“Now tell me,” Sebastian said quickly, the tension easing from his shoulders as he leaned back in the chair. “How was your time in France? I want to hear all about the trouble you undoubtedly got into.”
Nathaniel grinned at this and his eyes sparkled with mischief. “Ah, France,” he sighed with a grin. “The land of wine, women and wickedness. I fear I may have left a trail of broken hearts from Paris to Provence.”
Sebastian scoffed and shook his head, though the grin around his lips gave away his amusement. “Why am I not surprised? You have always had a way with women.”
Nathaniel grinned. “Luckily seduction was not the only item on my agenda,” he teased. “I was the very model of a cultured gentleman. I even tried my own hand at painting a landscape or two.”
“Painting?” Sebastian raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Your father will disinherit you if you tell him you’ve taken up art,” he remarked, and Nathaniel laughed.
“Oh, I am by no means planning on abandoning business and taking up painting as a career,” he said with a laugh. “But I am a man of many talents and I thought that I ought to get a hobby if my best friend was going to get married without me.”
Sebastian could only laugh at this, though the laughter soon subsided, and he looked at his friend seriously.
“You know I would have wanted you there,” he said simply, and Nathaniel nodded. “And had it not been for the scandal, I know I’d have been there,” he said gently. Sebastian simply nodded and Nathaniel sighed.
“In truth, as much as I enjoyed my time in France, I missed London. It is home, after all.”
Before Sebastian could answer, Nathaniel leaned forward and laughed softly. “Besides, France does not have the same gossip. Did you know that Lord Wilmington was apparently caught in a rather compromising position with his wife’s lady’s maid? In the stables no less! Rumor has it that he was truly caught with his trousers around the ankles!”
Sebastian shook his head and a wry smile tugged at his lips. “Ah, the scandals and shames of high society,” he said with a laugh. “Though I suppose I cannot truly talk, given my own recent brush with infamy.”
“Fair enough,” Nathaniel conceded. “But at least you had the decency to marry the girl. From what I hear, Wilmington is trying to buy his wife’s forgiveness with increasingly extravagant gifts. The poor woman has acquired so many new jewels, she is practically a walking chandelier.”
“There is truly no place like London,” Sebastian said, and Nathaniel laughed, leaning back in his chair.
“Indeed,” he agreed. “Home sweet home.”
Home.
The word reminded him of his wife waiting in his own home and Sebastian rose to his feet. “I walked here,” he admitted. “Would you mind terribly if I borrowed a carriage? I suppose I have to head home too.”
Home had never truly been a place where he’d longed to be, but now that he had a wife waiting for him, Sebastian found himself wanting to be there.
“Of course you can borrow a carriage,” Nathaniel said quickly, his voice interrupting Sebastian’s thoughts. “I’ll get one of the servants to get it ready for you.”
As the men walked to the stables, Sebastian couldn’t help but think of the scandal Lord Wilmington was facing.
For so long, stories like those had disillusioned him with marriage. He was certain that it was only natural to find reprieve from a wife in the arms of other women.
But with his wife waiting for him at home, Sebastian could not deny that he did not want to find reprieve from her. Not in the slightest.
Chapter 14
While her husband directed his focus on work and was away from home, Caroline found herself in the middle of the bustling kitchen. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she tried to absorb the flurry of activity around her. Mrs. Hawkins was moving so quickly that she hardly caught sight of her—one minute she was barking orders at the scullery maids, the next she was directing the flow of dishes. Caroline felt rather out of place.
“Now, My Lady,” Mrs. Hawkins said with her usual gruffness as she turned to Caroline, “The key to running a smooth household is organization and discipline. You must keep a tight rein on the staff, ensure that everyone knows their place—and their duties. It will not do to have maids gossiping in corners or footmen shirking their responsibilities.”
Caroline nodded slowly. Was all of this her responsibility? Was she meant to bark orders and keep an eye on staff? She’d always known, of course, that running a household was a significant undertaking, but seeing it firsthand and having to do it no less, was something else entirely.
She could only nod mutely at Mrs. Hawkins’ orders, her eyes following the older woman as she took charge of the controlled chaos of the kitchen. A frown settled between her brows as her thoughts drifted to her own mother.
She always made it look so effortless. One of Caroline’s very first memories of her, was how she glided through the manor with a serene smile and an air of unruffled composure. Running a household, to her, was as natural as breathing and Caroline was certain that Beatrice too would find it natural. She swallowed dryly, a sudden pang of homesickness washing over her.
As difficult as life had been over the course of the weeks before her marriage, Caroline suddenly missed the familiarity and comfort of it. She missed the quiet grace with which her mothertook charge of the household—so different from Mrs. Hawkins’ briskness. She missed her father’s familiar voice, her sister’s laughter—the warmth of Wentworth Manor.
“Mrs. Hawkins,” she said at last, her voice soft, though she tried to keep an air of authority in it as she’d so often heard from her own parents. “I wonder if I might take a brief respite. I… I would like to visit my family.”
Mrs Hawkins looked up at this, her brows lifted and Caroline stared back at her firmly.
