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There was censure and something hesitant in her tone.
“Is there a reason for this?”
"I have only my mother."
Her eyes widened. “No cousins or uncles?”
“None that I know of.”
“It is inconceivable. I sometimes lose sight of my many cousins and aunts and uncles. Your mother is eager to meet me?”
“I confess she is unaware of our marriage.”
His wife faltered and spun to face him, her eyes full with incredulity and a flash of hurt. She fisted a hand on her hip. “I demand an explanation, husband.”
“Mamma is taking a tour of the continent. The last letter I received from her she was in Venice or was it, Florence? She's been touring for several weeks now. It made no sense for me to send her a letter for she is constantly moving.”
His wife worried at her bottom lip. “Do you think she will like me?”
“I promise you she will adore you.”
An elegant brow lifted. “How can you be so certain.”
“You are a lady.”
Fanny considered that for long seconds. “Gentility is important to her?”
He hesitated before tugging her close to his side, encouraging them to walk to the gaiety in the distance. His hand turned beneath her touch, his fingers threading through hers.
“Very much so. She will be very pleased a fine lady such as yourself is my wife.”
“I would want her to like me for my opinions and character.”
“That will eventually come,” he said drolly.
A carriage rumbled past them, as Sebastian ensured she was safely on the inside.
“When my father met my mother, he was a traveling merchant, and she was the daughter of a country gentleman in Cornwall. As my mother tells it, Papa tricked her into believing he was respectable and it was after they were compromised the truth of his situation and lack of respectability was revealed. As my father tells it, he fell in love with my mother at first sight, and nothing would have prevented him from marrying her. To protect my mother’s reputation, her father forced a marriage. My mother has never quite forgiven my father.”
“How were they compromised?”
“They were found in bed.”
Fanny gasped. “I daresay there is nothing to forgive. They got in that bed together,” she said tartly.
“My mother was unable to forgive my father for being so common,” Sebastian murmured. “He looks lik
e me you see. Tall and brutish with muscles more suited to working-class men and not refined gentlemen.”
Her fingers tightened on his, and once again she paused to peer up at him.
“You have the most wonderful physique and your muscles, they are...are simply...they are beautiful.”
“Oh? You’ve seen them in the darkness? Tell me more,” he drawled teasingly.
His wife blushed and glanced away. “Your mother must have loved your father to be found...with him like that.”
Sebastian grinned at her prim tone, and they resumed walking.
