“And so you did, love,” he said, laughing down at her as she favored him with an exaggerated and happy wink. “I will not be a doubting Thomas any longer.”
“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear as she hugged him. “You are wonderful.”
“We had better all sit down and have some breakfast,”the earl said. “Help yourself from the sideboard, Boris. So it is to be an officer’s life for you, is it?”
“At long last,” Boris said, heaping eggs and kidneys and toast onto a plate and setting it on the table. “Abby?”
She smiled brightly across at him.
“You aren’t still pushing Laura Seymour at Stapleton, are you?” he asked.
“They make a handsome couple, don’t you think?”she said.
“Perhaps,” he said. “Don’t you think she and I would be as handsome together?”
“You and Laura?” she said, her eyes widening. “She would never have you, Boris. She would never follow the drum.”
“I think she would,” he said. “I think she will. It can be no worse than being a governess in a house with those dreadful Gills, and she happens to have an affection for me. I’ll be asking her later today, anyway. Will you mind?”
“Mind?” she said. “Will I mind? I’ll show you how much I mind.”
The Earl of Severn set his coffee cup clattering back into its saucer and passed one hand across his eyes as his wife threw back her head and shrieked.
“Lord,” Boris said, popping a kidney into his mouth, whole. “I haven’t heard that for years. I take it you are pleased, Abby.”
“Pleased?” she said. “Am I pleased? I’ll show you—”
The earl’s hand covered hers on the table. “Suffice it to say, Boris,” he said, “that we are both bursting with pleasure. Aren’t we, Abby? A simple yes or no will suffice.”
“Yes,” she said. “We are.”
17
THEY WERE SITTING SIDE BY SIDE IN the earl’s town carriage, her hand firmly clasped in his.
“It will soon be over, Abby, all of it,” he said. “Do you want me to do the talking?”
“No,” she said. “I must do it. I would rather do it alone, Miles. Will you stay in the carriage?”
“I have forbidden you to go there alone,” he said. “I have not relented on that. Were you fond of her?”
“Always a little sorry for her,” she said. “She was headstrong and very beautiful when she first married Papa. She had done it to defy the world, her father in particular. I think she thought she could change my father and prove everyone wrong. But it could not be done, of course, and her father would not have her back when she wanted to go the first time she was badly beaten. She was expecting Beatrice at that time. Yes, I suppose I was fond of her. I tried to protect her.”
He raised her hand to his lips. “But she has chosen her own course now,” he said. “And you cannot reform the world. I will be plain with you, Abby. I do not like what she has done to you. I can understand that circumstances may have forced her into this way of life, but I do not like her ingratitude to you. I am not going to give her soft words merely because she was your stepmother and you were fond of her.”
She said nothing.
“And talking of protecting and reforming,” he asked, “did you mind my sending your little waif back to Severn Park with Parton?”
“With your steward?” she said. “No, Miles. Edna was very excited to know that she would be going into the country to work at a great house. She has never been out of London. You were not angry with me?”#p#分页标题#e#
“For bringing her home with you?” he said, squeezing her hand. “I would expect no less of you, Abby. Poor girl. Servants are so helpless when they find themselves in such a situation, aren’t they? I shall see to it that Humphrey Gill is properly dealt with, have no fear.”
“What if she is with child?” she asked.
He looked down at her. “Then she will have the child in the relative privacy and comfort of Severn Park,” he said. “And if she wishes it, I shall see if I can find someone willing to marry her. Shall I?”
She smiled at him. “Almost the first thing she said to me after admitting the truth,” she said, “was that she can no longer expect to find a husband. I think she would like that, Miles.”
“I shall see what I can do,” he said. “I’ll include it in my next letter to Parton. Perhaps he can recommend someone. Or perhaps Edna will prove to be a girl of spirit and find someone for herself by the time we arrive in the country. Are you looking forward to going?”