An Affair So Right (Rebel Hearts #4)(61)

Although the grooms were waiting at the door, she smiled brightly at Quinn. Whatever had been troubling him before was clearly no longer an issue between them. “I always do, my dear Lord Templeton.”





Chapter 24





“I wanted to see for myself that you are not upset,” Quinn promised as he greeted Amy Cabot in her front hall of her residence on Brick Street.

Amy squeezed his fingers briefly and then pressed her hands to her stomach. “I’m fine, Quinn. Truly. But it is so very good of you to call again. I know how busy you must be now.”

“Never too busy to see you.” He glanced around, looking for her husband. “Has Cabot left you alone again while he tends the shop?”

“He is always there at this hour, and I do not mind. I have important visitors. Won’t you please come and meet them?”

Quinn considered declining, but Amy looked too excited about her visitors to risk disappointing her. “I’d be very happy to meet your friends indeed,” he said quickly. Running Mr. Banks to ground would have to wait another half hour. “Lead the way.”

He followed Amy into the rear of the property—and came to a standstill.

His sister Lady Sally Hastings had made herself at home on a window seat, and smiled warmly at him as he stood there in shock. “There you are at last,” she said.

Quinn spared a glance for Amy, who was grinning madly now.

“Ambush,” he complained, though he wasn’t truly put out. He wagged his finger at Amy and then strode across the room to greet Sally with a hug. “Sister dear? When the devil did you get to London?”

“An hour or so ago. Since you were not at Newberry House, and Mama was not to be found either, I decided to pay Mrs. Cabot a call.”

He set Sally free and took in her appearance, cheeks flush with color, eyes glowing with happiness. She appeared radiant, despite her wearing a gown of mourning colors. “Without your husband? I had hoped you were enjoying a retired married life at Newberry Park.”

“I am indeed, and I’d never travel without him.” She laughed and glanced toward another doorway. “Felix has just gone to fetch a drink from Cabot’s book room.”

At the mention of his name, Felix Hastings appeared, two glasses in hand and a ready smile gracing his face. The smile annoyed Quinn. His new brother-in-law looked positively smug these days. “Thought I heard a surly voice. Hello, Templeton.”

“Hastings.”

“Good to see you, dear brother-in-law, and married life, for your information, is entirely what I’d hoped it could be, and more besides. Oh, here, this is for you,” Hastings said as he held out the second glass to Quinn.

Sally blushed. “Quinn knows full well how happy we are, darling. He’s just teasing.”

Quinn took the drink he was offered but set it aside for a moment. “Also making sure the unpleasantness of the broken engagement was worth her putting up with you.”

Sally shook her head. “Lord Ellicott took the break very well, all things considered. We nodded to each other the last time our paths crossed. He really is the only one who has the right to be upset with me. It is everyone else who stirs up talk and discord when I’m in London. I know how lucky I am to have Felix. I wouldn’t change anything to be proper again. Being a wife is simply too much fun.”

Amy, her brow puckering as she glanced between them, sat forward. “Sally and I have been comparing notes on our husbands’ early-morning temperaments and finding many commonalities.”

“Don’t tell me what they’re like in the morning after sharing your beds.” Quinn put his hands over his ears, and both women laughed at him, as he’d hoped they would. There were some things he really did not need to hear. He lowered his hands slowly and addressed Sally. “Why come to London now of all times?”

Sally stood and approached him and set her hand on his chest. “Just to see if all was well with you. I know you write, but…”

“I’m fine. Every day is an improvement,” he promised her. But he folded his sister into his arms again and held her a moment, knowing that she felt differently about their father than he did. She had been his favorite daughter. Probably because she’d never been punished by him. “How’s Grandfather? And Louisa?”

“Louisa is well. She promised me she would write every day while we were gone.”

Quinn took a chair. “I’m pleased to know it. And you? How are you coping?”

“I am not sure.” She frowned. “I was glad to get away from Grandfather, actually. Seeing him grieving so hard is painful to me, knowing better now what Father has done in the past. What he did to humiliate you and Mother was inexcusable but I suppose it wasn’t the first time he’s been unfaithful.”

Quinn was so taken aback by Sally’s remark that he could say nothing at first. It was perhaps the first time in his memory that his sister had criticized their father to him. He was pleased, too. Mama had put up with a great deal of humiliation over the years, and Sally had never noticed. Amy Cabot’s existence, his affairs, and his involvement with Adele Blakely were undeniable proof of a weak, grasping character.

“It is good to see you again,” he said, brushing her cheek with his fingers. “For whatever reason that brought you to London. How long are you staying?”