“I attended several dinners with your late mother when I first came to London. Not only did Lady Elliot have one of the finest minds I’ve yet encountered, she was happy to tell members of parliament they were making mistakes.”
She stopped for a moment, toying with a small gold locket at her throat. “Mama never shied away from speaking her mind when it came to important causes. I only wish others would follow her example.” Her smile grew wistful. “How I miss her.”
Lucien drew back a step, the ache in those words chafing him.
“As for mistakes, her theory was that everyone makes them,” Grace said, unaware of his discomfort. “It’s what you do afterward that matters.”
The words hung between them. Lucien did not know what to say.
“To that end,” she continued, “I made certain my brothers understood the error of their ways. After all, youdidbelieve I was drowning and dove in to save me. It was very gallant of you, really. Had the situation been different, I would have owed you my life.”
“To be fair, you were thrashing about as if you were in distress.”
“That was the sea monster’s fault.”
Lucien shook his head, thinking he’d misheard. “Sea monster?”
“It’s a game we play. Loch Ness has one,” she quipped. “Why not our lake?”
“Perhaps Loch Ness has one because Scots are a trifle mad.”
Lines appeared between her winged brows at his words and he wondered if she disliked Scots. When they reached the paddock fence, she looked at her brothers, the shadow deepening in her eyes. He felt an unexpected urge to banish it. “You must admit, one hardly expects a lady of noble birth to be creating such a scene,” he said.
“I suppose that is true. I’ve been told that my behavior was beyond reproach until my mother died. After that…” She swallowed hard. “I would do anything to make my brothers smile. The best way to get them to romp about again is to join them. In the beginning, I did so for them. But as time passed, I found taking part in their antics delightful, freeing after so long in a sick room.”
Lucien raised one brow. “You find ice cold lake water delightful?”
“No. But I adore my brothers’ laughter. So much better than the silence of mourning.” She paused, staring out across the field at the horse and trainer. “Perhaps you have heard that my father remarried?”
“I had heard something of it,” he replied. Rather precipitately after his first wife’s death, from all accounts.
“The elopement was quite…unexpected.”
Lucien could hear so much unspoken in her hesitation. “Has the adjustment been challenging, to have a new person in charge of the household?”
“Our stepmother is a widow who never had children of her own. Since her arrival, the boys have gotten a bit out of hand. Our encounter at the lake was only the first of the day’s events.”
“I shudder at the possibilities. What, pray tell, was their grand finale?”
She spun out the tale, the luncheon with the vicar’s wife, the open window, ‘ghosts’ moving furniture.
Lucien didn’t want to be amused, but her words painted the picture so vividly it reminded him of Simon many years ago. For once, in ways that didn’t cause pain.
When she finished, he gave a sympathetic nod. “One can always depend on family to throw things into chaos.”
“Oh, undoubtedly. But also, to love you, even when you are putting toads in sugar bowls and flinging mudpies. Perhapsespeciallywhen you are flinging mudpies.”
His brows drew together as he tried to sift through what she’d implied. “Did you say toads in a sugar bowl?”
“I did.”
He couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
“There, now!” She clapped her hands, startling him. “I’ve won my wager with Avery.”
“What wager is that?”
“Youdosmile!It’s just a bit like a shooting star.”
