Nicholas nodded. He had heard enough. If anyone knew Regina’s real feelings, it was Meg, and the maid was outspoken enough to tell him the truth. Was she right? Was there no hope for him and Regina?
Chapter 33
IT was a quarter past eight and Meg bustled around the room, shaking out the violet dress and short-sleeved spencer Reggie would wear. Reggie sat on the edge of the bed, playing with Thomas. She had fed him already and was waiting for Tess to come back for him.
“I’m surprised Thomas slept through the night, aren’t you, Meg? I thought the strange surroundings would have him fretting.”
“D’you mean to tell me you don’t remember my bringing him in here last night?”
Reggie glanced up, bewildered.
“His lordship brought him back to me all comfy and fed,” Meg told her. “I’m sure he’d like to take credit for feedin’ the baby, but unless they’re makin’ men differently these days—”
“Nicholas brought him back to you?”
“He did, and I can see youdon’tremember. I told you too much wine—”
“Oh, hush,” Reggie cut her short. “Of course I remember. It just took a moment to…oh, never mind. Take him back to Tess, will you? I feel a headache coming on.”
“Little wonder, with as much—”
“Meg!”
When the door closed, Reggie lay back on the bed. What was wrong with her? She knew Nicholas had spent the night with her. She remembered him coming into the room and falling right asleep. What happened afterward—yes, she couldn’t forget any of that. So why couldn’t she recall feeding Thomas in the middle of the night?
She began to wonder if she was sure about anything. Maybe she had fallen asleep soon after Nicholas did, and maybe she dreamed the rest of it. Then she remembered she’d been wearing her nightgown when she woke up. Oh. So it was all a dream, then?
The disappointment hit her like a wave.
As they rode in the coach later that morning, Nicholas’ mood was black. He kept to his corner, barely deigning to be civil. What a difference from last night at dinner! What had happened to him?
The three women gave a collective sigh when they finally reached Silverley. They were expected. The doors of the great mansion were thrown open, and a troop of servants waited to unload the baggage. It seemed every servant in the house had turned out to welcome their lord home, and even the Countess was standing poised in the doorway.
Belatedly, Reggie realized that some of the fuss had to do with Thomas, the new lord. One by one people tried to get a peek at him as she crossed from the coach to the great double doors.
Miriam gave Thomas a hard look before her frigid eyes took in Reggie and Nicholas. “So,” she said matter-of-factly, “you’ve brought the bastard home.”
Eleanor gasped. Giving her sister a furious look she swept into the house. Poor Tess turned scarlet, thankful that feisty Meg wasn’t near enough to hear.
Nicholas, standing behind Reggie, went totally rigid, but otherwise no emotion cross his face. He was certain the insult was a reference to himself, not the baby. Miriam would never change. Her soul was so full of bitterness that her venom spilled over sometimes. That was Miriam.
Reggie stood still, her face flushed pink with anger, her eyes fixed on the Countess. The woman seemed pleased that she had successfully disturbed everyone within hearing. Her voice low, Reggie said, “My son is not a bastard, Lady Miriam. If you ever call him that again, I shall be moved to violence.”
She went on into the house before Miriam could reply. Tess followed her, leaving Nicholas alone to laugh at Miriam’s furious expression.
“You should have been more explicit, mother.” He called her that only because he knew how much it infuriated her. “After all, there are so many of us bastards around these days.”
Miriam didn’t deign to respond to that. “Are you planning to stay this time?” she asked coldly.
Nicholas’ smile was mocking. “Yes, I mean to stay. Any objections?”
They both knew she wouldn’t object. Silverley was his, and she lived there only through his grace.
After Regina had gone upstairs, Nicholas closed himself away in the library, the room he had always favored at Silverley, his sanctuary. He was thankful to see that nothing had changed. His desk was still in its corner, a well-stocked liquor cabinet next to it. He would go over the books today, see if he could understand Miriam’s figures. He would also get foxed.
Nicholas didn’t actually get drunk. He couldn’t make heads or tails of the books, but that was not surprising. Miriam did it on purpose, he was sure, so that he’d be forced to sit with her for hours while she condescended to explain what she had done with the estate. Her manner always implied that Silverley would fall to ruin without her.
They both knew that she was the reason he’d stayed away from Silverley since his father’s death, depending on his agent to keep him informed of conditions. He simply could not stay under the same roof with her for very long. Miriam’s threats and barbs made him lose his temper.
