“I beg your pardon, Lord Gillinghamshire. But I was here last year with my mother when—”
Cecilia froze. She just realized that she had brought up a painful subject, both for her and for Lord Gillinghamshire.
“Oh, Cecilia!” her brother groaned, whilst seated at one of the couches.
“There, there. It’s quite all right. It’s my fault, really, for asking such a stupid question. I remember now, you and Her Grace paid a visit after my mother—may the Lord rest both of their souls—passed away.”
“Well, did you know that even though you have only been here twice, your brother has been here too many times to count? May I ask you to direct your attention to the set of three vases displayed below the window just there?”
Cecilia did as she was told, “But Lord Gillinghamshire, there are only two vases.”
With a nod and a smirk, he replied, “Yes, and that is your brother’s doing.”
The room erupted into laughter, and Cecilia turned to Anthony to ask, “Is it true, Brother?”
Grinning widely, he answered, “Yes, Cecilia. We were playing a game of catch and it went terribly awry. I got caned twice that day; once by Colin’s father and once by ours.”
Cecilia was seeing her brother in a brand new way. Not only did Anthony choose to let Mr. Fletcher and Miss Meyer stay on, but he even told jokes around the garden table. One of them had to do with a cow and a marigold, which Cecilia did not fully understand, but she laughed nonetheless.
It was difficult to imagine that at some point Brother, too, had misbehaved and gotten in trouble. The more she found out about him, the more she wished that she had been there to see it for herself.
Because Brother is completely different now.
Cecilia sat down next to Miss Meyer. “Miss Meyer, why don’t you tell them the stories you told me about the children at the orphanage? I quite liked the story where Trevor and Ian got in trouble when their game of hide-and-seek also went wrong.”
With a warm smile, Lord Farellshire suggested, “Why don’t you tell us a story from when you got in trouble, Lady Cecilia? For we have been talking about your brother’s mischief—much of which we ourselves shared in—all afternoon.”
“But I don’t think I have ever really gotten in trouble, Lord Farellshire.”
This raised everyone’s eyebrows.
“But that’s quite impossible, Lady Cecilia. All children get in trouble from time to time. Do you mean to say that you have never had your hands caned?”
With an honest headshake, she replied, “No, I don’t think so, Lord Farellshire. Mother was never like that. Although, I do remember she scolded me for trying to share my luncheon with a squirrel.”
“Ah, well then, you are quite lucky that your brother is around. I hear he has been giving you a tough time.”
Giggling, Cecilia replied, “Yes, I dislike him when he’s in a bad mood.”
“And I think you will find that he isalwaysin a bad mood,” joined Lord Gillinghamshire. “Please do not take it personally, Lady Cecilia. For what it is worth, he is exactly the same with Kenneth and I.”
“It’s not that I am always in a bad mood. I am just a more serious person. And would you two leave off me already? I thought you said we were going to focus on Cecilia.”
“Cecilia, did you really never get in trouble with our parents?”
“No, Brother. What would I even get in trouble for?”
Anthony leaned forward, “Oh, you know. The usual stuff that children get in trouble for. Such as accidentally breaking things or for being far too loud whilst playing with your friends.”
“I spend most of my time around Mrs. Oakley or Mr. Fletcher. They don’t scold me if I accidentally drop something. They just get someone to clean it up.”
“Also, I never had any friends. All of mother’s friends had daughters that were far too old to play with me.”
* * *
Those words broke Anthony’s heart. He pictured Cecilia walking alone around their giant estate.
He knew that their mother had never really been the same after Father had died. She had gone from a kind and bubbly Duchess to a shell of a woman who rarely ventured out of her room. So Cecilia would have spent most of her time with the servants—just as she said.
