Caroline’s gaze sharpened, a speculative look overtaking her features as Josephine looked towards the Wallburshare estate.
Her future home.
“You really are coming to care for him, aren’t you?”
Josephine could only nod.
God help her, but she was.
Chapter 16
The afternoon sky was partially overcast, the grey a fitting setting for Henry’s mood as the carriage bumped over the drive leading up to the Brisby estate.
As much as he didn’t want to be doing what he was doing, he couldn’t help looking out the window in curiosity. In the entirety of the time he and Martha had been married or even courting, he hadn’t ever visited the Brisbys’ country home. He hadn’t ever thought it odd, either, until just when it occurred to him along the drive over to it.
It was a large manor, though certainly not more so than his own. The grounds were well-kept, nothing sticking out to him as too far out of the ordinary even as they pulled to a stop and his footman hurried to open the door for him.
There was no one waiting to greet him. Not that he had expected there to be. He wasn’t expected. He hadn’t written to announce his visit, a decision he had grappled with over breakfast that morning.
Warning Catherine was the last thing he had wanted to do in the end.
Despite his lack of forewarning, the door was quick to open as he approached, a thin, well-dressed butler greeting him with a sharp look.
“Uh … The Duke of Wallburshare to see Lord and Lady Brisby,” Henry muttered, finding himself at odds with how unrecognizable he seemed to be.
“Are the Lord and Lady expecting you, Your Grace?” the butler asked blandly, seemingly unimpressed with Henry’s greeting.
Henry fought a wince. “No, I don’t believe they are.”
Would it matter? What was he to do if they had absconded back to London since she’d confronted Josephine?
The butler eyed him for a moment, his grey eyes sweeping behind him to his carriage before he nodded and stepped back. “If you’ll follow me, Your Grace.”
So still in attendance then.
Henry breathed a silent sigh of relief, following the butler into the home.
And that sigh of relief turned into a quick inhale of surprise as he took in his surroundings.
Gold and brocade items seemed to cover every square inch of the manor, fine silks on display even just in the entryway along with decorations that seemed more suitable for a palace than a country estate. It was opulent and lavish, and Henry felt suddenly under-dressed following their butler through the hall towards a room sitting off to one side.
“Can I get you anything before I announce you, Your Grace?” the butler asked, a note of disinterest stealing into his words as he half-bowed in the doorway as Henry walked uncertainty into the sitting room he’d been shown.
“Ah, no, thank you,” Henry muttered, already looking around once more in awe.
The sitting room was even more lavish than the entryway and hall had been. Henry knew for a fact that the paintings on the wall cost more than his produce bills for a month, if not three.
How did John afford such a lifestyle?
He was titled, to be sure – but Henry didn’t recall his family having acquired any sudden fortune that he had heard of.And he knew for a fact that it hadn’t been through Catherine’s family.
He paused before a large crystal vase, his eyebrows lifting to see the intricate detail inlaid into the object.
“I see you’re admiring my latest acquisition,” a familiar voice greeted him after a moment.
Henry turned in surprise as Catherine stole into the room, shutting the door after her and smiling wide and warmly at him.
“I was,” Henry admitted, clearing his throat and glancing to the short door with no small measure of apprehension.
