Page 15 of Love Thy Enemy (The Vaughns #4)

T he sun—a rare and welcome sight—draped its golden light across the churchyard as the parishioners spilled out the front doors and into the yard, turning their faces to that blessed sun like flowers lapping up its life-giving rays.

Voices filled the air as the worshipers gathered into conversations, blending with the birdsong that echoed from the eaves of the church, where swallows flitted beneath the stone archways.

Gravestones, worn smooth by time and weather, stood in quiet rows across the green, their shadows stretching long and soft in the afternoon light, and a scattering of daisies and wild clover peeked between the markers, lending a gentle charm to the solemn setting.

The old yew trees, bent and bowed with age, rustled faintly in the breeze, their dark branches casting lacy patterns across the footpaths.

It was a place meant for quiet reflection, but on such a bright day, the air thrummed with eager fellowship. Yet the beauty of the atmosphere evaporated like a puff of smoke at Daphne’s declaration. Staring at his eldest charge, Gregory couldn’t make sense of it.

“Pardon?” he asked, for though he had understood her words, his mind couldn’t grasp their meaning. Not in their entirety.

“The Billings have invited me for a card party on Thursday next,” said Daphne.

“I know I am not out in company yet, but it is a small affair with a few close friends, so it is hardly a public function, and Mrs. Billings said it is entirely acceptable for me to attend such a gathering, especially as her daughter will be in attendance as well.”

Daphne paused long enough to catch her breath, and Gregory could do nothing but stare at the girl as she launched into another rambling exposition.

“And I believe they invited your brother and his wife, so I shan’t be unchaperoned.

I am certain Mrs. Joanna would be eager to serve in the role. She has told me so already—”

Gregory’s brows rose at that, but Daphne didn’t pause as she fairly begged him to agree. Though she affected an expression of polite disinterest, her words came in such a flurry that it was impossible to overlook the eagerness seeping through the apathy.

And Gregory didn’t know what to say. Of course, there was no reason to deny the girl if she wished to go (assuming she was correct about Joanna being in attendance), yet he longed to flee from the question.

Daphne was a young lady. Gregory had spent far more time thinking about the boys’ futures, as they were far more immediate.

To build any sort of decent profession required early planning and education.

Of course, Clark had the estate, so Gregory simply needed to see him through his education, and then he and Mr. Copps would undertake his higher education in matters of business and investments.

Jackson was another issue altogether. As the boy was fourteen years of age, a course of action must be chosen.

His inheritance wasn’t grand enough to forgo a profession, but was university in his future?

Or a clerkship? An apprenticeship was a bit beneath him, but not out of the realm of possibility.

Either way, a decision needed to be made, though Gregory hadn’t the slightest notion what it ought to be.

Rodney may have provided funds enough to secure whatever path was chosen, but a young man required money and connections to establish himself in a proper profession, and Gregory’s were rather limited.

Thankfully, Wesley was young enough that such matters needn’t be considered at this juncture—especially when there were so many other considerations to tend to first.

Such as their eldest sister’s coming out.

Even the thought was enough to give Gregory palpitations as readily as some fractious lady in a Gothic tale with all her fluttering handkerchiefs and vapors.

Did being a guardian to a young lady mean he had to invest in a bottle of smelling salts?

At the very least, he might need to secure a batch of ginger lozenges.

The manner in which his stomach churned was bound to give him a severe case of indigestion.

Daphne was only the beginning. Faith was six years her junior, so it would be some time before she entered the social fray, yet many ladies did not marry in the first years of their coming out.

It was entirely feasible that just as he had Daphne settled, Gregory would have to endure the whole mess again with Faith.

Or fate may be truly set against him and have them overlap, leaving him with two young ladies to protect from the hordes.

And of course, Eva would grow in the blink of an eye.

Heaven help him. Gregory felt as though he were sinking into the deep end of a pond, the water rising over his head.

