Lord Sebastian's Secret (The Duke's Sons #3)(68)

“Devil take it,” Sebastian said aloud.

He would go riding. A good, hard gallop always swept the cobwebs from his brain. Indeed, he got his best ideas when he was on the move. His mind seemed to flow better then. And every member of the Gresham family acknowledged that he had no peer in the saddle. He could be proud of that. It was just the place to forget his troubles, for a little while at least.





Fifteen


What had gone wrong? Georgina wondered as she sat with her mother in the latter’s workroom. She’d faced down her father. She was still rather amazed about that. Papa was treating her with more respect as a result. The situation at Stane Castle had returned to its… Well, normal might not be the right word, but to its former state. Sebastian, however, had not. As the days passed and their wedding approached, the ease and freedom that had been developing between them had disappeared.

He’d…reverted. He was once again the handsome, urbane nobleman—the duke’s son—she’d first met in London. Admittedly, she’d been drawn to that man. He was attractive and assured; he could be dazzling. But she’d come to love the Sebastian who’d taken charge with calm authority while covered with mud in the ravine, who’d made her sisters laugh when they played lottery tickets, who kissed her with such searing passion that the mere memory made her dizzy.

The absence of that man had Georgina very worried. She’d tried to discover the reason, but he refused to admit that anything was wrong. Her questions seemed to simply slip off him, like rain running down a windowpane. Nothing could penetrate his polished manner. Which left Georgina imagining explanations that were far worse—had to be far worse—than reality. Her brain cycled back through early fears.

Had his visit given him a lasting distaste for her family? Was he was thinking derogatory thoughts about them behind his courteous facade? Or was it even more dire? What if he’d found, on closer acquaintance, that he didn’t really care for her? She’d learned about the man behind his society poses. What if he, having done the same with her, had been put off? She didn’t know what she’d do it if that turned out to be the answer. In fact, it couldn’t be. It wasn’t. She wouldn’t believe it.

“I think we should hold a dance when the Greshams arrive,” her mother said. “I shan’t call it a ball. We can’t muster enough couples in this neighborhood to merit the name. But we could manage something, don’t you think?”

“Um?”

“Are you listening, Georgina? You complained that I was not paying any heed to your wedding, and now when I do, you are off in the clouds somewhere.”

“Sorry, Mama.”

“Surely you haven’t changed your mind about marrying him, after all the trouble we’ve gone to?”

“No! Of course not.” The we was rather good, she thought. Mama’s part in making things right had been small.

“Well, what is it then?”

Georgina suppressed a sigh. It never failed. Her mother, usually oblivious to others’ feelings, grew acutely aware just when you didn’t want her to.

“Georgina?”

One of the dogs—because naturally they were surrounded by sleeping, scratching, panting pugs—came over and put a paw on Georgina’s foot, gazing up at her with dark, liquid eyes.

“You’re upsetting Nuala,” her mother said. “She’s very sensitive just now.”

“I’m sorry, Mama.” She reached down and patted the pug reassuringly. “You were saying?”

“That we should hold a dance when the Greshams arrive.”

“Sebastian loves to dance. He’s very good at it.” Their waltzes were among her favorite memories of their time in London.

“Good.” Her mother made a note on the page before her. “We just have to find enough young ladies for all those brothers.”

“Two are bringing their wives,” Georgina pointed out.

“Yes, dear, but they’ll need other partners as well. I suppose we’ll have to allow Hilda to dance.”

“Really?”

“I see no harm in it. Certainly nothing like what she might do if we forbid her to attend.”

The two women exchanged a speaking glance.

“It’s an informal family party,” the older woman added. “There’s no need for her or Emma to be officially out.”

“She’ll love it,” Georgina said. “They both will.”

This time they smiled at each other, in harmony at the thought of offering such a treat. “There’s not much other entertainment to offer such august visitors,” her mother went on then. “The shooting is very poor hereabouts, and Alfred keeps no coveys. But they’re only staying for a week. And there is the wedding. That’s a sort of entertainment in itself. And the reason they’re coming, of course. No doubt your father will insist on taking them to see his pet earthworks.”

Georgina imagined the duke and duchess on an expedition to view Offa’s Dyke. Who knew? Perhaps it would interest them. As long as the ride didn’t continue into the kind of session that had nearly ruined everything and sent Randolph running from the room.

“What does Sebastian say?”

“I beg your pardon, Mama?”

“Have you drifted off again? What’s the matter with you? I asked if you had spoken with Sebastian about what sorts of things his family likes to do.”