He popped the rest of the piece in his mouth and raised his eyebrows. Cordelia laughed. She’d never seen Thomas behave silly before. It was surprisingly endearing. She stabbed the last piece of bacon ruthlessly with her fork and he laughed. Unlike the forced sound he made when he was in company, this laugh sounded joyful. She couldn’t help but respond with her own laughter. They ate the rest of their breakfast together in comfortable companionship.
Thomas got out of bed. She could see the bottom of his muscular legs and his bare feet. “I’d best get dressed. The workers will be here soon. When you’re done practicing the piano, would you mind helping me with the plans for the tenants’ cottages?”
“I should like that very much.”
He shifted from one foot to the other, as if unsure of what to do. Cordelia looked down at her hands, feeling like a little girl playing at being a grown woman.
“I will see you later, then,” he said, and left her room through their dressing room, closing the door behind him.
Cordelia walked to her favorite seat at the window. The sunlight crested over the hills and warm light surrounded all the ash trees and bushes. The estate no longer looked cold and desolate. Signs of spring were everywhere, from the small buds on the trees to the green sprouts poking out of the ground. England no longer seemed like a cold, austere country, but one on the cusp of change. Like her marriage. Maybe it could be as warm and loving. Thomas was a good man and a handsome one.
She pulled the cord for Miss Vaughn and smiled even when the woman tightened her corset strings. She selected a white gown and sat extra still while Miss Vaughn arranged her curls on top of her head.
Cordelia felt lighter as she walked down the stairs and even found a fire going in the sitting room. Today was going to be a good day after all. She ran her fingers lightly over the piano keys and decided that today was a day for Mozart. Light, lilting, and lovely Mozart. She and Mozart spent several delightful hours together before she joined Blanche, Penelope, and Thomas for luncheon. She noticed that Thomas’s eyes no longer avoided Penelope because they were already focused on herself. Laughing at her wit. Hanging on to her words.
Could it be that he was growing fond of her?
How strange.
After luncheon, he offered her his arm and they began to walk together to the library, when Hibbert opened the main door and two fashionable people came into the grand entry. The couple looked to be in their early thirties. The gentleman had the sallow skin so often seen in an Englishman and a large mustache that curled at the ends. He was dressed impeccably in a suit that could only have been tailored in Paris. The woman was startlingly beautiful, with an abundance of dark hair and a stylish gown that showed all of her ample curves. There was a sort of sensuous, animal magnetism about her—she inevitably drew every eye in the room.
Except for Thomas’s. He let go of her hand and bounded toward the man, his hands outstretched. “Oliver, I didn’t expect you! I’m afraid Ashdown is all covered in dust. We are not getting carpeting installed until tomorrow, and it will take at least a fortnight.”
“I didn’t come to see Ashdown Abbey but your wife,” the man said with a sophisticated accent. “Please introduce us.”
Thomas smiled and held out his hand to Cordelia, and she placed her own inside of his. “Cordelia, may I introduce you to Lord and Lady Rutledge, better known as my favorite cousin, Oliver, and his wife, Lois.”
“It is an honor to meet you both,” Cordelia said, and carefully curtsied the way her mother had taught her. By the time she looked back up, Lois was at her side.
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear your American voice,” she said in an American accent of her own, with a slight Southern lilt. “We American girls must stick together.”
“It’s true,” Oliver cut in. “She made us leave Constantinople a week early so that we could come back and meet you.”
Cordelia blushed and grinned. “Thank you. I am so happy to meet you as well.”
Lois gave a smile that was part kitten and part tiger. She took Cordelia by the arm and said, “Cordelia and I are going to have a cozy chat without you. Ladies can never say what they really mean when gentlemen are present. And I want to know all the details from your wedding to this very morning.”
Cordelia led Lois to her favorite sitting room and offered to call for tea. She was glad that all the furniture was new and stylish.
“Oh no, tea in the afternoon always makes my insides feel uncomfortable. I much prefer brandy and a cigar, but I don’t suppose you have either of those,” Lois said. “Now, you were formerly a Jones, yes?”
Cordelia nodded.
“As in the family from ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’?”
“I believe so.”
“I’m afraid your family, and all the other old knickerbocker families, would have nothing to do with mine before my marriage,” Lois said bluntly.
“I am sorry.”
“Don’t be, darling,” she said with another tigerish smile. “I am to be a duchess one day, and now all the old American crows who wouldn’t invite my family to their parties because we werenew moneyare now begging to make my acquaintance.”
“Do you like it here in England?” Cordelia asked. “It’s not quite like home.”
Lois scooted closer to her on the sofa and took one of Cordelia’s hands. “My poor, dear child. Tell me everything. Are your servants positively fiends?”
“Yes!” Cordelia said. “Whenever you ask them to do something, they act as if you have insulted their dignity.”
