Page 20 of The Lyon’s Paw

His wife strode over to a Chippendale chair covered in flowery embroidery and sat without another word. She glanced around, avoiding his gaze, eventually settling on looking at her hands in her lap.

The silence continued until it became obvious she was not going to begin a conversation with him. Well, perhaps Geoffrey should enjoy these golden moments as they would certainly be the last ones they had after he gave her the news. Still, that was for tomorrow. Tonight’s dinner would hopefully be filled with conversation with his mother and sister, although he hoped his mother did not begin again on the wedding reception. That would surely bring the wrath of his wife to a head before the soup could be removed.

The door opened and both of them looked eagerly toward it, but instead of his mother or sister it was Fitz the butler who entered, bearing a silver tray with a note on it. “From your mother, my lord.”

Geoffrey took up the note, dread striking his heart. “Thank you, Fitz. That will be all.” The servant withdrew as he unfolded it and his spirits sank. “My mother writes that she is not feeling well and will have a tray in her room.” Well, that was unfortunate, though perhaps her way of pushing him to settle things with his wife over dinner. Reading on, he pursed his lips. Worse and worse. “She says too that Joanna is dining with the family of her closest friend tonight.” He glanced over at his wife. “Apparently, we are on our own.”

Lady Longford rose, a look of relief on her face. “Then let us dispense with dinner all together. I will have a tray in my room as well and you can do as you please with regard to your dinner.”

On the tip of his tongue to agree, Geoffrey stopped himself. Cook had gone to the trouble of preparing the dinner and the footmen were dressed and ready to serve them. Common decency demanded they carry on as though they were part of a party of twenty. “That would be ill-advised, I fear. The servants would take note and I would not have such a thing gossiped about in the neighborhood. We must be seen to be happy or at least content in our marriage if our scheme is to work. Having dinner together, even just the two of us, will accomplish that.”

With a sigh, the lady nodded. “Very well, then. If we must dine together, we must.” She looked up at him expectantly. “Are you going to offer me your arm?”

Rather taken aback at the demand, Geoffrey nonetheless offered her his elbow and dutifully marched them into the dining room. He seated her at one end and was about to situate himself at the other one, when he motioned to the footman. “Bring my place down here. I will sit at Lady Longford’s right tonight.”

The lady cut her eyes at him but made no comment as the footman brought the place setting and chair as Geoffrey had instructed. He seated himself and dropped his napkin into his lap. “I realized we have much to speak of and I didn’t think shouting across the entire expanse of the table would do either of us any good.”

She nodded and laid her napkin in her lap as well. “That is true. We do need to discuss plans for the trip.”

His wife was nothing if not tenacious. “Let us begin to dine before getting into the details of our trip. I for one am rather hungry.”

“Of course.” She signaled to the footman who brought them the soup, tonight an artichoke cream that was particularly good.

For several minutes they ate in silence, until Geoffrey deemed it best to take the reins of the conversation. “I have spoken to Mother about postponing the reception.” That was the truth, in and of itself.

“Is she amenable to that? She seemed particularly keen on announcing our marriage to the county.”

“She has concerns. Our neighbors will think it odd that I married and announced it to no one.” Geoffrey put down his spoon and picked up his wine glass. “We do not wish to become the objects of gossip in the county.”

“What gossip could they possibly have about us?” His wife’s brow furrowed. “They don’t know me at all.”

For the first time Geoffrey had an inkling of just how naïve his wife might be. “The first thing they will think, because we married so suddenly, is that you are increasing.”

The spoonful of creamy soup Lady Longford had been conveying to her mouth stopped short and began to tremble. “You mean they think I am…that we have…”

“It’s the logical explanation for such an unexpected marriage.” Geoffrey had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the look of abject horror on his wife’s face.

“But how…how do we let them know that is not the case?” She grabbed her wine glass and drank deeply.

“Well, the reception Mother is planning is one way. We could then talk to everyone, explain that the marriage came about unexpectedly due to your uncle’s will.”

The footman removed the soup and brought forward the roast mutton.

Geoffrey dug into this dish with gusto. Perhaps the threat of scandal would keep his wife from wishing to leave so quickly. “Of course, if our explanation was not believed, it would be born out eventually when no child appeared in the spring. If we have sailed by then, I suspect speculation will be rife that we left to hide the pregnancy.” He popped a forkful of the savory meat into his mouth, delighting in the delicious flavor. “Likely because, they will say, the child wasn’t mine.”

His wife paled and laid her knife and fork down. “So you think we should remain here until it becomes obvious that I am not with child.”

Geoffrey shrugged. “It would certainly refute any such gossip. Especially if we are seen about the county during the entire spring. Then we could not be accused of trying to hide anything. I know you wish to…” He glanced up at the footmen and paused, “journey on our wedding trip soon, however if we wait a while, there will be less talk in the county to travel up to London.”

His wife was silent for a while, sipping her wine and staring at her plate. “I will consider this, my lord,” she said at last. “I would not wish for either of us to be the topic of idle and erroneous gossip.”

“Thank you, my dear.” Utterly pleased with the turn the dinner and conversation had taken, Geoffrey gave her a genuine smile. “I do appreciate that, as will Mother.” In return for being so reasonable—where until now she had been anything but—Geoffrey wanted to devise something to show his appreciation. His thought from their carriage ride yesterday sprang to mind. What a perfect gesture. “I know we have just arrived from London, but I confess I felt somewhat guilty spiriting you away before you could bespeak a proper wardrobe. Would you like for me to accompany you back to Town so you could visit a modiste?”

Her face lit up for the first time ever. “Oh, yes, my lord. I had thought the very same thing on the way here. That I wished I could have gotten the proper gowns before meeting your family.”

“Well, in appreciation for considering the matter of postponing our ‘wedding journey’, we will embark on a journey of a different sort. I will write to Vickers to open the house for us day after tomorrow.”

“Oh, but…” The color in Lady Longford’s cheeks deepened and she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Will it be quite proper for us to be alone together in Longford House? I can just as easily stay with my aunt.”