Page 63 of Aurelia

Aurelia laughed. “Touché.”

Celsa lost some of her hostility. “If you don’t like bastard then what would you call a child born outside holy wedlock?”

“Illegitimate is sufficient. Although why it bears mentioning at all, I am not sure.”

“You really should have been a governess. You would make an excellent one.”

“I am going to take that as a compliment.”

“You won’t wish to go riding with me now that he is here.”

“I don’t even know your brother.”

Celsa stopped and stamped her foot. “You know I meant my father!”

Aurelia ignored her little tantrum and kept walking.

“Will you still ride with me even now that Papa is back?” Celsa asked, sounding so pitiful it plucked at Aurelia’s heart.

“If you are civil, then I do not see why not.”

“Thank you so very, very, very much, Miss Burton.”

Aurelia lifted a skeptical brow at the girl’s treacly tone.

Celsa laughed. “Was that a bit much?”

“Just a bit,” Aurelia answered haughtily, but then spoiled it by laughing, too.

They were both chuckling when they entered the dining room.

Rather than being the first to arrive, all three men were already there.

They stood when Aurelia and Celsa entered, and—for a moment—Aurelia was rendered breathless by the display of male beauty. All three were blond, tall, and elegantly garbed. While Arthur and Guustin Walker were both more conventionally handsome than the earl, it was Lord Crewe who instantly drew a person’s gaze.

Or at least he drew Aurelia’s.

“Is that my daughter laughing and smiling?” the earl teased. “I almost didn’t recognize her without a scowl.”

The smiling, laughing girl disappeared in a heartbeat at her father’s observation and Aurelia felt the distinct urge to kick the earl. Why could he not just appreciate Celsa’s good mood rather than mock it?

“Good evening, Miss Burton,” Lord Crewe said, smiling so warmly at her that she felt the tell-tale heat rising up her neck. “Allow me to introduce my son, Guustin Walker. Miss Burton is the extremely talented artist who is bringing my specimens to life, Guustin.”

Guustin Walker took Aurelia’s hand and bowed over it. “It is an honor to meet you, Miss Burton. I look forward to seeing your work.”

“Thank you, Mr. Walker,” Aurelia said. “Are you a naturalist as well?”

He chuckled. “I regret that I am not at all bookish.”

The earl clapped a hand on his son’s shoulder. “That is understating the matter, isn’t it?” He grinned at Aurelia. “When he was only fifteen the headmaster sent him home with the request that I never send him back.”

Both men chuckled and Aurelia couldn’t help noticing the earl looked proud, rather than disappointed, that his son had been ejected from school. Yet again there was one standard for boys and another for girls.

Lady Celsa looked furious, and Aurelia could not blame her.

“Guustin is captain of his own ship, Miss Burton—the Heart’s Desire, she is called.” The earl gave the younger man a fond look. “While I am proud of him, it is unfortunate that his job keeps him away from Crewe so much of the time.”

“I am here for the next few months, so you will all get sick of me.” Captain Walker pointedly looked at Celsa as he said the last words.