There was no more time to discuss this new development in their relationship, for Lord Thompson appeared in the doorway of what surely must be the morning room.
“I should have known you would arrive in time to break your fast,” Lord Thompson said before he noticed Freya on Lord Graham’s arm. “My lady?” he said with the inflection of a question as he bowed to her.
“Lady Freya was traveling to the Turner household on Rayland’s side of the village. A man attempted to rob her of her reticule. I prevented his escape.”
Freya realized Lord Graham spoke the truth, but not the whole truth. She held no doubt His Lordship knew she had purposely come to Kent because of him. The fact that he had accepted the situation was both surprising and unsurprising at the same time. She required time to understand what all had occurred between them in a few short hours.
“I thought it would be better if Miss Whitchurch delivered Lady Freya to Mr. Turner’s house,” Lord Graham continued.
“Reasonable indeed,” Lord Thompson responded with a slight lift of his brows.
Before Lord Graham directed her forward, he had something else to share with Lord Thompson, something even Freya did not know. “Were you aware that Lord Rayland recently remarried?”
“I had heard so, but I have yet to greet the new baroness,” Lord Thompson confirmed.
“You know the lady well,” Lord Graham corrected. “The lady is the former Lady Eímear Graham, among the other titles she has claimed over the years. My stepmother.”
Lord Thompson frowned. “Is Duncan aware of this change? He has not mentioned it to me.”
“I am not confident,” Lord Graham admitted, “but I have already been called upon to pay Boyde’s debts in the amount of two hundred pounds at the Lyon’s Den. Obviously, my brother has been told not to bother Rayland with such matters.”
“Not again,” Thompson declared.
Freya looked from one man to the other, but she could not discern what this conversation meant. However, before she could ask, Miss Whitchurch rushed past her intended to catchFreya up in a welcoming embrace. “I am so glad you are in Kent,” the lady said.
Freya was glad also for the opportunity to spend time with her new friends, and also with Lord Graham. However, a slew of questions were swimming around in her head, and she wondered how she fit into this new reality of Lord Graham being involved in government affairs.
Chapter Nine
Freya would haveliked to remain longer at Thom Manor, but as soon as it was reasonable to do so, she set out with Miss Whitchurch and Mrs. Thompson to her aunt’s house on the other side of the village. Lord Thompson’s mother had insisted on going along to introduce her future daughter in marriage and to assure the tale upon which they had all agreed would be believed, one vicar’s wife to another’s.
“This is your coach?” Freya had asked Miss Whitchurch once they were settled within.
“Yes, it is a wedding gift from my dear Lord Thompson. I do not deserve it,” the young woman said with a blush on her cheeks.
“You do,” both Freya and Mrs. Thompson said together.
“My son is happy, at last,” Mrs. Thompson declared with a smile. “All he has known for the past twelve years will be quickly forgotten now that he can name his future.”
“I am happy for both my new friend and your son, ma’am,” Freya said dutifully.
In a bit over a quarter hour, they reached the village of Pavian and its cobbled thoroughfare. Mrs. Thompson pointed out her late husband’s former church. “This is where Benjaminwas born,” she said with pride as she gestured to the house behind the churchyard. “As my Ernest was brother to the then Lord Thompson, the 9th Earl was generous to provide us with more than a small cottage.”
“It is lovely, ma’am,” Freya replied, belatedly realizing she meant her words. She thought she could be happy with Lord Graham in such a place.
The carriage continued on until they reached another smaller village, perhaps a mile past Pavian. This one was called Hawkins. Soon her uncle’s vicarage came into view. “How long have your aunt and uncle lived in the area?” Miss Whitchurch asked.
“Some six years, I believe, if I recall correctly,” Freya said with a slight frown. “They were closer to Dover for a number of years, but being associated with the barony provided Uncle Philip with more prestige than did his previous position.”
“I always loved the Hawkins church,” Mrs. Thompson said with a wistful smile. “A square-towered stone church appropriately situated on an eminence in the otherwise relatively flat landscape. Quite picturesque.”
“Is that the vicarage?” Miss Whitchurch asked. “My father’s was an ivy-covered multilevel house built of pale stone. Odd, that our memories overlap when it comes to our love of country churches, Mother Thompson.”
Before more could be said, the carriage turned upon the graveled pathway that led to the reddish-toned front door. Freya did not recall the path being quite so long. Moreover, she was becoming more concerned with the lies she must present her aunt, though Freya was excessively glad Lord Graham had offered her an excuse. Whether her aunt’s reception would be joy or dismay would be hard to predict.
As the carriage rolled to a halt before the house, the door opened and her Aunt Felicity stood in a very majesticstance, prepared to greet them. As Freya stepped down from the carriage, followed closely by Miss Whitchurch and Mrs. Thompson, her aunt called out, “Oh, my dear heavens! It cannot be that you have brought me the new Countess Thompson, Freya! If I had known…”
“No sense to stand upon propriety, Mrs. Turner,” Mrs. Thompson declared. “You and I have known each other for more than a handful of years. Now, we may celebrate the connection of my new daughter-in-marriage to your niece. Shall that not be grand?”
