How long had he been married? he thought with a frown. Three days? Could it be that short a time? Had he really known Abby for less than a week? And was he already losing interest in his typical bachelor pursuits?
She was not really dominating his life, was she? How had Gerald put it? Did she really have him wrapped around her finger?
No, of course she did not. It was just that by some good fortune he had chosen a bride with a character that interested and amused him. And with a person that even more unexpectedly attracted him.
“Good afternoon, Mama,” he said after he had been announced, taking both her hands in his and kissing her offered cheek. “Connie? How has your day been?”
“Busy,” his mother said.
He smiled at his sister. “I noticed you dancing twice with Darlington last evening, Connie,” he said. “I thought that came to an end last year. Is there still a spark there?”
“I am to be one of his sister’s party to Vauxhall next week,” she said. “If our family is still being received by then, that is.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Is there any reason why we would not be?” he asked.
“Miles,” his mother said, “I was prepared to keep an open mind, dear, because the deed was done already and there was no choice but to make the best of the matter. But you really must take your wife in hand before it is too late—if it is not too late already.”
Lord Severn clasped his hands behind his back.
“What has Abby done that is so bad?” he said.
“She was already under a cloud,” she said, “after word of her background leaked out at Lady Trevor’s last evening. I chose the places we should visit with great care this afternoon and instructed Abigail to let me do the talking. I told her that both Constance and I would give her our full support.”
“Under a cloud, Mama?” he said quietly. “I think not. It is no crime, nor disgrace either, to be poor and to work for an honest living.”
“She is already influencing you,” Lady Ripley said in some distress. “Miles, she told a large group of the most influential ladies at Lady Mulligan’s that her employer’s wife would have smashed a chamber pot over her husband’s head if she had known the truth about him and the governess. Fortunately—very fortunately—Lady Murtry laughed, and so everyone else considered the story enormously witty. The ladies at Mrs. Reese’s were not amused. I was very vexed. I had pointedly instructed Abigail on the way there not to speak in such a vulgar fashion.”
The earl was chuckling. “Did she repeat the detail about the chamber pot?” he said. “To Mrs. Reese? Poor Abby.”
“It was not funny, Miles,” Constance said. “Mama had to work very hard to smooth over the moment. And remember that Mr. Reese is a cousin to Lord Darlington.”
“Well,” Lord Severn said, “if she was being given the tabby treatment, I cannot say I am sorry to hear that she defended herself.”
“She need not have insulted Frances,” Lady Ripley said coldly. “If you could know how provoking it was to sit there, Miles, with both of them in the same room—your wife and the lady who should have been your wife—you would not be displaying any amusement at all. I think the woman must have you bewitched.”
“How did she insult Frances?” he asked.
“She told her that eighteen-year-olds who have lived sheltered, privileged lives could be permitted to be silly for a few years longer,” Constance said. “Frances was speechless, Miles.”
“Yes,” he said, “I can imagine she would have been. What had she said to provoke such a setdown?”
“She merely commented that it was kind of you to marry Abigail under the circumstances,” his mother said.
“ ‘Under the circumstances,’ ” he said. “I will wager that Frances injected a whole world of meaning into those words, Mama. I am with Abby, I must admit. I would say she showed admirable restraint in saying so little.”
Lady Ripley made an impatient gesture. “Miles,” she said, “I have always loved you. You know that. But you have always been easily led. I have tried for years to influence you for the good. I have spent a great deal of time and energy in arranging matters so that you could marry Frances, who would have managed your home and your life well and been an impeccably well-bred hostess. But it seems I have failed and you have fallen under the influence of a vulgar, ill-disciplined fortune hunter.”
“Mama,” Constance said, “don’t upset yourself, pray.”