This was quite different from the scenario I had begun to imagine for myself, but Dolly mistook my surprise for encouragement and continued: “It is the perfect opportunity to find someone now that you are back here. Why, I can’t imagine there are very many eligible men on Corfu. And I can think of several gentleman who would happily take on a widow, even one with children—”
“Thank you, Dolly,” I said with a tight smile. “That is very kind of you, but I am not interested in being courted at the moment.”
That was putting it mildly. In truth, I had absolutely no desire to betaken onby anyone. Least of all a man who thought he was doing me a great favor by marrying me. No, that didn’t interest me at all.
Dolly nodded. “Of course. But do let me know when you are.”
“I will,” I said graciously, while thinking to myselfnever.
We chatted amiably about other more mundane topics while the children finished their game. “Are you sure you can’t stay for tea?” Dolly asked.
“Not today, I’m afraid. Besides, I think I’ve imposed on you enough,” I said with a glance at Tommy.
“Oh, heavens. Don’t worry about that. He is welcome here anytime,” Dolly replied.
“I appreciate that,” I said, and meant every word.
Then I gathered my reluctant son and we said our goodbyes, while Franny and John extracted several promises from me that we would visit again very soon.
Tommy and I then left the room, and as we headed towards the front door, he told me every little detail about his visit. It was soothing, listening to him chatter away about inconsequential details. So much so that I didn’t notice Jack descending the main staircase just as we were passing by.
“There you are, Minnie,” he said. “Glad I caught you.”
He made it sound as if I were trying to sneak off, never mind the fact that I had been here for nearly three-quarters of an hour. “Give us a moment, will you, Thomas?”
I prickled a little at that. Firstly, because no one called him Thomas, and secondly, because Jack hadn’t bothered to ask ifIwanted to speak withhim. But Tommy looked entirely unbothered and loped off down the hall, likely returning to the parlor.
I let out a sigh, knowing that our exit would be delayed even more, and turned to Jack. “What is it?”
But he was still watching Tommy. “Does Harold know you’re in town?”
“No,” I said pointedly.
That was Oliver’s older brother, the viscount. Tommy was currently his heir, though I still held out hope that Harold Harper, Viscount Mandeville, would have a boy after fathering four girls. After Oliver’s death, the viscount took issue with my decision to stay on Corfu—or rather, my decision to keep Tommy on Corfu—and tried to bully me into sending him back to England for schooling. Things had taken an ugly turn, and I had to involve a lawyer. But Oliver’s will was very clear, and the viscount had no legal standing. Eventually, I allowed him to write to Tommy, but there had been no communication between us since. And I had every intention of keeping it that way.
Jack frowned. “If he finds out you’re here and didn’t tell him, he’ll be very cross.”
“Well, I can’t imagine why he would, unless someone goes out of their way to inform him,” I snapped.
“Minnie,” Jack warned, “you can’t keep them apart forever. And there are things the boy should know about for when he inherits—”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” I said stubbornly. “And you know it isn’t certain anyway.”
Jack let out a dry laugh. “Given that Harold is nearly fifty and his wife is not much younger, I’d say it is all but guaranteed that Thomas will become the next viscount.” Then his gaze softened ever so slightly. “Is that really such a bad thing?”
I glanced away. “Oliver thought so.”
Jack sighed. “They had a difficult relationship. But that doesn’t mean you need to as well.”
I whipped my head back, outraged. “He tried to take my son from me,” I growled.
“Only so he could go to school here. And be around his peers.”
I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly. It was useless trying to argue with Jack about this. We simply had very different ideas of how the world should work. I didn’t want Tommy surrounded by lazy, overprivileged boys. Oliver had been adamant about that. We wanted our children to have a different upbringing than our own. That was why we had moved to Corfu in the first place. And why Oliver made me promise to stay there, or so I had thought.
I opened my eyes and found Jack staring at me in concern. “I’m not trying to upset you, Minnie.”
“I’m not upset,” I said quickly. “I just don’t want to discuss this. I’ve made my decision. Now then, I trust that wasn’t what you wanted to talk about.”
