it was Dr.Hale who entered first, with Mr.Hubble vociferously defending some argument.Dr.Hale glanced up and grinned at April, so she smiled back.
Which was when Claudia jerked her head around and saw the smile still on her betrothed’s lips.
Claudia’s gaze came back to her, no longer friendly, but cold as flint.“What is the matter with you?Must you have both of them?”
“Both of them?”April repeated, confused.
Claudia lowered her voice, though it shook with intensity.“Piers is not enough, is he?You would take Joseph from me, too.”
Before April could even think what she meant, Claudia stood up and walked rapidly away.
By the time April understood, Dr.Hale had already taken his betrothed’s place beside her.
“What is it?”he asked, with unexpected perception.
“Oh, nothing.Except I appear to have offended Miss Algernon.Again.”
“You haven’t,” Hale said ruefully.“You must understand she is used to having all the younger fellows adore her.”
“Including Piers,” she said slowly, then blinked and wished she’d kept her mouth shut.
Hale said ruefully, “Didn’t he tell you?We were most favoured rivals for a time, but he was undoubtedly winning before all the tragedies began and he had to leave.Claudia thought he would marry her.”
But he married me, who could not speak the king’s English or write my own name...
***
LIKE PIERS, WHEN HEchose to, April knew how to blend into the background.So she poured tea, smiled, spoke little, and applauded when Mrs.Hubble sang and Claudia played the piano.She laughed when Keith and Fosterson played a comical duet and did not retire until the other ladies suggested it.Like the night before, the men then piled into the library.The ladies laughed at the familiar sounds as they climbed the stairs and said polite good nights outside April’s door.
The candlesticks were still missing from the alcove.But Mrs.Hubble had a different reticule almost tied to her wrist.
It was a blessed relief to be alone in her own room.
April turned up the lamp and set about preparing for bed.There was a little knot of anxiety in her stomach that she could not account for.If Piers had never mentioned Claudia, it was only because a gentleman would not distress his wife with tales of his past loves and conquests.April had always known she was not the only woman to be attracted to him, but the others had not bothered her unduly.This was different, because he regarded Claudia as his friend.
April had begun as his friend.She was still his friend.
I have the silly moods and fancies of an expectant mother, she told herself.And indeed, this explanation seemed so likely compared to the thought of Piers deceiving innocent maidens, that by the time she lay down in bed with her book, she could laugh at herself.Not least for actually thinking in the language of the nobs.
She read for a little, and was just beginning to nod off when Piers came in.He was still dressed and set down his candle before advancing across the room to gaze down at her.
She turned onto her back.“Are you giving up so early?”
“Apparently, we no longer have the stamina of youth.Alcoholically speaking.Besides, it’s good to be alone, too.”He lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, “Am I disturbing you?”
She reached up to touch his cheek.“Yes.Come to bed.”
So he did.And it was a lovely way to dispel the silly moods and fancies of an expectant mother.
***
SIR DOMINIC TEMPERLEY’Ssecond footman, Edward, crept down the bare staircase, his candle’s glow showing up the many pits in the paintwork and various cobwebs on the ground floor ceiling as he went.Excitement thrummed through him, and not a little triumph.
