“That sounds dangerous. What have you been thinking?” Anthony rotated his neck. “Sorry, I’ve been sitting at a weird angle. I have a kink in my neck.”
“Get up,” Lark said. “Give me the baby.”
Anthony hesitated, but then he stood and handed Henry to Lark. Lark cradled the boy in his arms while Anthony stretched his shoulders.
Little Henry smelled a little like spoiled milk, but it was oddly pleasant. His little body fit nicely in the crook of Lark’s arm. He cracked open an eye as if to ascertain whether the new man in his immediate presence was friend or foe and seemed to decide on the former. He closed his eye and seemed to fall back to sleep.
Lark’s heart ached with how darling this little child was, but he supposed he had missed the wailing.
“I had a thought,” Lark said.
“About the staff?”
“About us. Maybe when the Season is over, we should go somewhere…less crowded. As a sort of trial for whether us living in close proximity will lead us to bliss or murder.”
“Ah.” Anthony nodded. “I had been considering the same scheme. It’s odd, having spent less time among Society this season, I find I don’t miss it as much as I expected. I love it, don’t get me wrong. I love the balls and parties and the ritual and all of it, but I find that I don’t need it the way I once did. Perhaps it’s a sign of aging.”
“In other words, the social whirl of London does not have the same anchor on you as it once did.”
“Correct. And perhaps the thing to do would be to take Henry and Mrs. Church and her family and hie off to the country for the summer and live as a married couple might. Did I ever drag you to my estate in Kent?”
“No, I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”
“After my father died, I took everything out of the master’s chambers and bought entirely new furniture. There’s an adjacent chamber for the mistress of the house, and the decor there is a bit more feminine, more to Matilda’s taste, but we can alter it however you like.”
“Or I can just sleep in your bed.”
“You could. I don’t know where you will keep your trousseau, however. My dressing room is usually quite full.”
“Of course it is.”
Anthony smiled. “I imagine I could make room for a few pairs of trousers and your appallingly dull waistcoats.”
“Apologies for not festooning my body in whatever riotous colors are fashionable right now.”
Anthony grinned. “’Tis a good idea, us going to the country for the summer. I think we should. And if we survive a few months without one of us doing violence to the other, perhaps we have a future.”
“Would you want my help, seeing to the rearing of Young Master Henry?”
“Oh, certainly. There are some matters you are smarter about than I. I can’t think of what they are right now, but I’m sure there are some.” Anthony winked.
Lark rolled his eyes. “Shall we let the young master sleep?”
“Yes. You can place him in the cradle. Gently.”
Lark carefully placed the baby back in his cradle. Henry stretched and sighed and then went back to sleep.
As Lark stood up from bending over, Anthony placed an arm around him. “I haven’t spent a summer in the country since I was a boy. What does one do there?”
“I imagine we will find things to occupy our time. Surely you also have some business to attend to when you are not singing to your infant son.”
“I do indeed. But I’d just as soon spend my days in bed with you.” Anthony kissed Lark’s temple. “If I have not said so, Lark, I am enormously grateful to have you back in my life.”
“I feel foolish for pushing you out.”
“You did what you felt was needed. And I don’t know that our circumstances have changed except that I have given my mother the grandchild she…well, craved is the wrong word. The grandchild she wanted for status reasons and has, since his birth, basically ignored. She plans to spend the summer in London, by the way. She and some of her friends are doing some charitable works, primarily building a lending library for the poor. It seems very important to her that she take a hands-on approach.”
“Good to know, I suppose.”
