Lord Angsley looked at her. “They had the physician there. With his determination and with how she has been since then, they have decided Lady Margaret is not ill at all but rather,” he paused again, looking around the room.
“What is it, dear?” Lady Angsley asked.
“I am not sure I should discuss it with you and the children and others of the weaker sex present.” He looked toward Eleanor.
“For pity’s sake,” his wife exclaimed, “we are all family, and as one of the ‘weaker sex,’ I can tell you, there isn’t much I cannot handle.”
“Very well, my love. The news is that Lady Margaret is with child.”
A universal gasp went up around the room. A weight lifted off Gray’s shoulders on behalf of his best friend. Cam would have gone mad if anything had been seriously wrong with his wife. Not to mention the terrible pain it would have caused Eleanor and the rest of the Blackwoods.
However, one thing didn’t make sense. “If Margaret was never ill, then why was Cam feverish and sick to his stomach, as well?”
Lord Angsley chuckled, and his wife joined in. Her ladyship answered.
“Sometimes, when a couple is very much in love,” she paused to exchange a glance with her husband, “the father-to-be shares symptoms with the mother-to-be. It is common.”
Eleanor shook her head in wonder, making a wry face at Gray. He grinned back at her. Then the ramifications hit him.
“Did they say anything else?”
“Only that they are looking forward to Eleanor’s visit now more than ever, and she should head there directly tomorrow after breakfast.”
He wanted to yell. All his plans were in tatters. Her face paled, in fact, as she stared at him. Undoubtedly, they were both thinking of their much-anticipated adventure, though perhaps for different reasons. She had no idea what he had waiting for her at the end of it.
On the bright side, he would be accompanying her home. Their association would continue unbroken, but he knew Eleanor’s mind. She would start to ask others about the Captain Kidd legend as it pertained to Bedfordshire. More than one person would happily tell her she was laboring under severe misinformation and that the pirate was never in this area.
Then what?He would have to tell her the truth and entirely ruin the surprise.
Yet, perhaps he could gain them one last day.
“Miss Blackwood and I had decided to go on a picnic tomorrow. Perhaps we could delay our return,” he said as casually as he could.
“Nonsense,” Lord Angsley said. “The sisters must wish to be reunited as soon as possible.”
But Lady Angsley arched her eyebrow questioningly, and Gray thought he might have an ally in the lady of the manor.
“I’m sure everyone will still be delighted to see Eleanor at Turvey House whether it is tomorrow or the day after.”
Did Lady Angsley just wink at him?
“Besides,” Eleanor said. “It wasn’t merely a picnic.”
Oh dear, what was she going to say? Hopefully nothing about Captain Kidd.
“We were going sightseeing.”
Phoebe laughed. “What is there to see here?”
Eleanor looked at him, and he shook his head.
“There is plenty to see here,” Lord Angsley assured everyone. “There is the castle.”
“They’ve torn down nearly all of it,” Phoebe argued with her father. “Last year, they even destroyed the last parts of the barbican to make room for more cottages.”
“The motte still exists,” his lordship said less enthusiastically. “There’s also St. Paul’s.”
“Father, it’s hardly St. Paul’s in London, is it? It’s just a church, not a cathedral.” This came from Asher, who hardly ever said a word.
