Page 14
D iana laughed as her father-in-law, the Duke of Wescott, yelled, “Snapped.”
Her son exclaimed. “You are cheating, Grandad!”
He tipped his head back and chuckled. For a moment, he reminded Diana of Stuart. A small bit of pain ricocheted through her heart, but she pushed it away, knowing her husband would hate her sadness.
“Mother?”
Her father-in-law added, “It’s time to count your pairs.”
She smiled at her son, amused by his excitement that he may win the card game. This was their third game, and Diana and Wescott had both won once. She counted her matches. “Five.”
Robert jumped up and danced around the table in the drawing room. “I have eleven, and Grandad has ten. I win!”
Both she and Wescott laughed. Robert returned to the table and started to organize the cards. Wescott shook his head. “No more today. Your governess has prepared a lesson for you, and I promised I would walk in the gardens with your mother.”
Robert jutted his chin out. “I want to go for a walk too.”
Diana leaned over and ruffled his hair. “Another time. Miss Melanie has been waiting ever so patiently to give you your history lessons.”
As if on cue, Miss Melanie appeared smiling. “Come, Lord Robert. I have an exciting event to tell you about.”
He looked at her skeptically. She said, “I promise.”
Diana’s son sighed but followed his governess out.
Her father-in-law rose and offered Diana his arm.
They were silent as they made their way to her gardens.
She had sent word to Wescott a few days ago about her upcoming adventure.
He’d responded that he was looking forward to speaking about it during his weekly visit.
“So, tell me about this trip and how it came to be. Does it relate to an announcement I read connecting your name with some society for female curators?”
Diana nodded. “Yes, I will be traveling as part of my duties associated with the Historical Society for Female Curators. I had hoped to tell you more about it first. I apologize you learned about it by way of the press.”
He chuckled. “Diana, I would never insinuate you have to discuss your choices with me.”
She blushed. “I know, but as Stuart’s father, I don’t want you to think I don’t value your opinion.”
They stopped, and both sat on one of the garden benches. He smiled. “I think my son would be delighted about you joining this club. It will be good for you. Now, tell me about this adventure. How does it line up with your club?”
“The club needs ways to generate income and interest, so Lady Hawley coordinated with two newspapers to publish accounts about the ports of a new leisure cruise. She secured passage for me and my Aunt Winifred as well as our investor. Our investor and I will write about our travels, and the papers will publish them.”
“Fascinating, and who is the investor?”
Nerves fizzled in Diana’s stomach. “Sebastian Devons.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Who else is on the board?”
Diana listed off all the ladies, and his brows drew together in confusion. “Only one man?”
“The club will be managed by all women. Mr. Devons is to be a nonvoting member. We have entered into a trust with him.”
Her father-in-law wasn’t a half-wit. A look of understanding crossed his face. “Lady Hawley is preventing any of the board members’ families from taking control.”
She nodded. Wescott frowned at her. “Do you think I would ever do something like that?”
Her eyes widened at the question. She shook her head. “Of course not. I believe it is more of a precaution. If it were my choice, I would happily have you join me.”
A smile filled his face. “No. It’s a smart move on Lady Hawley’s part. She’s a shrewd lady. I’m not sure I would have gleaned that from my few encounters with her.”
Diana bristled, feeling protective of Addie. It shocked her. She didn’t know her well, but she suspected many judged her wrongly. “I think she is a lady that is often underestimated.”
The corners of his mouth tilted up. “Thank you for correcting my inaccurate assumptions.”
They sat silently for a moment, and eventually, Wescott said, “I didn’t know you were interested in antiquities.”
She played with the folds of her skirts. “I’m not, but I feel like I need to do something…something different.”
“My son would wholeheartedly encourage you if he were here.”
She felt tears sting her eyes but admonished herself. Diana would not cry.
Sadness drifted across her father-in-law’s face. “Sometimes, I think Stuart being sick for so long was both a curse and blessing. I hated watching him waste away, but it also gave him time to share his hopes for you and Robert with me.”
Diana’s eyes widened. “You and Stuart talked about that?”
“We did. And he always said the same thing. He wanted you to explore more of the world. I don’t think he meant travel so much as finding your interests. He said your whole life, including him, had been chosen for you.”
Tears stung her eyes again. “I have no regrets about any of those decisions. I would choose Stuart again and again.”
He squeezed her hand. “I know. I don’t doubt your love.
Nor did he, but at the end of his life, the one thing he was cross with me about was how your parents and I maneuvered you into marriage with him.
Something to the effect that a beautiful lady like you would have never chosen a shy, round man like him on her own.
He told me that my only role after he passed when it came to you, was to make sure you did as you liked and you were happy.
I was not to tell you what was right or appropriate. ”
Diana smiled. She wasn’t surprised. Stuart had thought differently than most lords and ladies.
She’d grown up in a family that only cared about titles and appearances.
He’d been the first person ever to tell her none of that mattered.
He truly hadn’t cared about status, which shocked her in the beginning.
She hated that, at the end of his life, he still worried about how their marriage came to be. Their union was full of deep love and passion.
“I loved him quite desperately.”
“He knew you did,” her father-in-law said as he stood and held his hand out. “Enough of that. My point was not to make us both sad but to tell you that I am here to trust and support your choices.”
