And yet he wouldn’t let her. Sebastian turned his head away and retreated.
If the door hadn’t squeaked, would I have known he was even there?
Isabel hastened to the door, wondering how close he might still be. She wasn’t just going to let him disappear again. Why he insisted on hiding and keeping his distance, she couldn’t understand.
Already he was gone. The hall was empty.
“Sebastian?” she called.
There was no answer.
While she explored the next hall just to be certain, she eventually wound her way back to the drawing room without knowing what else to do with herself. She lingered in the doorway as though he might return.
She should have known he wouldn’t. Perhaps she did know. Her parents had always said she had too much heart. Isabel sighed, leaning against the door for a while. It was the middle of the afternoon. While she was relieved Sebastian had returned before dark, it didn’t leave her feeling particularly eager for the rest of the day if he was going to keep avoiding her.
On her way to find a shawl, however, guests arrived.
“Guests?” She echoed in perplexation to Mrs. Maple with her announcement. “I wasn’t expecting any guests.”
Dread pooled in her stomach as well as a strange sort of anticipation. She could manage, surely. Couldn’t she? This is what it meant to become a duchess. To host when necessary. She considered the rooms and their food stores, wondering what could be done. Hastening toward the front hall with Mrs. Maple at her heel, she almost had a plan by the time she spotted them.
“Oh.” She swallowed hard down her nerves and then stepped forward.
All of them were rather larger than she had anticipated.
There were three strange men gathered in the doorway, shoveling off snow from their hats and cloaks. All of them were taller than the other with Sebastian beside them.
From the look on his face, he knew them well. Mrs. Maple didn’t have a clue, only that they were certainly lords. Not a lady amongst them. Isabel felt the questions in her mind mounting, but refused to let them intimidate her.
“Welcome to Eastwynd, gentleman. What a pleasant surprise to have you here.” She ended with a glance at her husband.
If this is why he ran and hide from me, he could have at least given me a warning. What if Mrs. Maple can’t find enough plates for our guests for supper? And they’ll have to stay the night. They might even stay a week. How rude of Sebastian not to tell me or the staff.
He made a face for a second before reassuring her, “This was not a planned visit. It would appear my friends have come for a look at you.”
Neither sentence made much sense to Isabel.
She blinked and asked, “I beg your pardon?”
“Good evening, Your Grace,” one of the men interrupted. He was made of sharp angles with a severe look in his eye. But he did have his manners. Stepping forward, he reached for her hand. When she gave it, he bowed over it. “Tristan Northcott, at your service. It is we who must beg your pardon. We couldn’t bear another day without meeting Sebastian’s… scandalous bride.”
Even with his sharpness, there was something gentle and teasing about his words that set her at ease. Her shoulders straightened as she told them, “I’m hardly scandalous.”
As long as they didn’t look into my family. Oh bother.
A golden-haired cheery man clapped Sebastian needlessly loud on the back as he said, “What a shame. We were hoping you would be indescribably dangerous.”
“Hardly,” the last stranger said. He reminded her of a wild horse she had seen her cousin attempting to tame once, a gleam in his eye and an awkward smile. Like a friendly pirate. “We only wanted to ensure you felt welcomed into the family.”
“The family?”
Sebastian sighed with a pained expression to the gentlemen. “Must we do this? Here?”
“How else are we supposed to meet your bride?”
Looking to her, Sebastian said, “It is of no matter for you to join us. I’ll take my unruly guests to the study and keep them out of your hair.”
She wondered if he was trying to get rid of her, and hoped that wasn’t the case. Every second her curiosity grew about these men who were studying her in return. What sort of family were they supposed to be? She was fairly certain she had been introduced to one or two of them in the past, recognizing their faces from London.
