“She’s not like you, Miriam.” He smiled.
“I always hated it here at Silverley,” she said savagely. “I only stayed to keep you away.”
“I know that, Miriam,” he said quietly.
“I won’t stay here a moment longer,” she retorted. “And you can be sure it won’t be a cottage I’ll find, but a mansion!”
She stalked out of the room, and he took a deep breath, grateful to have her gone. It would be worth a fortune to finally have his home back, free of Miriam’s bitterness.
A few hours later, a coach rumbled down the driveway with Nicholas’ Aunt Miriam in it. The three people on the doorstep breathed a collective sigh as they watched it go. Eleanor went back into the house then, but Nicholas stood there a moment longer, his arms around his wife, holding her close to him, her cheek resting against his chest.
They stayed there too long, for soon two carriages and a coach appeared at the end of the long drive. Nicholas stiffened, then relaxed. What the hell. If Regina loved them, perhaps they weren’t all that bad.
“Invaded again,” he murmured dryly.
“Don’t you dare run away, Nicholas Eden,” Reggie scolded.
She held on to him, bubbling with excitement. Jason and Derek and half of Edward’s brood alighted from the first carriage. Jason was the first to clasp Nicholas in a hearty embrace.
“Glad to see you came to your senses, my boy. James said you were eager to see your son. Hope your business won’t be calling you away too often in the future.”
“No, sir, it won’t,” Nicholas managed to reply cordially, though his hackles rose over what James had told him. Bloody liar.
Derek was next in line, and he got a bear hug. “About time you got around to sending out an invitation, old man.”
“Good to see you, Derek.”
The cousins were next, and Edward and his wife, all trooping toward the house chattering happily. But then Nicholas caught sight of James and Anthony standing by a carriage glowering at him. He turned to enter the house, muttering about uninvited guests. Reggie heard him and frowned at her younger uncles. “Don’t you dare, either of you!” she warned, knowing she didn’t need to be explicit. They understood. “I love him and he loves me. And if you two can’t make friends with him, I’ll—I’ll never speak to you again!” She followed her husband into the house, leaving Anthony and James outside.
James looked at his brother and grinned. “I think she means it.”
“I know she means it,” Anthony replied, clapping James on the back. “Come on then. Let’s see what we can do about patching it up with the bounder.”
A few minutes later, they cornered Nicholas in the drawing room, dragging him away from the others, one on each side of him. Nicholas sighed in exasperation. Were these Malorys always going to gang up on him? “Yes?”
“Regan wants a truce, lad,” James began. “And we’re willing if you are.”
“Blister it! It’s Reggie, not Regan,” Anthony snapped at his brother. “When will you ever—”
“What is wrong with Regina?” Nicholas interrupted.
The two men looked at him and began laughing. “Nothing at all, old chap,” Anthony conceded. “Youcan call her anything you like. It’s this stubborn fellow here who insists on inventing new names all the time.”
“And what is ‘puss’ if not an invention of yours?” James retorted.
“An endearment, that’s what.”
“And Regan isn’t an endearment?”
Nicholas left the brothers to finish the argument on their own. He caught his wife and pulled her down on a sofa beside him.
“You know, love, when I married you, I didn’t think I was marrying the Malory brothers, too.”
“You’re not angry with me for inviting them, are you? I just wanted them to be part of our happiness.”
“I know. And I also know you said they were staying only for the day. Your family does take getting used to, especially those two.” He nodded toward the corner, and she watched Anthony and James having their heated discussion.
She grinned impishly. “They don’t mean half of what they say. And they won’t be here that often anyway. Why, Uncle James is sailing next week. He probably won’t be back more than once a year from now on.”
