“Ibegyou,pleasedon’t,” Effie said dramatically as he reseated himself. “I can’t have the both of you squawking at me about excise taxes, what Howick is or isn’t doing right, and God knows what else.”
“Shall we return to the drawing room rather than linger here?” Archie asked. Effie had retaken his seat across the table, and Archie preferred not to have to stare at the wreckage of their dinner.
Simon and Effie shared a look Archie could not parse but agreed. Once reinstalled in their drawing room, Simon, still studying Archie as if he were a specimen under a quizzing glass, said, “Archie, where is this all coming from?”
“Mr. Hughes runs the estate with minimal help from me. I almost never show up in Lords. I’m depressingly ordinary. I don’t do anything of worth.”
“That’sridiculous,” Effie proclaimed. “Idon’t do anything of worth.”
“That’s not true,” Archie said. “You are a poet.”
“One might say that poems arelessthan no use. Lord knows, my father does.”
“He is wrong. You bring people beauty, and understanding.” Archie turned to Simon. “And you strive to make the world a better place. I, by contrast, do nothing of use.”
“That is entirely false,” Simon said quietly, his muted but firm objection the tonal opposite of Effie’s earlier outburst.
“Oh, come now.” Archie was starting to grow impatient. He did not wish to be coddled. “Even if you do not share Miss Morgan’s moral objection, hunting, while enjoyable, isn’t important, not in any elemental way. At least not if one doesn’t need to hunt to live.”
“He’s not talking about that,” Effie said dismissively. “What you do is love people.”
Archie blinked, taken aback. “I beg your pardon?”
“You love people, openly and without reserve. That is entirely rare.”
Archie looked to Simon, who merely gestured at Effie as if ceding him the floor.
“Consider your mother,” Effie went on. “I don’t know another son in England who would take such devoted care of his mother. That’s why you’re never in Lords. You’re taking care of your mother.”
“Yes, but Miss Brown is there, and honestly, I could hire any number of nursemaids. It needn’t bemetaking care of Mother.”
“But itisyou. That you have taken up that burden so willingly and with such kindness . . . well, that’s exactly the kind of thing you do. And forget the countess. What aboutus?”
“What do you mean?” Archie was confused.
“You find people, and you love them,” Effie declared. He was on a roll now, gesticulating dramatically into space. “I, for one, wouldn’t have anyone else who did if you hadn’t adopted me. Can you imagine the lonely state I’d be in if I didn’t have you around? If you didn’t drag me around England for a fortnight every autumn?”
“If you didn’t make these trips a priority, they wouldn’t happen,” Simon said. “If I’d stayed home, you know I’d’ve spent the past fortnight reading newspapers, but what would that have accomplished? Parliament isn’t in session. I’d merely be reading, sending my mind on a fruitless whirl. It is only here that I gain a sense of remove from the troubles of the day.”
“Indeed,” Effie declared. “This is my favorite fortnight of the year.”
“Mine too,” Simon said.
Well. Archie hardly knew what to say. Between this, and Clementine’s trust in him, he feared he was about to get a big head. He didn’t hate it, though.
14
The Lady’s Delight
Clementine waited for Archie until well past midnight with her window open. She had hoped—assumed—he would pay her a visit. She sat near her door, listening for any sign of his return to his own room. He had been so very quiet next door. She never heard him moving around. The walls must be very thick.
When the clock struck one, she decided to take matters into her own hands. After all, she’d done the difficult part already, making her bold proposition.
Perhaps not, though. Perhaps the difficult part was still to come. Her stomach flipped when she thought back to her initial kisses with Theo. Well, no, her stomach flipped when she substituted Archie for Theo in that memory. Even though Archie had assured her there was pleasure to be had in the act, and even though she trusted Archie more than anyone else in the world, she was exceedingly nervous about their planned assignation.
Before she could think overmuch about it, she took up a candle, crept into the corridor, and knocked softly on Archie’s door.
There was no answer. But, she reasoned, that did not necessarily mean he wasn’t in there. He might be asleep.
