She gave him a troubled look and slowly released his sleeve. “You won’t say nothing about...?”
“I saw nothing untoward at all,” he assured her. “And I apologize for any distress I caused you and your husband.” He pressed a couple of gold sovereigns—all he had on him—into the woman’s shaking hand, mounted his horse and rode off.
Damn, for a moment there he’d thought he had the bastard.
Chapter Fifteen
Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing.
—WILLIAM CONGREVE,LOVE FOR LOVE
Dusk was falling as the carriage bringing the girls to Ashendon turned into the driveway. At the same time, Emm saw her husband riding across the park from the opposite direction. He rode slumped in the saddle, as if weary and dispirited.
Emm hung back as he dismounted and waited for the girls to alight, greeting each one with a nod and words Emm couldn’t quite catch. She wanted to give them a little private time together; they were family, after all. She was the stranger here.
It was not for her to welcome Rose and Lily to the home in which they’d been born.
But they could have been strangers for all the warmth they showed. Of the girls, only Lily made any attempt at a warmer greeting, reaching up to plant a shy kiss on her brother’s cheek. He seemed not to know quite how to respond, bending toward her slightly so she was able to reach his jaw.
Watching their caution with each other, their awkwardness, Emm felt a rueful pang. Somehow, she was going to make these disparate, wary people into a family. She was determined on it.
She hurried down the front steps to greet them. “You made good time, then, Rose, Lily, Georgiana. Did you have a pleasant journey? The weather was in your favor, thoughit’s getting quite chilly now.” She hugged each of the girls—even Georgiana, whom she barely knew, and who responded awkwardly, allowing the embrace rather than welcoming it.
“And who is this fine fellow?” She went to pat the dog, but he was more interested in sniffing out his new territory and leaving liquid calling cards on every nearby tree. She exclaimed over his size and noble carriage and heard her husband snort behind her.
She turned to him and was on the verge of holding out her hand to him when she decided to take the bull by the horns and begin as she meant to go on. She stood on tiptoes and planted a light kiss on his cheek. “I hope your day was productive, Lord Ashendon.”
He frowned and opened his mouth to say something, then stopped.
Emm didn’t wait for any further reaction. If he disliked the familiarity in front of the girls, he would no doubt tell her later. She turned to the girls. “But what am I doing letting you stand around in the cold. Come inside. You’re just in time for dinner. We won’t bother changing for dinner tonight—just freshen yourselves up—I’ve just ordered hot water sent up to your bedchambers. It should be there in a few minutes.”
They entered the house in a group, the girls chattering about the journey, responding to the questions she threw at them. Emm turned toward the stairs, but Rose’s gaze fell to the great hall. With a small exclamation, she walked forward and entered the room.
“What have you done to this place?” Rose stood in the center of the hall, her brow wrinkled, gazing around her. “It’s almost unrecognizable.”
Her words gave Emm a guilty pang. She hadn’t even considered the girls’ feelings when she’d had the great hall stripped of the items she found repugnant. She’d briefly considered her husband, but he hadn’t seemed to care what she did—but for the girls this place had truly been their home, apart from the years they spent at school.
She’d done her best to make it less like an armament museum and more like a family gathering place. A roaring fire burned in the enormous fireplace, and she’d hadcomfortable chairs gathered around in groups, instead of the hard chairs that had been placed formally around the perimeter. She’d covered the stone flags with warm and colorful rugs, and some embroidered screens that had been found in the attic helped protect the inhabitants from drafts.
“Yes, it’s all... lighter, and emptier, but somehow cozier,” Lily agreed. She pointed and gave a little laugh. “All the heads and antlers are gone.”
“Heads?” Georgiana looked around. “Antlers?”
Rose nodded. “Deer heads, antelopes, a nasty-looking boar, all kinds of heads—and swords and pikes and things—the bloodthirsty trophies of our ancestors. Most of Papa’s beloved prizes have gone.” She turned to Emm with wide eyes. “Whathaveyou done, Miss Westwood?”
“Lady Ashendon,” Lily corrected her.
“Oh, heavens, no—call me Emm or Emmaline,” Emm said, “now that we’re sisters-in-law. You too, of course, Georgiana.”
“George,” the girl muttered, “I only answer to George.”
Emm turned back to Rose. “I’m sorry if the removal of your father’s things distresses you, Rose, but your brother gave mecarte blancheto—”
“Oh, it doesn’t distress me at all,” Rose interrupted, her eyes dancing. “It was ghastly before—George, you can’t imagine—with dead eyes staring down at you from every corner. So gloomy and depressing.”
“People who cut off the heads of animals and nail them to a wall are nothing but savages!” George declared.
Lily hugged Emm enthusiastically. “It’s wonderful, Miss—I mean Emm. So much friendlier. All the Hollow Knights and the Dismal Ancestors—that’s what Rose and I called them—have gone. You didn’t throw the Ancestors out, though, did you? Because George might want to see her family. There’s a painting of Cal as a boy that looks just like her. Or is that in the gallery?”
