Page 111 of Duke of Sapphire

Eleanor took Charlotte’s fingers gently. “I am very glad of ye already,” she said. “I can see what you’ve done.”

Charlotte squeezed her hand. “We are very glad of you.”

Ian darted between them. “Henry an’ Charlotte made me a cake,” he told his parents. “An’ there was a hunt in the garden with toys, an’ they brought Tam.”

Nathan blinked. “Tam?”

“Aye,” Ian said.

Henry cleared his throat. “We should go inside,” he said. “Mr. Gedge, tea in the drawing room.”

“At once, Your Grace,” Mr. Gedge replied.

They moved into the hall. Footmen converged to take coats, trunks, and bags. Charlotte led the way toward the drawing room, her pulse still racing.

Eleanor walked with care, Nathan close to her side, his hand hovering near her elbow. Charlotte watched them from the corner of her eye.

They move like people still listening for thunder.

In the drawing room, she indicated the sofa. “Please sit.”

Nathan sank down with a sigh. Eleanor followed more slowly, her sling carefully settled. Ian scrambled up between them, plastering himself against Eleanor’s good side.

“Ye have grown,” Nathan said. He touched Ian’s hair. “What have ye been doin’ here all this time?”

“I’ve been busy,” Ian said. “Charlotte made the house less dull. We moved the chairs. Mrs. Wick said it was scandalous. An’ there’s a dragon in the hedge, but Henry says it’s a topiary.”

Charlotte sat opposite, hands linked loosely in her lap.

I did move chairs. I did annoy Mrs. Wick. I would do it again.

Ian turned to his parents, eager. “On me birthday, they hid toys in the garden,” he said. “Ye ken, so I had to find them. There was a box full of soldiers with red coats, and a ship, and a spyglass. And then Tam came.”

Eleanor’s face softened. “Tell me more about Tam. Has he grown bigger?”

“Oh, yes!” Ian bounced. “Still got the white patch on his nose. He still runs fast. Henry said I couldnae gallop yet, but I did anyway when he wasnae lookin’.”

Nathan shot Charlotte a look and then Henry. Charlotte lifted a shoulder. “I tried to dissuade him,” she said. “Ian is not easily dissuaded.”

“He never has been,” Eleanor said. Her gaze lifted to Charlotte. “Ye took very good care of him,” she said. “I can hear it.”

Charlotte felt her throat tighten. “He took very good care of us,” she said.

He made this house into something alive. I will not say that aloud. It would sound as if I am complaining.

Tea arrived, carried in on two trays. Mr. Gedge supervised. Charlotte rose at once, grateful for something to do.

She moved to the table. “Milk?” she asked Eleanor. “Sugar?”

“Both, please,” Eleanor said.

Charlotte poured and passed cups, the familiar motions steadying her hands. Nathan watched Henry as he took his own cup.

“How did ye manage all this?” Nathan asked. “A wife, a ward, an’ a household that looks like it’s actually breathin’?”

Henry sat forward. “It began⁠—”

Charlotte cleared her throat. He glanced at her. She looked at Ian, who was already sliding off the sofa in his eagerness.