“Thank you.”
“Where will my grandson be while you are on this grand adventure?” he asked as they walked back to the terrace doors.
“He will stay with my sister and her husband at their country estate.”
“I hope they like Snap.”
Diana laughed.
*
Sebastian laughed, and his brother glowered at him. He shrugged. “She is right. Both you and Miller are only here one night a week. Don’t pretend that isn’t the case.”
Sebastian, Malcolm, and their other Den partner Simon Miller were meeting with Celeste about the management of the club while he was gone. They’d offered to raise her salary by fifty percent, and she’d asked them to double it. Malcolm had dared to question her lofty sum.
“I don’t care how much either of you spend at the Den, my lord. My point is I will be spending the majority of the time playing host for Devons, so I think it warrants what I’m asking for,” Celeste explained.
“When did you start calling him ‘my lord’?” Sebastian asked her.
She glared at him. “I’m trying to be respectful.”
“We will give you your requested increase, Miss Hathaway,” Sebastian teased her.
Malcolm glowered at him, and Miller laughed. “Your brother is going to give you a thrashing. Am I correct, Derry?”
“I’m trying to be a gentleman in front of Celeste.”
She snorted. “No need.”
Malcolm sighed and shook his head. “Sorry, Celeste, I don’t mean to be an ass. You are right. You deserve your proposed sum.”
Celeste beamed at him and stood. “I must prepare for the evening. Customers will be in soon.”
They waited until she left, and Malcolm sighed. “Did we really double her salary?”
Sebastian smiled. “She is worth it.”
“Agreed,” Miller added.
Sebastian rose and grabbed the decanter of brandy from a table. He refilled all three of their glasses before sitting back down. Both Miller and Malcolm studied him, glancing at each other occasionally.
“What is it?” Sebastian asked.
Miller cleared his throat. “We wanted to speak with you about Lady Hensley. She is a proper, respectable lady. We want you to be delicate with how you treat her and behave in her presence.”
Sebastian’s brows drew together in confusion. “What are you insinuating?”
Malcolm took a large gulp of his brandy and placed his drink on the table beside him. “I’m going to say it bluntly. This trip you are taking is an opportunity to take a break from all the vice you have been overindulging in. Lady Hensley is not accustomed to being around such things.”
Little did they know, he had already made her accustomed to his antics. He took a sip of his brandy. “Perhaps you have the wrong impression of her? Maybe she isn’t as proper as you think.”
Both Malcolm and Miller tilted their heads back and laughed.
He didn’t laugh because the same guilt that clawed at him since his last encounter with Diana came rushing back.
He flipped open his pocket watch, reading the phrase from his father.
It was the text he tried his best to live by, except he hadn’t with her.
He’d been awful to her simply because he thought she was friends with Lilah and viewed him as his ex-lover did.
Had he made some wrong assumptions? No matter what, his actions towards her were appalling.
His remorse increased daily. Still, he grasped for some justification.
“She can’t be that proper, and I assume, as a leader of the ton , she thinks someone like me is beneath her.
She will probably try to avoid me while we are on the trip. ”
Malcolm looked at him, confused, and he was horrified to realize he might be blushing. His brother lifted a brow in his direction. Sebastian took another drink of brandy.
“She is the lady all others try to emulate when it comes to properness and decorum. In regards to judging you, I’ve never known or heard of her behaving in such a fashion. You knew her husband, as did we. He didn’t see commoners that way,” Malcolm said.
“We aren’t accusing you of attempting anything with her. She is not your type, and you are not hers,” Miller clarified.
Annoyance flashed through Sebastian. He ignored it, not wanting to delve any further into the uncomfortable emotion.
“She is friends with Lilah.”
“Where did you learn that?” Miller asked.
“I saw them together at an event put on by the London Society of Antiquaries.”
Malcolm snorted. “I’m not friends with everyone I’m seen with.”
The guilt in him intensified. Lilah had not once ever mentioned Diana to him before that day. She’d likely made those comments to cause trouble and annoy him. She’d been livid when he informed her he wouldn’t be continuing an affair with her after she settled into her marriage.
“Have care with your actions around her is all we are saying. I will see you tomorrow at the farewell dinner Addie is hosting for both of you,” Miller said.
Malcolm rose as well and watched Miller depart. He turned back to Sebastian and frowned. “Do not seduce her.”
Sebastian scowled at him. “Why would you say that?”
“You made a face earlier.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“I know you better than anyone.”
Sebastian’s ears went hot, but he would be damned if he told his brother anything.
He would turn over a new leaf. He needed to, especially with Diana.
He took another gulp of his drink. “I think you and Miller are right. I have already decided to take a break from all the amusements I’ve been enjoying, which is not as much as you think. ”
Malcolm snorted. “Perfect. Until tomorrow evening, then. I’m off to meet Sophia.”
After his brother left, Sebastian stood and made his way to the balcony overlooking the great hall of the Den.
Customers were starting to arrive. As he perused the crowd, his mind wandered to Diana.
He’d acted like an ass and taken too many liberties with her because of Lilah’s tricks.
He owed her an apology. Sebastian would be on his best behavior for their trip.
Table of Contents
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- Page 14 (Reading here)
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