Stephen sat alone on the opposite seat, having forthrightly refused to share his space with any bags or boxes. His legs were too long to fit neatly into the rectangular space between the seats, forcing him to sit at an angle. He stared studiously out the window, his face smooth and impassive, and did not glance at either of them.
“You plan to go out after we return home, Grandmother? In this weather?”
He gestured to the carriage window and the raindrops sluicing down the glass.
Amelia had no idea when it started raining. All she knew was that when she entered Emmeline’s shop, it was overcast, and when they left, weighed down with bags and boxes, it was raining. Everything was gray—sky, rain, earth.
“I was rather hoping you could drop me off on the way. I might have already mentioned it to the coachman. You don’t mind my leaving you to settle in alone, do you, Amelia?”
Amelia did mind. She did not like the idea of stepping into a new and imposing house without an ally by her side.
“I could come with you,” she suggested. “As your companion.”
Letitia smiled fondly at her, patting her hand. “Very kind of you to offer, my dear. But no. Mrs. T. and I will have all kinds of private things to discuss. I insist that you go home and settle in, and perhaps try on some of your new things?”
That was that, then.
Amelia smiled faintly and spent the rest of the journey avoiding Stephen’s gaze. Not a small feat in such a small space.
Once they had stopped outside a grand-looking townhouse and Letitia had alighted, however, the atmosphere in the carriage shifted slightly.
Stephen stretched out his legs toward the seat Letitia had occupied, and Amelia leaned toward the window. The silence was heavier this time, and his presence seemedlargersomehow.
To her amazement, Stephen was the one who broke the silence first.
“Why did you insist on telling that woman that you would be back?”
She blinked, glancing warily at him. “What?”
He tore his gaze from the window and fixed it on her. “You heard me perfectly well, I think. I told her you would no longer be working for her, and you hastened to assure her you were coming back. You contradicted me.”
Amelia pressed her lips together. “And that is what angers you, is it? My contradicting you?”
He lifted a lazy eyebrow. “Do I appear angry?”
“I may not have much experience with men, but I know that they can hide their anger until it is too late.”
He was silent for a moment. “And is that how the old Viscount was?”
“What? No, not at all. If he had a temper, we certainly never saw it. He never raised his voice to any of us. He certainly never raised a hand. I did not know him too well, but he struck me as a mild-mannered man.”
Stephen grunted. “And so he was. His son is made of different mettle.”
At the mention of her brother, Amelia’s hands curled into fists. She heard the old leather of her gloves creak around her knuckles.
The new gloves won’t come a moment too soon, I suppose.
Not for the first time, she prayed that there would be no reckoning for the money spent today. If Letitia or even Stephen were to present her with a bill for the things they had bought for her and the girls, she would never be able to repay it.
But Letitia had assured her that they were presents, and Stephen hadn’t even blinked an eye at the bill, casually promising that his steward would settle it soon. Perhaps the cold fear of spending so much money would fade soon.
What could we have done with that money? Paid our rent for months in advance. Painted the front of the house, which is an eyesore. Paid our grocery bill. Paid the butcher.
But then, she reminded herself, it was nothermoney. Stephen could do what he liked, and it was really none of her concern.Noneof her concern.
“Do you miss your father?”
The question caught her by surprise.
