Maddy and Nash exchanged glances. Did that mean it was about her, and not the cottage?
Luke continued, “Now he knows there are three men in the cottage and not a lone young woman and a handful of children, we doubt the bast—er, swine’ll return. So we came back here.”
“Why? Why not stay and be sure?” Nash asked, squeezing Maddy’s hand. He knew she wanted the man caught so they’d discover the reason behind the trouble.
“His lordship here,” Luke jerked his head at Marcus, “isn’t used to cramped conditions.”
“You kicked me, twice in one night,” Marcus retorted. “Stormy dreams, this fellow has. Might as well share a bed with a wild beast.”
“Better than an earl who’s never had to share a thing in his life.”
Nash’s lips twitched. “You two were sharing a bed?”
His brother shrugged. “Nobody mentioned the extreme shortness of the beds upstairs. And since Luke and I are both around the six-foot mark . . .”
“I’m bored with talking about beds. Isn’t anyone going to offer us a drink?” Luke interrupted.
“In a minute.” Harry peered past him through the door that Bronson was just closing. “Unless I’m mistaken, that’s Aunt Maude’s carriage bowling down the drive.”
“Good, she must have received my letter,” Nash said.
His aunt? Maddy’s stomach turned into a bottomless pit.
Harry swung around and gave him a long look. “Rather free with the invitations to my home, aren’t you, brother?”
Nash smiled sweetly. “She’s your aunt, too.”
“This is the aunt who’s spent the last few weeks scouring the country to find you a suitable bride, is it not?” Maddy said to Nash. “Does she know about me?”
At her words, there was a sudden silence in the hall.
“Not . . . exactly,” Nash said. “Some things are better done face-to-face. Leave it to me.”
Harry laughed. “History repeats itself,” he said obscurely. “Aunt Maude’s going to love this.”
“I can manage Aunt Maude,” Nash said with confidence.
“He’s a diplomat,” Harry said dryly to Maddy. There was an unholy twinkle in his eye. It didn’t reassure her in the least.
The sight of Maude, Lady Gosforth, striding up the front stairs, dripping furs and complaining bitterly of the state of the road from Bath, was no less reassuring. A tall Roman-nosed matron, she swept into the house and shrugged her furs into the waiting hands of the butler and footmen as if they didn’t exist.
Dressed in the first stare of elegance she exuded the kind of self-confidence that came of a lifetime of telling people what to do, and a set of ancestors who’d done the same.
She paused a moment and regarded the spectacle of the four tall young men standing in the hall with open appreciation. “I don’t know why you’re all standing around in the entrance hall at this time of day, but I can’t fault the picture you make. Harry, my boy”—she presented a lightly rouged cheek to be kissed—“you look splendid but you smell of horse—quite pleasant but I trust you will have bathed and shaved before dinner.
“Marcus, good God, what brings you here? Some crisis prized you away from your beloved Alverleigh, has it?” She didn’t give the earl a chance to respond but continued almost in the same breath, “Luke, my dear boy, what a delightful surprise. Just arrived? And how is your dear mother? It’s been an age since we had a comfortable coze.” She gave her hand to Luke to kiss, then patted him on the cheek as if he were a boy of twelve.
She glanced at Maddy, lifted her lorgnette briefly, then passed her over, no doubt taking her for a maid in her faded and outmoded dress, Maddy thought.
She turned to Nash and presented her cheek for kissing. “Nash, dear boy, why on earth have you summoned me here so urgently? Your letter was remarkable for its lack of information, a dubious skill that I suppose you diplomatic fellows pride yourself on, government being all about the appearance of doing something while doing quite another. And why here? I thought you would have been at Whitethorn Manor putting Jasper’s estate to rights—he got quite reclusive and peculiar toward the end, you know. So why am I here, instead of putting the finishing touches to the ball in London? It’s all arranged, naturally, but I will explain—” She broke off with a frown. “Why, for that matter, are you all here?” She turned to Harry in sudden anxiety. “It’s not Nell, is it? Or the child?”
“No, no, Nell and Torie are both blooming,” Harry said. “Nell was just putting Torie down for her nap.”
Nash drew Maddy forward. “Marcus and Luke arrived minutes before you, so Nell will be down in a moment and will no doubt arrange refreshments, but before you go upstairs to compose yourself, dear Aunt Maude, I would like to present to you Miss Madeleine Woodford—”
Lady Gosforth raised the lorgnette while he was speaking and examined Maddy with unnerving concentration. It took in everything about her, from the auburn tendrils escaping untidily from the knot that had looked so elegant this morning to her shabby clothing and down to her well-worn slippers.
Maddy stiffened her spine.
