Purity recalled how her breath had hitched.
“Yes, darling one,” she had said at once and wrapped Diana in an embrace.
With her voice muffled against Purity’s shoulder, the girl had added, “I could call you that, too, if you wish.”
“Yes!” Purity had answered. “All three of you, please.”
And now they were on their way to Scotland to visit with Matthew’s mother and stepfather, his full sister, who’d been a newborn at the time of Baron Foxford’s untimely death, as well as his two half-brothers.
“Will we be there soon?” Diana asked.
Purity shot a wide-eyed glance at her husband seated facing backward across from them.
“At least she asked it differently,” he quipped. Then he looked at his daughter, who despite asking questions, was staring out the window of the train carriage past Purity’s shoulder. “Are you asking once a mile, do you suppose?”
Diana laughed. “Papa, how would I know?”
“I don’t know either, but I believe you’ve asked about three-hundred and sixty times, so we shall be there in about another forty questions.”
Diana giggled. Even Purity chuckled, although she had a few butterflies in her stomach, adding more as they grew closer. It was something important to meet a man’s mother.What female would ever measure up and not be found lacking?
She knew her own mother was going to scrutinize Adam’s fiancée if and when she got the chance.What young lady would be good enough for the heir to the Diamond earldom?Purity couldn’t imagine, but she would be pleased to find out.
On the other hand, she was already Matthew’s wife, so she wasn’t seeking permission or even approval, so much as acceptance. If his mother’s letters were any indication, they would mix like sugar into hot tea. Very well indeed!
“I hope the kittens aren’t crying,” Diana said, another remark she’d already made a dozen times.
“Miss Soft and Miss Wriggles will be fine until our return. They would want you to have a monstrous good time,” Matthew said. “When I was a boy, this trip would have taken days by coach, and even earlier this year, we would have had to change trains and go by coach for part of the way. Or if we went up via Newcastle upon Tyne, we would have had to cross the River Tweed and the River Tyne. The ferry is crowded, and delays are inevitable.”
Diana yawned.
Purity smiled. Diana might be unimpressed by the fact they could get to Edinburgh in a very long day on a single train, but she was astonished.
“I wonder what the world will be like when you are my age,” Purity remarked.
“In another fifty years?” the little girl asked.
Fifty years!Purity frowned, causing Matthew to laugh.
“Mrs. Caldwell,” he said, waking up the nanny who slept sitting up but leaning against the other side of the carriage. With a snort, she roused and blinked at them.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Would you read with Diana, please? Or maybe you could point out some sights.”
“Sights, my lord?”
“Anything out the window onthatside of the compartment.”
Diana complied, slipping off her shoes and standing on the plush seat in her stockinged feet so she could look outside.
“Well, done, Lord Fox,” Purity said as he rose to his feet, stretched, and then took the seat beside her.
“I thought that was a good idea. Now I can sit by my beautiful wife and hold her hand while making money at the same time.”
Purity let pass her husband’s mild reference to his railroad investments. She didn’t want to give him a big head since he already knew how proud she was of his business sense. He had helped fund the main line of the Caledonian the year before to massive success, and the section of rail they needed from Carstairs to Edinburgh had only opened in April.
Perfect timing as far as she was concerned. All in all, the share capital of the early investors was valued at about two million pounds, and Matthew had a healthy amount of it.
