“I did not mind,” he said. “I thought it a good idea, Abby, and was glad that it came from you. Here are Lord Beauchamp and his wife. Easy, dear. They are a friendly couple.”
They were. Abigail launched into speech after the introductions had been made and continued to talk and smile and laugh when Mr. Carton and Mr. Dyke and his sister, all on horseback, joined them. And when the Beauchamps finally drove away, after Lord Beauchamp had asked her to reserve a set for him at Lady Trevor’s ball, Lady Prothero and her two daughters stopped their carriage, and she chattered away to them too. And Sir Hedley Ward stopped to be presented and to exchange a few pleasantries, though he did not introduce the young lady on his arm.
“She must be his mistress,” Abigail said in a quiet aside to her husband as the couple walked away. “She is pretty, is she not?”
And she turned back to talk with the little crowd of people that had gathered around the curricle, and continued to converse with several others who stopped for varying lengths of time.
“I did say we would make one turn about the park, did I not, Abby?” her husband said at last, when there was a lull in the crowd. “I thought I was doing your shyness a favor, and expected that we would be on our way out through the gates ten or fifteen minutes after coming through them. That was more than an hour ago.”
“Everyone is very kind,” she said. “I have promised four sets for tonight. I am not going to be quite a wallflower after all.”
“Did you expect to be?” he asked.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “It is strange, Miles. I have driven here twice before with Mrs. Gill, when not a single person so much as turned a head to look our way. It is the clothes you have bought me, of course, and the fact that I am the new Countess of Severn. I am not so vain as to think that I have suddenly become a belle.Oh!”
“What is it?” he asked as she turned her head sharply to peer back through the crowd.
“Nothing,” she said, frowning. “I just thought I saw someone I knew, though I do not know who it was I thought I saw.”
“Shall we turn back that way?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “Will you mind if I invite Laura into the country for the summer too, Miles? I have been thinking about what you said, and you are quite right. I cannot offer her employment, though I suppose you could use your influence to find her something more suitable than what she has. But I could find her a husband, couldn’t I?”
He grinned at her. “You have someone picked out already?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said. “Sir Gerald Stapleton. I think he is handsome enough for Laura. She is very lovely.”
“Gerald has a horror of marriage,” he said, “and an incurable distrust of women. He thinks of leg shackles and mousetraps and such things whenever the subject is broached.”
“But Laura is very sweet,” she said. “If they are together for the summer, he will change his tune. You mark my words.”
“Are you a matchmaker too, Abby?” he said.
“Too?” She looked up at him. “In addition to what?”
“In addition to caring about other people’s happiness,”he said. “You do care, don’t you?”
“Wanting to match one’s friends is part of it,” she said. “Don’t you think it a splendid idea, Miles?”
“Invite your friend, by all means,” he said. “But don’t start hearing wedding bells, Abby. Invite your brother too if you wish. I am sorry I was from home when he called. Did you get your letter written to your satisfaction this morning?”
“Yes,” she said. “The girls’ Great-Aunt Edwina will be glad to be rid of them. I do not foresee any problem. And I can scarce wait to have them back. It will be a good idea for them to come straight to Severn Park when we remove there, Miles, rather than come here, won’t it? You are going to be swamped with females, aren’t you?”
He smiled.
“I just hope our first child is a son,” she said.
He turned his head to look directly into her eyes, and she flushed painfully.
“Do you?” he said. “Just so that numbers will be stacked more in my favor, Abby? I hope our first child will be healthy. Will you welcome the experience?”
“Yes,” she said, acutely embarrassed and wishing that they had not already turned out through the gates onto the busy street beyond the park. She wished someone else would come along and interrupt their conversation. “I did something very impulsive this morning. I hope you will not be annoyed.”