“Excuse me, what in heaven’s name do you think you’re doing?” he asked, incensed. For a moment, the molten anger was replaced by sheer bewilderment.
The woman looked up at him with a nonchalant expression on her face. She had curled hair and rosy cheeks.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. I’m Mrs. Jones, but you can call me Georgia.”
“I didn’t ask after your name. I want to know what you’re doing in my study. I’ve never met such a brazen thief.”
Georgia bore an indignant look.
“I’m no thief. I had Her Grace’s permission. I thought there might be an emblem or something of that ilk for John. Something of the family that he can keep close to him. A baby needs to know their heritage after all.”
“There’s nothing of that sort here,” he said, approaching the desk and slamming the door. “Don’t you know better than to go through a man’s private drawers?”
“Her Grace didn’t think they were private. The door was left unlocked after all, and I swear I didn’t look at anything, Your Grace. Why, I wouldn’t understand it even if I did,” she chuckled. She had a disarming manner about her, but Victor was too tense to be mollified by her demeanor.
“I shall have to rectify the matter about the unlocked door. From now on, you no longer have access to this study. Please leave immediately,” he said, and then a thought occurred to him. He frowned. “Who is John?” he asked.
Georgia laughed as she moved towards the door.
Before she could give him an answer, Lydia appeared.
“Georgia, have you— Oh, Your Grace. I wasn’t aware of your return. Has it been three days already?” she asked, staring at him icily. She made sure to keep her distance from him. Thespace between them might as well have been an ocean between continents.
She held her hands close to her abdomen. The dress she wore narrowed at the waist and left her neck exposed. Her hair was tied back although a few strands escaped and framed her face. There was a strength in her delicate features, and he was surprised to find that she looked just as striking on this ordinary occasion as she had on their wedding day.
“Apparently so,” he replied. His voice was thick with emotion. “Now what is the meaning of this? And who is John?”
“John is the baby,” Lydia replied. With a subtle gesture she directed Georgia to leave the room. This irked Victor even more because Lydia had well and truly entrenched herself in his estate, going so far as to give orders. The way she acted added legitimacy to their marriage when he wanted the opposite effect. He wanted it to remain hollow, whereas she seemed to be adding substance.
“He doesn’t have a name,” Victor replied.
“Yes, he does. It’s John.”
“You didn’t consult me.”
“You were not here to be consulted, and I couldn’t go on calling him ‘the baby’ or ‘the child.’ It seemed too impersonal.”
“Why did you choose John?”
“Because John reminds me of the hymnAmazing Grace. ‘I once was lost but now I am found.’ I named him after the man who wrote the hymn, John Newton.”
“I see,” Victor said bluntly.
“Does the name displease you?”
Victor huffed. John was a strong, sturdy name. He couldn’t truly find fault with it, even though he searched.
“I suppose not although I do wish you had waited to consult with me.”
“And I wish that you had not disappeared for three days,” Lydia countered.
“My business could hardly wait.”
“I’m glad to know where your priorities lie. It’s fortunate that I was here for John.”
“Where else would you be?” he challenged.
Lydia’s face dropped at this, and for a moment, the defiance slipped away from her face, leaving a profound sadness that he might have found pitiful had he not been so irritated.
