Lady Blanche’s frown deepened beyond what Margaret might have thought possible. The old lady was grieving not only for her father-in-law but for her son. How awkward. Margaret could hardly congratulate the duke on his good fortune in front of the grieving mother.
“I—” She glanced back and forth between them. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I came to offer condolences. Apparently, you’ve had even more losses than I was aware of.”
Her words seemed to please the new duke but did little to settle the ruffled feathers of his aunt. He stepped to the door and spoke to the servant waiting outside it. “Kindly take the lady’s bonnet and pelisse and order tea sent,” he said.
The elderly butler doddered in and did as he had been asked, a courtesy that ought to have been done as soon as she’d arrived. The duke gestured to a chair near the fire, and Margaret sat. Lady Blanche took the wing chair on the opposite side and frowned at Margaret as if she had appropriated the lady’s favorite chair. Perhaps she had.
An awkward silence followed. Margaret had no idea how to break it, and the other lady appeared frozen in icy calm.
The duke glanced from one of them to the other and said, “I gather you’ve had some difficulty,” a comment leading to a safe topic.
Margaret gratefully picked up the thread. “I set out four days ago, meaning to attend your grandfather’s funeral, but underestimated the weather. The roads became impassible, and my coach broke an axle.”
“Why didn’t you simply go home?” Lady Blanche snapped.
“By the time we came to rest at an inn, it was closer to come on than to go home,” Margaret replied.
“Then you made a wise decision. This isn’t good weather for travel,” the duke said. “You are of course welcome to stay until the weather improves.”
Welcome?“You are kind to suggest it, but I’ve bespoken a room at the Red Rose Inn,” she replied.
Lady Blanche sighed. In relief, Margaret assumed.
“Surely you will be more comfortable here than at the inn,” the duke said.
“Your Grace, if I may say, this soon after the funeral, it is hardly proper to—” Lady Blanche began.
“Not at all, Aunt. At least not under these circumstances. The weather shows every sign of another storm. We can’t leave a well-bred young lady to the mercies of an inn. What would her father think of us?” the duke said.
Lady Blanche snorted. “But I doubt this particular lady would be so comfortable under the roof of the Bradley family.”
She snorted!Margaret fought to keep from laughing.
The duke waved his aunt’s comment away. “Old nonsense. I never did understand it. Besides, aren’t we branches of a single family? Related somehow, generations past?”
“Much too long ago to have any meaning today,” Lady Blanche said sourly. Given the woman’s attitude, Margaret wonder if the breach was so very long ago.
“So will you accept?” he asked.
The urge to slam the front door of Roseleigh Hall behind her almost upended Margaret’s common sense. If the weather resumed its onslaught, more days in an inn was a dismal thought. It would be uncomfortable for her servants as well, particularly in the light of the poor service she expected at the Red Rose. She would be better off here. Besides, it would irritate Lady Blanche. That was reason enough.
“Thank you, Your Grace. I would be honored.”
He smiled back, and the room warmed with the strength of it.
*
Henry returned tohis desk, satisfied that he had behaved as a proper host, and sank back into his study of the plan for spring husbandry left by George. His peace lasted almost an hour.
Mary barged in without knocking. “What were you thinking, inviting that woman in?” she demanded.
Henry set the papers down with a sigh. He had been struggling with formulas regarding acreage and yields. He frowned at his sister. “Lady Margaret? She’s a perfectly acceptable personage and seemed pleasant. I can’t turn her out in this weather. If that is the only purpose of this visit, I would appreciate—”
Mary flounced into one of the plush chairs. “Aunt Blanche is in a tearing temper. She’s hard to bear as it is without you consorting with the enemy.”
“Enemy? Don’t be ridiculous, Mary. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have—”
“Aunt Blanche says you haven’t even given Jones any of your time yet. She says you need to rethink your priorities.”
