‘Oh yes, he is grand.’ Her breath whispered over his fingers and a shiver rushed up the length of his arm. ‘I think you should grow one just like it.’
‘You do?’ Tobias glanced at the face he had known so well as a child. It had offered him comfort when no one else provided it for him, but there was no denying that the painted face was rather hideous.
‘Certainly,’ said Grace. ‘It would help with your problem no end.’
‘My problem?’
She nodded solemnly. ‘Not a single woman would chase you anywhere if you looked like that.’
And for the second time, his laughter took him by surprise.
Chapter Ten
Tobias’ thighs were burning by the time the children’s nursemaid came to take them away for their afternoon meal. He could pretend that he had stayed and played with the toy soldiers for so long because he didn’t get to spend much time indulging in such innocent pleasures with Lotte, but lying to himself was a pointless endeavour. Grace’s reaction to Lotte was a simple joy that touched something in him he had long thought dead and buried and he had not been able to tear himself away from it.
Grace may not smile all that much in his direction, but whenever Lotte spoke to her, Grace’s whole body lit up and Tobias wanted to bask in the shadow of the warmth of it.
In the noise of four children leaving the room, Tobias managed to push himself to standing without anyone noticing his quiet groans as his muscles protested at being held in a position of stress for so long. But the time he took to shake the cramp out of his legs cost him his favourite armchair. His sisters-in-law had already indicated that Grace take it and the less comfortable wingback was once again his.
‘I cannot thank you enough for this afternoon,’ said Grace as Tobias’ footmen brought in trays of sandwiches and cakes.
‘The pleasure has been ours,’ said Emily. ‘It has been a delight to see you and Lotte together. Does she remember you, do you think?’
A cloud crossed Grace’s features. ‘I do not think so.’
‘There will be plenty of time for you to become reacquainted,’ said Emily robustly. ‘You are welcome to see her here at any time.’
Tobias curled his fingers into a fist. Since becoming Freddie’s countess, Emily had taken on the role of hostess. It saved Tobias from the cumbersome effort of voicing invites himself. She had also taken over some of the responsibility of talking, when perhaps the situation required him to do it. He never regretted it. Or at least, he hadn’t until now. He wanted to be the one offering reassurances, to be the one who made their guest feel welcome.
Grace nodded slowly at Emily’s words, before placing a sandwich she had been about to eat back onto her plate. ‘You might not be so welcoming when I tell you more of my story.’
‘I am sure…’ began Emily, but this time Tobias was ready.
‘Why not start from the beginning, Mrs Wilmott?’ he said.
His brothers glanced at him in surprise. It might be unusual for him to speak, but surely not so much that they needed to look that shocked.
‘Yes, well. I am not sure where the beginning actually is,’ said Grace, turning her gaze to his. ‘I suppose I shall begin right at the very start, but do stop me if it gets too much.’
He nodded once.
‘Very well.’ She turned her plate round, several times, appearing to stare at the food. Tobias doubted she was truly seeing what was in front of her. ‘I was born to Jebadiah and Alice Ashby. I was two years older than Clare. My parents were… not pleasant.’ She traced the edge of her plate with her forefinger and Tobias guessed that a lot was going unsaid. ‘They wanted sons, I believe, but they were not blessed with them. They were keen to move up the social hierarchy and they decided that one of the ways to do this was for Clare and me to make good marriages. They controlled every aspect of our lives.’ She shuddered and Tobias’ fingers flexed against his pantaloons, the strange urge to comfort her almost overwhelming. ‘When I was eighteen they arranged a marriage for me to an Ichabod Willsden.’ She swallowed and a wave of fury washed through Tobias, although he could not pinpoint exactly why.
‘In the beginning, I was grateful to get away from my parents,’ Grace continued. ‘Ichabod was kind in those early days and Clare came to stay with us often. We were happy then, the two of us. Then Clare met Sebastian and it seemed as though our future was perfect. They were very much in love. I wish that…’ She dipped her head. ‘I really wish that you could all have seen that.’
She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and Tobias’ rage became white-hot; seeing Grace in tears was almost unbearable and he wanted those who had caused it to pay.
‘At first, my parents were not pleased with the union. They’d had no control over choosing Sebastian and had wanted someone else for Clare. When they discovered that he was related to a duke and that he was becoming increasingly wealthy, they came around quick enough.’ She smiled, although the gesture lacked any humour. ‘By the time Clare married Sebastian, I had woken up to the true nature of my husband. Ichabod was the worst sort of bully and was very much in the same mould as my parents. Living with him became intolerable. Sebastian was welcoming and I stayed as often as possible in his and Clare’s home. When… When Ichabod…’ She shook her head. ‘Around their first anniversary, living with my late husband became unbearable and I moved in with Clare and Sebastian on a permanent basis. Ichabod was drinking a lot and, after a marriage where he tried to control every move I made, finally did not seem to notice or care that I was no longer by his side. My parents did, however, and they became increasingly…’ she waved her hand around as if searching for the appropriate word ‘…exasperated that their plans were not working out the way they had hoped. By this time, Sebastian was refusing to acknowledge that they were in any way related to him or Clare and by extension, me. Their attempts at wresting back control of us became more unpleasant.’
A tear rolled down her cheek, followed by another.
‘Would you like to take some time to compose yourself?’ Tobias asked as much for himself as for her. Watching her misery was torturous. Not going to her side to offer comfort was twisting his stomach, the pain worse than anything he had felt for a long time.
‘No, now that I have started, I need to finish.’ She sucked in a shuddery breath. ‘Clare fell pregnant with Charlotte and Sebastian began to talk about returning to England. At first, I thought he meant to take Clare and the baby, but I should have known that they would not abandon me to Ichabod and my parents. He and Clare were both so kind, so loving.’ She smiled softly. ‘Sebastian had many investments and hundreds of employees. He could not walk away from it all easily. It took months to sort and in that time Charlotte was born and Clare and Sebastian realised it would not be easy to travel with her so young. I think Sebastian thought he was being discreet, but with enterprises as large as his, it was impossible to hide his intentions. My parents and Ichabod got wind of what was happening and the three of them were enraged. It must have dawned on them that if Sebastian took us away, they would never have any control over Sebastian’s fortune.’
Grace descended into silence. The uneaten sandwich was still on her plate and she stared at it as if it held the answers to a secret. It was obvious now where her tale was going to end. Tobias almost didn’t want to hear it. He’d waited years to discover the truth and now that it was nearly in front of him, the idea of knowing, of trulyunderstanding what his brother and his wife had gone through, what Grace had also witnessed, was almost too much. But he would not stop her from speaking. If she was able to continue, then he would have to listen. Sebastian’s truth needed to be told.
‘The behaviour of the three of them became erratic. There were accidents that could not be explained away. Sebastian feared for our safety and booked us passage to England. A week before we were due to leave, he and Clare were… killed.’
