Chapter Eight
“With a bit of effort, the Downys could make this approach far more impressive.” Mother eyed the facade of Downy House as though it were a hovel surrounded by mud and muck. “One would never guess they were kin to a duke.”
She treats the lot of us as though we were nothing more than our ancestry.Caroline had been quite astute in that observation. Mother reduced everyone to their respective bloodline, for better or for worse. The irony, of course, was that her own ancestor did not stand up to scrutiny.
“I am certain the Downys have far more pressing matters to see to than the appearance of their home.”
Mother waved that off. “First impressions are crucial, George. Remember that.”
How could he help but remember something she never let him forget? “I do hope you will be civil to the Downys, Mother. They have received me very warmly these many years and deserve warmth in return.”
“I am always civil.” Mother’s declaration didn’t entirely hit its mark, delivered as it was, down the length of her haughtily upturned nose.
The carriage came to a stop at the house’s front portico. The door was opened. The Downys’ footman handed Mother down. George waited a moment longer, needing to brace himself for the coming few days.
Mother would, no doubt, be nearly impossible.
The Downys would be in a frenzy of planning.
Caroline would be. . . He didn’t even know what to expect from her. She’d gone from hesitantly friendly to a hermit in the couple of weeks he’d been there previously. She’d cried more and talked less than she ever had before. It worried him. Deeply.
But he’d made an ironclad bargain with her, one he was honor-bound to see through to the very end, whatever that end might be. He squared his shoulders and stepped down from the carriage. The trunks were already being handed down. The stablehands were seeing to the horses. When he stepped into the entryway, the housekeeper was already being berated by Mother. All in all, a very typical arrival at Downy House.
“George!”
His heart leapt to his throat at the sound of Caroline’s voice calling his name with such excitement.
“You’ve come at last!” She ran down the stairs, enthusiasm emanating from every inch of her.
“Have you missed me?”
She answered by simply throwing her arms around him, much the way she had in the corridor the day her mother had enlisted them all to help plan the ball. Except, this time, there was no pity or sadness in the embrace. She seemed overwhelmingly happy to see him.
Holding fast to her in return, he said, “This is the best welcome I have ever received.”
“You were gone so long, George.”
“Only a week.” He rested his cheek on the top of her head.
“It was a very long week. Mother kept predicting you wouldn’t return. Tom insisted you had joined the navy simply to get away from me.”
He rubbed his hand in large circles on her back. He breathed in her sweet, flowery scent. “I hope you didn’t believe either of them.”
“Edward told me not to.”
He had always thought her oldest brother was smarter than all of them combined.
“I must say, for a young lady of such exalted standing, this is a very lower-class display.” Mother had been so quiet, George had all but forgotten her there.
Caroline rose to her own defense. “Your son left without bidding his fiancée a proper farewell. Is that not rather lower-class as well?”
Mother offered a confused humph before gliding up the stairs, her dignity rolling off her in waves.
“Mrs. Carlton?” Caroline called after her. “Would it be terribly lower-class of me to kiss your son here in the entryway?”
Mother picked up her pace.
“What has come over you, Caroline?” George wasn’t complaining, he was simply confused.
