“I believe she may be finding childbearing more difficult than she anticipated.”
Sterling snorted. “I’d certainly not want to do it.”
“How fortunate, then, that you won’t have to,” Rosemary said with equal amounts of exasperation and amusement. “Evie did ask me a question that I found interesting, however. Especially since I didn’t have an answer to give her.”
“Was it how many times you can achieve climax in under ten minutes?” Sterling said seriously. “Because I’ve been giving that a great deal of thought since the last time we–”
“No,” she hissed, her cheeks blooming with color. And even though she knew they were alone in the front parlor, she couldn’t help but take a surreptitious glance around the room. “And not that it is pertinent to this conversation in any way, shape, or form, but I believe the number you’re searching for is three. Surely no more than that.”
Sterling nodded in satisfaction. “Challenge accepted.”
“Scoundrel,” she murmured into her cup as she took a sip of coffee.
“Absolutely.” Lifting his fork, he absentmindedly reached onto her plate and stabbed a roasted potato. “What was the question?”
“Evie wanted to know where we plan to maintain our primary residence after the winter is over. Here, in London, or at Hanover Park. Knowing your feelings about that place, I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I’d just as soon stay in Mayfair. It’s close to my grandmother and not too far from Joanna and Kincaid. But…”
“But you like the country,” he said, studying her closely.
“I do.” She set her coffee on the table. “So does Sir Reginald. And when we have children someday, I’d like them to have room to run and play and explore. A place for them to call home. For all of us to call home.”
“Then I may have the perfect solution. I know a man. Thomas Edison. Friendly chap. He’s an inventor of sorts. Something to do with telegraphy. Seems he’s found a way to send two simultaneous telegraph messages on the same wire, if you can believe it. Anyway, apparently he’s quite successful in America and wants to make a name for himself abroad, starting here in England.”
“He sounds fascinating. How did you two meet?” Rosemary asked curiously, as an inventor wasn’t exactly the sort of person that her husband was generally known to associate with.
Sterling helped himself to another potato. “I accidentally attended a lecture he gave at Breton Hall a few years ago, and we’ve maintained a general correspondence ever since. I happened to receive a letter from him yesterday, and have been contemplating what my response will be. Whatourresponse will be.”
“How does someone accidentally attend a lecture?” She picked up her own fork and pointed the tines at him. “And what’s wrong with your potatoes?”
“Nothing,” he said cheerfully. “I just like the way your nose crinkles when I steal yours. I went to Breton Hall because I was told there would be dancing ladies. A false lead, if you can believe it. By the time I figured out what was happening, Edison was already speaking, and as I’d made sure to have a front row seat…”
“You couldn’t sneak out,” she surmised.
“I had to sit there andlearnsomething. It was awful. Not to say Edison was awful. He’s actually a very dynamic lecturer. I only fell asleep once the whole time, and just for a few minutes. If you asked my professors at Eton, I think that’s a record.”
Her lips twitched at the corners. “What does all this have to do with where we are going to live?”
“Ah, right.” Sterling straightened in his chair. “As I said, Edison would like to come to England. To make the trip worth it, he plans on staying for six months. Maybe longer. But he has a young wife, and children, and doesn’t want to be away from them for that long. I thought we might offer him and his family the manor in Grosvenor Square. If thetonwere under the impression that the Duke and Duchess of Hanover are his benefactors–”
“–then they’d take him seriously, and want to invest their money in his inventions,” Rosemary finished.
Her husband grinned. “Precisely. I also thought, given that my aversion to Hanover Park is not likely to change, we might sell off the entire estate.”
Sell it?
She’d never been to Sterling’s ancestral home. Had never seen so much as a painting of the grounds. And she understood why he didn’t want it. Why some ghosts loomed too large to ever be completely vanquished. But it was still his family home. The place where he and his brother, and father, and grandfather, and great-grandfather had all been born.
“I fear that may be a decision you’ll come to regret,” she said gently. “And once gone, it might prove impossible to get it back.”
“I’ve considered that as well.”
Her brows drew together. “You’ve been considering a great deal, haven’t you?”
“I almost lost you, Rosemary.” When his voice hoarsened, he shoved his chair away from the table and came to kneel beside her, his hand resting on her thigh and his gray eyes gazing beseechingly into hers. “If that experience taught me anything, it’s that life is short and precious and you cannot waste time dwelling on anything that does not bring you happiness. Hanover Park does not bring me happiness. It won’t bringushappiness, to live in a place that feels like it belongs to someone else. Which is why I want to let the entailment expire and sell it…for the grand sum of one hundred pounds to Sarah and that poor fool she has wrapped around her little finger. They’re already living there. Lord Hamlin is a good, solid man. He’ll be a good caretaker. Better than I’ve been, at any rate. This way, it will remain in the family, and one day pass on to Sebastian’s future nephew or niece. I think…” Sterling cleared his throat. “I think he would like that.”
“I think he would love it.” Brushing an ebony curl out of the way, she kissed his temple. “Then we’ll remain here. And visit Hawkridge Manor should we need a dose of country air. I’m sure Evie and Weston would be happy to receive us.”
Sterling tipped his head back. “Notexactly.”
