Riggs shook his head. “If she is, she didn’t tell me. I believe she was reading.”
“Well, I’ll join her. There’s nothing else, if you and any other staff want to finish your duties and lock up.”
“Very good, sir. Good evening.”
Alexander acknowledged him and then smoothed his clothing before he headed out of the foyer and down the short hall that led to a small parlor on one side and his study on the other. He entered the parlor and found his mother was, indeed, seated on the settee, her latest gothic romance in her hand. She was so engrossed, she didn’t seem to notice him.
He cleared his throat. “Is the heroine married to a blackguard or haunted by a ghost?”
Mrs. Castleton started and then looked up at him with a laugh. “Both, actually. Good evening darling.”
He bent to buss her cheek and then went to the sideboard to pour himself a drink. “May I get you one?”
“No, I’ll be up all night with indigestion,” she said. “But if you’d like the company I’ll stay up with you while you drink it.”
He nodded and came to sit on the chair across from the settee. He took a sip of his whisky and smiled. “This is like old times. Riggs said you weren’t waiting up for me, but I wonder if you actually were.”
“I always worry when you’re out and about,” his mother admitted. “But you are too grown a man to report to your mother or to have her wait up. I simply couldn’t sleep and decided to stay up reading.”
“Troubles?” he asked, and braced for the answer. There had been so little he could do for her since his father’s death and her lifestyle had been greatly reduced in the last few years, especially.
“Oh, nothing for you to worry about,” she assured him. “How was your night? Or was it the kind of night you don’t tell your old mother about?”
He laughed. “I wasn’t out doing anything very interesting, I’m afraid. I went to a ball and I suppose it isn’t exactly the kind one tells their mother about, but mostly I stood around looking boring and broody.”
His mind flashed once more to looking across that ballroom and seeing first Julia and then his cousin. Always Julia first, though he supposed that was by design. She was beautiful, after all, and her clothing, her hair, her jewels, they were all meant to attract the eye. It worked. He always felt intently aware of her when she was in the same space as he was.
“Is something troubling you, dear heart?” his mother asked.
He blinked away the intrusive thought and shook his head. “No, Mama. Well, I suppose I was wishing I could provide for more for you. To make things easier for you.”
Her expression softened. “Alexander, in what world do you believe you haven’t made things easier for me? You’ve always been an attentive son, and you took me in nearly two years ago now. You never even complain about it, though I’m certain it intrudes upon your bachelorhood.”
“My bachelorhood,” he repeated with a snort. There wasn’t much of that. He hadn’t had a mistress in several years and never courted the ladies he encountered at parties. He couldn’t yet. It would be unfair to them. He sighed. “I was speaking to someone about my investments tonight and I suppose I’m simply brooding about them. If they had already paid off, you could have stayed in your own home and been happy.”
Her brow wrinkled and she leaned across to take his hands. “Lovey, you’ve taken what little that father of yours and your horrible grandfather allowed you and are building yourself up. Onyourterms. I’m endlessly proud of you for that. These thingswillpay off.”
“And until then you remake the same dresses and scrimp and save what’s left of your pin money?” he asked with a sigh.
“You take very good care of me, Alexander,” she said. “I won’t hear of anything else.”
He smiled as she squeezed his hands and got up. There was no use arguing with her at any rate—she always won.
“Now, I think I shall retire,” she said. “Let you have a bit of time alone to recover from your night. I’ll see you tomorrow, love.”
“Goodnight, Mama,” he said, and watched her go. But once she had departed, he leaned back in his chair with a great sigh.
Whatever she said about how well taken care of she was, he continued to feel uncertain. He had no idea how much longer it would be for the investments he’d made to create large returns. And she deserved so much better in the meantime. Something he couldn’t provide, though a different man could. Only that man always wanted something in return and if he was going to reach out, Alexander only hoped the toll wouldn’t be too high.
CHAPTER 2
Julia poured tea at the sideboard in her parlor a few days after the ball. Her sisters sat behind her on the pretty violet settee, heads close together, talking and laughing. It was the best sound in the world and Julia hesitated a moment just to listen to them, their warm voices so comforting to her.
Their topic of conversation was slightly less so. Arabella had her hand rested gently on Evelina’s giant pregnant belly and she was talking back and forth between unborn child and giggling mother.
“And then, little lord, you will be treated like a prince,” Arabella said.
“Oh, you don’t know that the baby is a boy,” Evelina laughed.
