Caroline pulled him away in the very next instant. That happened all the time at Lampton Park. Though he’d struggled to see it during that long-ago house party, his family’s love for him and need for him was obvious to anyone willing to look. She loved being there, surrounded by siblings and siblings-in-law and nieces and nephews. But for the first time since leaving Brier Hill and the unhappiness they’d experienced there, Artemis found herself anxious to return.
The house would feel different now.
It would, she was all but certain, feel like home.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Charlie watched Artemis wind herway around the back gardens a few days after her family’s arrival. She laughed with her sisters, an expression of genuine happiness. The sun set her golden curls aglow. Her smile was as soft and as natural as he’d ever seen it. She was happy, and that did his heart good.
The Lancaster ladies reached the terrace door where he stood, and greeted him in turn. Artemis’s family had begun to feel like his family as well these last days. He felt welcome among them, wanted and needed.
“I know having so many people here is a bit chaotic,” Artemis said. “I’m so grateful Philip and Sorrel have permitted it.”
He shook his head. “This house has always been at its most joyful when things were a bit boisterous.”
She took his hand and walked with him into the house. “I’ve spent so much of my life trying to convince myself that I didn’t need to have family around that I didn’t realize how untrue that actually was.”
“AndIhave assumed for a long time that my family didn’t want me around,” he said. “I am beginning to suspect that is not true.”
She smiled up at him. “Oh, Charlie, they love having you here. Even the least observant person in all the world would notice that.”
“There are a few members of this vast and complicated family who are actively requesting your company at the moment,” Charlie said. “I’ve been sent to fetch you.”
“Who is asking for me?” she pressed.
“I believe I will keep that a surprise.”
She laughed lightly. “You do that a lot, you know: keep me in suspense.”
“Are you lodging a complaint?”
She bumped him with her shoulder. “Not in the least.”
He took her to the library. Her brothers-in-law and Linus were inside, as were Philip and Mr. Layton.
Artemis eyed them all with obvious curiosity. “This is an unexpected gathering.”
“One I arrived for on time,” Philip said. “The same cannot be said for Mr. Layton. That, I believe, makes me the king of the day.”
“Mr. Layton has always been the king,” Adam said, sitting in a nearby chair with his usual air of irascibility and a well-hidden inkling of amusement. The duke was not one to be crossed or taken lightly, but Charlie was coming to know him better and wasn’t nearly as afraid of him as he’d once been.
“Do find a comfortable seat, Artemis,” Mr. Layton said. “I have my doubts the Odd Earl will cease his dramatics long enough to invite you to do so.”
Philip assumed a very solemn expression. “Brother Adam would not recognize me if I ceased the ‘dramatics.’”
“Stop calling me that,” Adam muttered.
“I cannot call you BrotherBob.” Philip never had been one to let an opportunity for a jest slip by unseized.
“Best take up your business, Charlie,” Linus said, “before these two resort to fisticuffs again.”
“We cannot begin until Rose arrives.”
That brought Artemis’s eyes to him once more. “Rose is joining us?”
Charlie nodded. “Along with Wilson.”
He could see the interest growing in her expression. But Rose and her uncle arrived before Artemis could pose a single question. The two women sat together on a sofa, both eyeing the gathering with interest and confusion.
