The remainder of the hour passed enjoyably as they built their castle quite high until it was as tall as Priscilla. When the tide began to roll in and wash away their castle, they decided to go in search of seashells. They found several beautiful ones that Eden rinsed clean of sand and bugs, and then placed in her pouch.
They had enjoyed a good dose of the outdoors by the time they returned to Lynton Grange. It was about three o’clock in the afternoon and Priscilla was noticeably tired. The boys were still full of vigor, but Eden thought they had run around enough to keep them suitably subdued for the rest of the day. She hoped they would behave like polite boys instead of zoo animals when introduced to Connor’s guests.
“We had better go in through the back way,” Eden said, for none of them were presentable. Their clothes had dried out but were full of sand that they could not completely shake off, no matter how hard they tried. The children all had dark hair like their father, but their glorious curls were wild and unbrushed.
His had looked magnificent even after that wave knocked him over. He did no more than rake his fingers through it to look like a dark-haired Adonis once again.
She did not want to think about her own hair, that unkempt red mass atop her head she could hardly keep in order on the best of days. “Yes, we must go in through the back,” she insisted. “We don’t want to scare off your father’s guests.”
“Yes, we do,” the three of them blurted at once.
Eden sighed.
Mrs. Ward and her scullery girls were hard at work preparing for afternoon tea and the supper feast that was to take place tonight. “Do not let us disturb you,” Eden said as they made their way through the bustle of activity.
“Ye’re never a bother, Lady Eden,” the kindly cook replied, her cheeks pink and perspiring from the heat of the hearth fire. “Look at all of ye. Ye’re nothing but a bunch of heathens,” she teased. “I’ll have milk and cakes brought up to the classroom for ye, children.”
At Eden’s urging, they politely thanked her.
Priscilla gave Mrs. Ward a wide-eyed stare. “My papa is going to choose a new mama for us. That’s what Grandmama says.”
The woman wiped a beefy hand across her forehead and nodded. “I’m sure he’ll make his own decision, and when he does, it will be a good one. No one’s going to push yer father into doing something he is not ready to do. Run upstairs, love. Put on a pretty frock because he might call ye down to meet his guests. Ye want to make a good impression, don’t ye?”
“No,” Priscilla said with brutal honesty. “We want them all to go away. We like things just as they are.”
The boys agreed.
Mrs. Ward cast Eden a helpless look.
Eden merely shrugged in response, and then turned to address the children. “You mustn’t rush to judgment. Your father would be most disappointed if you did not give any of his guests a chance. You might surprise yourselves and find a lovely lady among his company. Keep an open mind. You want to see your father happy, don’t you?”
The three of them reluctantly nodded.
“But he already is happy,” Alex insisted. “He has us.”
“And you,” Priscilla added. “He always smiles when he sees you.”
Eden bustled them upstairs, since this was no conversation to be having in front of the duke’s household staff.
Two of the younger maids, Sarah and Millie, joined her as she marched them up to their rooms. “His Grace said we were to take care of his children for the rest of the day,” Sarah, the senior of the two, said. “Lady Eden, he would like you to join him in his study once you have changed out of your hiking clothes.”
“All right.” Eden made certain the boys were going to wash the salt water off themselves, then headed to her guest chamber.
Connor had given her the most beautiful guest room of all, and refused to listen to her protests when she suggested it was too fine for her. He had insisted on his housekeeper settling her in there last night. “Pay no attention to Lady Eden,” he had told the ever-efficient Mrs. Dayton. “She is to have the best of everything, whether she wants it or not.”
“Beast,” she had laughingly retorted.
But his humor had won the day, and she stopped griping. After all, it was a charming room decorated in light floral colors and had a view of the garden and the ocean beyond with its constant roil of blue, green, and gray waters. The varying shades depended on the weather. It was a mix of deepest azure and moss green today, and streaks of white foam caps sat atop the waves. She also had a private balcony.
What was not to like?
He ought to have given the room to one of his grander guests, perhaps the Earl and Countess of Lothmere, who had been invited along with their daughter of marriageable age. They also had a son expected to be in attendance, a man of almost thirty years who was not yet married.
Eden had seen Duchess Evelyn’s guest list before the invitations had gone out and knew there were several eligible bachelors among them.
To her surprise, another of the household maids was waiting for her when she walked into her room. She recognized Delia, who was Duchess Evelyn’s own lady’s maid. “I ordered a bath for you,” the sweet-looking girl said, pointing to the tub positioned by the hearth. Light wisps of steam curled up from the water. “I was afraid it would grow cold by the time you returned. But the timing is perfect. It was just brought up.”
Eden closed the door and then turned to smile at the girl. “Thank you, Delia.” She knew just about everyone who worked at Lynton Grange because many of them were related to her own staff at Chestnut Hill. She had even grown up with many of them, and they all attended church regularly at St. Matthew’s in Lynton. “I had better decide on what to wear.”
