Page 10 of A Necessary Wife

“I’ll expect a full accounting,” he growled, drawing back so she could exit. “Come with me. Quickly.”

Amelia collected her personal belongings and followed her husband up the stairs and into what appeared to be Stapleton’s large entrance hall. She took the time to admire the hall as she shook water off her best cloak, but in the gloomy and dark hall, it was impossible to see very much.

She caught Lord Chatham’s gaze. “Are the children still awake?”

“Unfortunately not. You’ll have to be presented to them, my father, and the duchess tomorrow morning.”

“Oh,” Amelia murmured, more disappointed not to meet the children than in missing the opportunity to renew her acquaintance with the duke and meet the Duchess of Stapleton.

“I have arranged for you to take supper upstairs tonight,” Lord Chatham announced.

“A quiet evening with you is all I want.” It would provide an opportunity to be alone with her husband at last and talk again.

Lord Chatham faced the stairs. “Come along.”

Amelia stretched her hand out to him.

Her husband hesitated, clearly not expecting she’d want or need his help, but he came to Amelia’s side and put a hand under her elbow.

Halfway up the stairs, she whispered, “Couldn’t we just peek in on the children? I promise not to wake them.”

Chatham considered her request overly long as they climbed another flight, but eventually he nodded. He led her up one more flight and then his grip on her elbow disappeared.

The children’s nursery seemed to be on the uppermost floor, below the attic, and it was very quiet.

“Only Lucy and Adam are currently using the space. The boy—Charles, my youngest brother—sleeps near the duke and duchess.”

He opened a door and gestured her inside.

Six beds lined the walls of a large room, but only two were occupied. Lucy and Adam slept in moonlight, watched over by a drowsy maid.

Amelia nodded to the woman and crept close to the beds to study each child. Lucy was as pretty as her father had described at dinner last night, and Adam was made in his image—serious face, smooth brow, and adorable pink cheeks.

The night was cold, and Amelia gently tucked the blankets a little tighter around the children, bid goodbye to the nursemaid, and followed her husband out into the hall.

Chatham regarded her steadily. “Why were you late?”

“A horse became lame, and your valet became violently ill after luncheon,” she whispered, drawing him away from the nursery. “I suspect he celebrated our marriage announcement with my brother’s servants a little too much last night. My brother did, too. I heard my brother singing at two o’clock in the morning and I was unsurprised to see him look so poorly at dawn. But he managed not to tumble over as he walked me to the vicar to marry you.”

“I would have disowned him if he had,” Chatham promised, stopping and shaking his head. “I will deal with my valet later.”

“Oh, don’t be too harsh but a word of caution, the carriage will need a second thorough clean before it is fit to use again, I’m afraid.”

Chatham groaned. “I’ll take it out of his wages.”

“There is no need for such measures. I was glad to be the cause of such happiness for anyone. His stomach settled afterward, and he even dozed for the last few miles. He was no trouble.”

“Well, that is a relief. Men can be rather poor company when we are unwell,” Chatham warned, giving her a sideways stare.

“I’ve noticed that when my brother indulges in spirits,” she murmured. “He can be positively beastly, or he lies about and moans.”

Chatham scowled instead of laughed, and it occurred to her that he did not appear to be in the best of moods now.

She fell into step beside her new husband, and they descended to the next floor down.

She glanced around, curiosity filling her about what lie behind the many doors they passed.

He pointed. “My chamber is on the left, and it will have to be spacious enough to accommodate both of us, I’m afraid.”