When he left the sentence unfinished, she glanced up in time to catch the fleeting expression he immediately hid behind a distracting grin. He hadn’t been certain she would welcome him; he hadn’t taken her forgiveness for granted.
Oh, Martin.She smiled reassuringly and patted the arm she firmly held as she towed him into the front hall. “Come along now—there’s no sense in attempting to resist.”
He chuckled, and together, they made for the stairs.
Therese paused on the landing to glance back at Devlin, who had followed them from the drawing room, but hadn’t started up the stairs.
He caught her questioning look and waved her on. “I need to check on a few things. I’ll join you shortly.”
She smiled in acquiescence, turned, and with Martin, continued up the next flight.
Devlin watched the pair go, then still smiling, ambled to the study. He checked the letters lying on his desk and glanced at the news sheets, but there was nothing urgent demanding his attention.
He left the desk and walked to his favorite armchair before the hearth. Settling into the comfort of well-padded leather, he reviewed all he’d gleaned over the past hour.
Regardless of anything he felt about the matter, Martin was destined to become a fixture in Therese’s life. To Devlin’s mind, there was no sense resisting the inevitable, and more to the point, with respect to his own quest regarding Therese, there might be aspects of the situation he could exploit.
Instead of being an annoying distraction, Martin’s return might be a boon.
Critically, Devlin reassessed all he’d seen and sensed in Martin Cynster and had to admit that, instead of the skeptical wariness he’d expected to feel regarding the younger man, he saw potential—a potentially valuable ally business-wise and another gentleman who, while being close to Therese, could be relied on to have her best interests and her safety at heart.
More, a man who had already thought about what being an uncle meant.
Devlin pondered that, along with Therese’s transparent fondness for her younger brother, then rose and headed for the nursery.
He paused in the front hall to confirm with Portland that dinner would be served at seven o’clock, then climbed the stairs to the third floor. Helping Therese re-establish Martin in society would, among other things, give him a highly-acceptable-to-Therese reason for keeping her company at various events at which he would not normally appear.
And given Martin’s business interests, introducing him to British business circles might well bear all sorts of profitable fruit.
Most importantly of all, helping Martin would firmly anchor Devlin in his wife’s good graces.
Smiling to himself, he strolled to the open nursery door and looked in.
Somewhat to his surprise, Martin was sitting cross-legged on the floor, telling the children some story. Even Horry, firmly ensconced in her usual place on Therese’s lap, was silent and looked spellbound.
Devlin watched for several minutes, until the story came to an end and his sons clapped and cheered and Spencer asked a question. Observing the way that Martin responded and the manner in which his children were beaming, Devlin felt all lingering doubts regarding the younger man fade. From experience, he knew that children rarely failed to see straight through adults’ façades, and his three clearly found their new uncle fascinating and not the sort of person they needed to treat with caution.
Then Rupert noticed Devlin and leapt up, closely followed by Spencer. The boys rushed to take Devlin’s hands. Grinning at their excited, non-stop prattle, he allowed them to tow him into the room. He crouched and paid all due attention while they showed off the presents Martin had brought for them—a carved wooden train of locomotive and three carriages for Spencer and a horse on wheels, also finely carved, for Rupert. Horry, meanwhile, waved a wooden-headed doll at Devlin, then when he reached as if to take it, she clutched the doll tight and chortled—whether to it or him, he wasn’t sure.
He straightened and smiled benignly on the gathering, then allowed his expression to grow serious. “I’m afraid I’ve come to report that it’s almost time for dinner to be served downstairs.” The big clock on the wall stood at fifteen minutes to the hour, but he knew how long any farewell would take.
The boys instantly turned their gazes on Therese, but she met their beseeching looks with a firm “You’ve already been allowed to stay up later than usual. Now you need to say goodnight to your Uncle Martin and thank him for your presents, then you should take your new toys and put them safely in the playroom before going off to your beds.”
Both boys’ shoulders slumped, but they dutifully turned and thanked Martin, not just for the toys but also for telling them stories.
Watching her brothers, Horry wasn’t sure whether to be grumpy or not. Before she could decide, Devlin took Therese’s arm and helped her to her feet, then plucked Horry from Therese’s hands and tossed the little girl up in the air and caught her—sending her into fits of giggles—then he noisily bussed her cheek, resulting in yet more hysterical giggles. Therese pressed close and kissed the other downy cheek, then Devlin handed his daughter to Gillian, one of the nursemaids.
Nanny Sprockett had come up to take charge of the boys. Devlin crouched again, and the pair hugged him. He closed his arms and hugged them back, then released them and rose. He looked down into their faces and ruffled their hair. “Off to bed, now.”
The boys sent resigned smiles his way, turned to Therese for their goodnight kisses, then with a last wave to Martin, clutching their new toys, they allowed Nanny Sprocket to take their free hands and lead them off.
Devlin watched the children go, vaguely aware he had a faintly besotted look on his face, then waved Therese and Martin to the door.
Beside Martin, he walked along the short corridor in Therese’s wake. They reached the head of the stairs and started down, with Therese leading the way.
His gaze resting on his wife’s head, Devlin inquired, “Are you intending to attend the Countess of Wicklow’s event tomorrow?”
Continuing to slowly descend, Therese glanced back at him in obvious surprise.
