Page 17 of The Valentine Skates
Leander had been a tenant when Frederick’s father was still alive, and he respected his opinion, in fact sought the man’s thoughts whenever he was bringing a new way of farming to the estate. The man’s good regard was important to him. He got the feeling he was trying to tell him something he needed to heed.
“We’ve had a long morning here. Why don’t we break for a few minutes and a cup of last year’s cider?” From the look on the two men’s faces, he got the feeling they were as relieved as he was to ease the tension of an unanswered question.
He led them to a shaded bench beneath one of his own apple trees, and they shared a loaf of Cook’s freshly baked bread with a jug of cider from the Meredith cellar.
No one spoke for a long few moments and then he came to a decision. “I’m a man just like the rest of you. I’ve been a widower for a long time, and I’ve met an older woman, a widow, from Guildford.”
“Thinkin’ of marriage, are ye?” Lucas held up his cup of cider in salute.
“No, not for now.” He returned the salute and gave them all a look signaling the discussion was over.
His ears still buzzed from the quiet after his admission while he and his workers headed back toward the cider house. The thing was, he was as much in the dark as they were about where his love for Lili would finally take him. He hoped all the way to the altar.
Lili’s unease over how her mother would react had been for naught. The minute the carriage pulled up in front of Howick House in St. James Square, her fragile, but still beautiful mother hastened down the steps to take her in her arms as soon as a footman helped her down.
While Margaret supervised the moving of trunks into the house, Lady Howick had tea brought into the family sitting room for the two of them. “Your brother is working late…again,” she admitted with a small frown. “If you’re hungry, there is a cold pie in the kitchen…”
Lili pointed to the elaborate stack of dainty meat paste sandwiches towering on a silver tray next to the tea things. “How hungry do you think I am?” The answering tinkle of a laugh from her mother brought back memories of happier times when she was a young girl and living in their comfortable Mayfair mansion while her older brother took on the weight of responsibility for their family.
“I always think of you as a leggy, growing girl who was always begging Cook for treats from the kitchen.”
“Yes, there was a time when I grew taller suddenly and was hungry all the time.”
Her mother placed a gentle hand on Lili’s arm, and for the first time, she noticed her mother’s thinning, translucent skin with all the blue veins showing through. When had her mother aged? She’d been too busy worrying about her own terrors to think about the time slipping away when she should have been at her mother’s side.
After a light tap at the door, Howick appeared and walked quickly to Lili’s side. When she rose to greet him, he pulled her into his arms and held her quietly for a long time. When he finally pushed back, his eyes glistened. “I’ve waited so long for this moment.” He waved an arm toward his mother as if to cover for the emotions threatening to spill out of his usually controlled demeanor. “Who’s hungry? Have you ordered a late supper from the kitchen?”
Lady Howick went to the corner to pull on the kitchen bell and shook her head at her son. “You didn’t eat at your club?”
“No, I wouldn’t miss this homecoming for a bunch of fusty old men.”
Lili felt a twinge of guilt for a moment that quickly passed. While she’d been practicing for days telling herself what had happened to her was not of her own doing, she’d also come to realize she was not the only one in her family who had suffered in the aftermath of her captivity.It was time to fix the missteps of the past.
Chapter Eleven
November - Familial Ties
Frederick pulledat the tight cravat Howick’s valet, Sergeant Randall, had helped him tie. He tamped down his frustrations at having to be groomed like a prize hog for a country fair by thinking of the last time he’d seen Lili. The last time he’d held Lili in his arms and watched her fall apart in shudders of pleasure after their love-making.
Then, of course, he experienced a wardrobe problem that could only be fixed with time and thoughts of farm ledgers.
He realized too late Randall suspected the direction of his thoughts when the man quirked an eyebrow. “Would you like a moment, sir, to rest before you join the others?”
“Um, yes, probably should gather my nerves before we leave for whatever confounded event we’re to attend today.” This was the third time that week he’d accompanied Lili and her mother to a tonnish event. Since most of the high-in-the-instep crowd had already fled for their country estates, the ordeal was actually much more manageable than it might have been. Lili had explained her mother and her mother’s friends had planned it this way.
Lady Howick’s friend, Mrs. Bellingham, had offered to let him stay in her son’s rooms at Albany while he escorted Lili and her mother on the rounds of legitimizing their…um…relationship. They were supposed to be old friends (which of course they were), and he was supposed to be courting Lili.
“I’ll let Lord Howick know you’ll be joining them shortly.” The words floated back over Randall’s shoulder when he pushed out the guest chamber door and headed down the corridor to the massive staircase leading to the lower level.
Frederick rearranged his falls, tried to remember the numbers his steward had given him recounting how many acres he’d planted for each crop that year and stole a quick look in the man-sized standing mirror. His face was flushed, and the fresh shave Randall had recently given him looked as though his stubborn beard was about to reappear. Thank God Howick’s valet had managed to tame his unruly hair with pomade. He had to admit he looked good, if not exactly the refined sort of gentleman Mayfair matrons were accustomed to seeing in their drawing rooms.
He drew up straight, took a deep breath and followed in Randall’s wake.
Lili tapped one of her slippers in a fast rhythm against the marble floor in the grand entryway of Howick House. She smiled in spite of herself and relaxed when Frederick made his appearance in the grand staircase leading down from the upper level. Weren’t men the ones who usually had to wait for women to make their appearance?
She had to admit, though, Squire Meredith in all of his glory was well worth the wait. She’d become so accustomed to seeing him in mud-splattered trousers and boots, that she had to admit his appearance in a carefully tailored jacket, cravat, snowy white linen shirt and dark wool strapped trousers left her a bit breathless. The trousers left nothing to the imagination, showing off his athletic, muscled legs.
It was hard to accept that this beautiful man belonged to her. He’d stood by her ever since her return from Algiers. Every month that had passed for four years, he’d presented himself at Wembledon to call on her. And every month, she’d refused to see him. It had taken one small, determined girl and a tattered, stuffed bear to finally bring them together again. And for that, she thanked God every day.