Page 110 of The Language of Love

“They are now, if you want them. I didn’t get to spend much time with you the last week, but you seemed to have a full dance card and I understand from Lady Sedgwick that you had plenty of callers.”

“Yes, that is all true. It astounded me how quickly I became somebody.”

He gave a bark of laughter. “Just remember that it can disappear just as quickly.”

“Will we be going to London often?”

“I’ll leave that up to you.”

“You will?” she asked, not bothering to hide her disbelief.

“Why not? If you want to go to town, I could probably answer the next writ of summons rather than ignore it.”

She gasped. “You didn’t!”

“Did.”

After a long moment, she asked, “Don’t you want to belong, Henry?”

“It has never been a priority. Do you?”

“I want to belong with people of my choosing, but not with strangers or people who judge me based on my money or connections.”

“You mean your friends from the academy?”

“Yes, they are friends for life. If they go to London, then I would like to spend part of the year in town. But, in general, I prefer the country.”

“What do you do in the country?”

“I suppose the sort of thing I did at my grandmother’s will differ greatly from what I’ll do at Stoke. When I lived with her, we supplemented her income with a garden, a few hens, and I tutored private students.”

“You won’t have to do any of that,” he agreed. “Not unless you like.” His mouth flexed into a frown. “I know the home farm was a disaster when I lived at Stoke. The succession houses were in disrepair, and the earl saw very little fruit. All that’s to say that if you have any interest in horticulture or botany or whatever it’s called, there will be plenty of opportunity to do something.”

Annis felt a frisson of excitement at his words. “Gardening is actually one of the few things I do well.”

“I suspect you do a lot of things well. I can think of several, myself.” He gave her a brooding, wicked smirk.

“Tell me about the house,” she said, flustered. “I know it is ancient and I’ve heard about the Stoke relics, but that is all I really know.”

“The original structure is a castle, but that isn’t really used for daily living. It’s rather cramped, cold, and uncomfortable. The part built during the 1500s constitutes the modern hall and the two wings off that are newer, yet. I think the intention was an Elizabethan ‘E’ shape, but it had to accommodate the original structure, so it’s more of a ‘G’.”

Annis laughed. “It sounds fascinating.”

“It was a wonderful place to explore as a boy. So much of the older parts of the building are closed off and hazardous from rot and decay, so those were perfect places for a boy to roam and pretend.”

“And you grew up there with your cousin?”

His jaw flexed, an action she was beginning to recognize as a sign of displeasure.

“Two cousins, Charles and Edmund, and my uncle’s ward Lady Julia Tybald.”

By the time he’d finished listing the names, his mouth had twisted into a sneer.

So, not good memories of those three.

He continued, “Charles, of course, inherited the earldom. Edmund, my heir presumptive, still lives at Stoke. And Julia I already mentioned.”

“You did?”