She shook her head. “The children are in the nursery,” she told Charlie. “You had best go visit them, as they are likely to be better behaved than their father.”
Lord Lampton clasped a hand to his heart. “You wound me, my love. Deeply.”
Adam found the earl’s theatrics wearying. Artemis adored the dramatics. This was a brother-in-law she could get along with very well if given half a chance. He so easily brought a smile to her face even in a difficult moment like this. Her Papa had managed that also. In her mind’s eye, she began to picture her Papa as being tall, like Lord Lampton.
“Layton’s little ones are here as well,” Lady Lampton said. “Caroline, in particular, will be offended if you do not visit her straight off. Her uncle is a bad influence, you realize.”
“Which uncle?” Artemis asked, enjoying the banter.
“All of them,” the three answered in near unison.
“It seems the perfect time to look in on the children.” Charlie walked back toward her.
She reached out, fully expecting to be offered his arm. In his enthusiasm to see more of his family members, he neglected that. Only because he was eager for his family. She told herself that several times as she followed him from the room. Only as they climbed the stairs did she realize he might not have been invitingherto join him on the trek through the house.
There was no real option but to continue following. She didn’t know where in this house she would be staying. Wandering about until she either found her traveling trunk in a bedchamber or a servant to plead with was too embarrassing a prospect to entertain.
They arrived at the nursery wing, and a chorus of welcomes greeted Charlie. Little Lord Jonquil was vocal, but he was too young for much of what he said to make sense. A little boy, who must have been at least two years old, sporting a bit of red in his hair, came rushing over. Artemis remembered a younger version of him from the long-ago house party.
The most enthusiastic of greetings, though, came from Charlie’s eight-year-old niece, whom Artemis had been absolutely enchanted with during her last stay at Lampton Park. Miss Caroline Jonquil was a delightfully precocious girl with a head of golden curls and mesmerizingly blue eyes. She had all her family wrapped around her finger yet was wholly unspoiled by it.
“Uncle Charming!” She rushed to Charlie.
He knelt and held the little girl in a fierce embrace. “Oh, I’ve missed you, Caroline.”
“Uncle Flip says you do not live here anymore. He is being very silly with me.”
He sat on the floor, and she sat facing him. “Uncle Flip, you will be shocked to hear, is telling you the truth.”
She looked confused. “Where will you live if you don’t live here?”
“I am living in a house called Brier Hill in Cumberland. It is up near Scotland.” Somehow, he managed to make it sound as if he were pleased with the arrangement, though Artemis knew he was not.
“Why would you live there? Your family are all here.”
“Not all of them,” Charlie countered.
“Nearlyall.”
He reached over and took his niece’s hand. “Generally, when a person marries, he or she goes to live in his or her own house.”
Caroline’s eyes pulled wide. “Did you get married?”
Had no one told the little girl? It was, Artemis supposed, not something the family was precisely celebrating.
“I did,” Charlie said. “To Miss Lancaster.” He motioned toward Artemis hovering awkwardly near the doorway. “You remember her. She visited year before last.”
Caroline shook her head. She didn’t remember. The one person in this family Artemis had been certain would remember her with fondness—they’d had several lovely interludes discussing curly hair and how to best arrange it—didn’t even remember her.
Artemis slipped a bit to the side and sat in one of the adult-sized chairs placed around the edge of the room.
“Will you walk with me by the river?” Caroline’s focus was on Charlie once more.
His lap was filled with children. Lord Kendrick and the other little boy had made their way to him quickly. Charlie had scooped up Lady Julia and was holding her too. “Of course I will, sweetheart. I’ve missed our walks along the Trent.”
This was the family life Charlie had lost. Only when held by her Papa had Artemis felt that someone wanted or needed her around.
She and Charlie had concocted a plan to pretend to be perfectly content and happy in their current arrangement, assuming it was the only way to save them from misery upon returning to the Jonquil family home. Charlie was obviously accepted back without needing the playacting. Would Artemis be accepted evenwithit?