How was he to protect them from the ills of the world and those immoral people who thought nothing of using others for their own good?

Or ensure the children’s happiness when life rarely unfolded according to plan?

And Daphne stood there, waiting so patiently, though with each passing moment, the brightness in her eyes dimmed. The girl asked so little and did so much for the family that Gregory couldn’t deny her this joy. Yet to speak the words felt like stepping over a line he wasn’t ready to cross.

But before Gregory could think what to say, Daphne’s brows rose as her gaze fell to the black ribbon pinned to her neckline. Each of the children bore those little signs of their mourning, and her shoulders fell as Gregory saw the realization dawning upon her.

“I ought not to be thinking of card games and parties,” she whispered.

No doubt some preferred to follow rigid strictures of mourning, but just as Rodney hadn’t wished his children to be bedecked in black, Gregory knew he wouldn’t want them to forgo the little pleasures of life in some misguided effort to place their sorrow on display.

He had helped the children through enough tearful moments to know just how much they were all suffering, and they needn’t prove their heartbreak to society.

“That has nothing to do with it,” he insisted.

“Your father would wish you to be happy, not to sit about weeping over the loss. He loved you too much to see you miserable and alone. I am simply not certain about allowing you to go to a card party. That is all. I need a little time to consider the situation before I decide.”

And to discuss it with someone who knew far better than he about the appropriateness of a young lady attending a card party without her guardian.

And to confirm with Joanna if she truly wished to play the chaperone for the evening.

And to speak with the Billings to ascertain whether or not the guests were appropriate company; Daphne and their daughter may be friends, but Gregory needed to do his due diligence before any decision was made.

Shoulders drooping, Daphne nodded, and Gregory nearly conceded the whole issue. Though she tried so hard to retain a calm expression, she couldn’t hide the sorrow brimming in her eyes as she turned back to her friends.

“I will consider it, Daphne. I promise,” he said, and though she nodded again, the words did little to lighten her spirits as she drifted back into the crowd.

Had he made the wrong choice? Delaying a decision often brought unforeseen consequences, yet something about this moment felt far more monumental than he was prepared to face at present.

The children tore across the churchyard like water from a burst dam, all pent-up energy and shrieking laughter as they raced between crooked headstones and leapt over low stone borders without a care for decorum.

Their voices rang out bright against the quiet hum of post-service conversation, a joyful chaos that belonged wholly to this day.

And despite the strain surrounding Daphne’s request, Gregory found himself smiling at the sight.

Until his gaze fell on Mrs. Stuart.

Her bonnet tilted back slightly as she spoke with another parishioner, her smile faint but present.

Nestled amongst the congregation, she was deep in conversation with several matrons, speaking with a comfort and ease as though she had always been amongst them, rather than a recent addition who had hardly been here for more than a fortnight.

Though Gregory had done his utmost to ignore her presence as she lurked about the village, the sight of her set his teeth on edge. What was she saying to them?

According to the ladies in his life, little was being said about the Stuart family beyond a general surprise that their matriarch chose to reside at the inn, rather than her children’s home.

Thornsby didn’t even find it odd that she reappeared after such a prolonged absence, as it was only natural that their remaining parent would come at such a difficult time.

So, the speculation was mostly innocent.

For now.

Gregory watched her closely and determinedly ignored the way his stomach tightened at the sight of her. Speaking the truth was hardly a reason to feel guilty; what he’d said to Mrs. Stuart was quite kind, given the situation, and he doubted many would’ve been so circumspect.

Yet his words replayed in his mind, needling him with a skitter of unease that prickled along his spine.

“Come now, we should be on our way,” called Gregory, motioning the children toward the gate that separated the churchyard from the rest of the world.

In his forty years, he’d often heard people speak of the difference between boys and girls. While there were always variations that proved generalizations weren’t sacrosanct, they existed for a reason and held more than a grain of truth. Thus, dismissing them as wholly wrong was silly.