The Bad Luck Bride (The Brides of St. Ives #1)(28)

“If you insist, Mr. Boxter.”

“I do, sir.”

Once he was freshly shaved and his cravat straightened rather forcefully by Boxter, Henderson headed down the stairs, already feeling quite at home in the grand old place. Joseph’s parents and younger brother had met Henderson enthusiastically, claiming they had heard so much about him from Joseph they felt they knew him already. With them, he hadn’t experienced the awkwardness he usually did when dining with strangers. Now, though, ready to face the third Hubbard sibling, Henderson felt his stomach twist with nervousness. He hadn’t thought much about her absence thus far, assuming she was off visiting a relative or some such thing.

When he entered the breakfast room, a warm place with sun streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, every member of the Hubbard family but for Christina was already there—including the elder daughter. Alice looked up and gave him a little smile, as if the two of them shared some sort of grand secret.

“Good morning,” he said, before going to the sideboard and filling his plate until it was heavy in his hand. Henderson had always had a healthy appetite, and since he was naturally lean, he never bothered to limit his meals. He sat next to Joseph, who was nearly done with his meal, and looked across to Alice, who eyed his plate with unreserved amusement.

Joseph reached over and stole a scone.

“Joseph, that’s rude,” his mother, Elda, said, but Henderson could tell she wasn’t truly angry.

Joseph immediately put the scone, minus one large bite, back on his plate and apologized exuberantly to his mother, who looked as if she was on the verge of laughter. It was this sort of simple exchange that Henderson so loved about this family and had been missing for his entire life. Family dinners were subdued and, looking back, rather miserable affairs, with his mother pointedly not engaging with him. There had been no laughter or joy in his house and he realized now that a soul needed laughter and joy.

“What are you two up to today?” Lord Hubbard asked.

“Thaddeus’s bitch just had a litter and I thought we could take a look.” Before his father could object, he added, “I’m not getting one, Father, just looking.”

Lord Hubbard sighed and looked at his wife. “Do we have room for another dog, Ellie?”

“Only if he’s got a lovely pup, Father,” Joseph had said. “Fritz is getting a bit old and—”

“Fritz is only three, Joseph,” Alice said. “And I don’t think he’d care for another dog running about.”

“It’d be a friend to him,” Joseph said. “And to me. Fritz is your dog. And Scat is yours too.” He turned to Henderson. “That’s the big tom you’ve seen about the house. Menace to all our song birds.”

“He can’t help it if he’s a good hunter,” Alice said. “He’s merely doing what cats do.”

“Tell that to Cook. She found a half-eaten sparrow on the back step yesterday.”

Alice grinned. “A present.”

“At any rate, I’ll be home this summer and I’ll have time to make him mine.”

“I thought you just told your father you weren’t getting a puppy,” Elda said. “And you know you wouldn’t be able to bring him to university. It’ll be left to us to care for him.”

Henderson thought the banter was all in good fun until he noticed how fiercely Joseph was digging his hands into his leg. “I just want something of my own,” he said.

“He’ll be home on holidays and summer.” When all eyes turned toward Henderson, he could feel his face heat.

His lordship threw down his napkin, symbolically throwing in the towel. “Very well, Joseph, you may have your pup.”

“Oh, Richard, really?” Elda’s expression was a mixture of love and disbelief.

“Really. That’s settled, then.” With those words, Lord Hubbard rose from the table and left the room, but not before putting a hand on his older son’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“You always were his favorite. Oldest and heir and all that,” Alice said, with just the smallest bit of resentment in her tone.

Joseph grinned at his younger sister. “It’s only that I know how to get my way.”

“Not all the time,” Elda said sternly, but Joseph just laughed.

“I’ve an idea. We’ll let Henderson name the pup,” Joseph said. “That way it’ll have a respectable name.” He winked at his sister and she made a face at her big brother before looking over to Henderson.

“Do you realize the import of this?” she asked, her blue eyes steady on him. “It means you’re officially one of us.”

Henderson smiled and tried not to show how ridiculously happy those words made him.



*



“It is out of the question that you stay in the village, Henderson. I won’t hear of it.”

Alice suppressed a smile. She’d known her mother would be adamant and would not take no for an answer. The minute she’d seen Henderson walk through the door, Elda had called to two footmen to fetch Henderson’s things from the inn. Alice recognized the moment he realized that continuing to argue would only hurt her mother’s feelings and so he relented, giving her a look of resigned bemusement. Inside, her stomach was a tight swirl of happiness followed quickly by almost nauseating trepidation.