Page 46 of A Winter Scandal

“No, my dear, of course not. That is just what we were discussing.”

“But—” Ian’s wife glanced back at Lord Rawdon. “My goodness,” she finished awkwardly.

Lord Rawdon shifted as if to step around Myles, and Damaris came forward, hooking her hand in the crook of his arm and more or less compelling him to turn with her toward the door unless he wished to be blatantly rude. She strolled toward the front door as she talked. “Why don’t I show you the way to the village? I was just about to go there myself. There’s a quite passable inn in Chesley, unless, of course, you mean to travel on this afternoon.”

“I don’t plan to travel anywhere else, believe me.” Rawdon let Damaris propel him along, but he stopped now and turned back to look at Gabriel. “We are not finished here.” He gave a general nod in their direction and swung around to open the front door. Damaris started to follow him, but he stopped her with a single chilled glance. “I am quite capable of finding the inn on my own, I assure you.”

Grabbing his hat from the hovering footman, he strode out the door. Damaris stood for a moment, staring after him, before she turned and rejoined Thea. “Well, I don’t understand what that was all about, but he is certainly a rude man.”

Thea nodded. Matthew’s cries had subsided into little shuddery breaths. He rubbed his damp face against Thea’s shoulder, then released a sigh and laid his head down. Something about the gesture made Thea’s throat close up with emotion, and when she glanced over at Damaris, she saw her friend watching Matthew with a faint smile, tears glinting in her eyes.

Damaris blinked and her smile widened to include Thea. “They are so sweet when they’re like that, aren’t they?”

Thea nodded. Once again the thought flashed into her head, as it had several times the last couple of days: what would she do when Gabriel decided to take Matthew? At some point he and his entourage, now including this baby, would leave Chesley to return to London. As Thea had every other time the thought had occurred to her, she pushed it firmly away.

“I cannot think what Lord Rawdon was doing here, and just before Christmas, too,” Lady Wofford said. “Why did he think Lady Jocelyn was here? Have you heard from her, Lord Morecombe?”

Gabriel, who had been glowering at the door through which Lord Rawdon had left, forced a smile onto his face. “No, my lady, I have had no word from my sister. Nor do I know why Lord Rawdon chose to come to the Priory. Clearly, for some reason he believed Jocelyn to be here.”

“I see.” Lady Wofford’s tone indicated that she did not, in fact, see at all, but she did not pursue the matter. Her gaze flickered curiously to Thea and the baby now nestled against her shoulder. “Well, no doubt you are surprised to find me on your doorstep. I do apologize.” She smiled at Gabriel before turning toward her husband. “Your father is most upset that you have not joined us at Fenstone Park, my dear, so I told him I would come try to change your mind. Of course, I know that the last thing gentlemen wish when they gather at a lodge is a wife’s presence.” She made a droll moue as she said the words. “But since you say that this isn’t a hunting lodge, I hope you will not turn me away.”

“Of course you are welcome here,” Gabriel told her. “If you cannot persuade Ian to join his relatives for Christmas, you must stay with us and celebrate the day here. We shall be all the merrier for having a woman’s touch at the feast.”

“You are always such a perfect gentleman.” Lady Wofford smiled.

Ian wrapped his hand around his wife’s arm. “Why don’t I show you up to my room, Emily. You must be tired after your journey today.”

“I did not travel it in one day—you know me, I am such a poor traveler, I’m afraid. But I am a little tired, I will admit.”

She let Ian whisk her away up the stairs, motioning to the maid to follow. The others watched them until they disappeared. Alan swung around and let out a heavy sigh. “Well, that sets the cat among the pigeons, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, I would say our carefree bachelor days are gone,” Myles agreed, though his smile showed little concern over the matter. “There is always the tavern in town.”

Alan grimaced and swung around, heading into the great hall. “I am going to enjoy a glass of port and a cigar while I still can. Anyone else?”

Gabriel shook his head. “As soon as I clean up a bit”—he threw a wry glance in Thea’s direction—“I plan to look at the nursery. Ladies? Would you care to join me?”

“I would love to,” Thea replied. “But Matthew has fallen asleep.” She smoothed a hand over the sleeping baby’s back.

“Here, leave him with me,” Myles offered. “I’ll watch over him down here.” He cast a smile at Damaris. “Perhaps Mrs. Howard will stay to help. After all, I shall doubtless need a woman’s expertise if he should wake up and start crying again.”

Damaris chuckled, shaking her head at him. “Don’t think you can gull me, Sir Myles. It is quite apparent that you are more knowledgeable about babies than any of us. But I shall be happy to help you watch over him.”

While Gabriel went off to wash away the residue of the ale Thea had flung at him, the others made a makeshift bed for the baby in the sitting room by positioning two cushioned armchairs together, and Thea laid Matthew down upon it. Gabriel appeared a few minutes later in a clean shirt and neckcloth, his hair still damp from his hasty face-washing.

“Couldn’t you have just tossed some water in my face?” he teased Thea as they made their way up the stairs. “Did it have to be ale? It’s so sticky.”

“It was the closest thing at hand,” she retorted. “Better than bashing you with something.”

“I’ll never forget looking up and seeing you there, facing down Rawdon with that candlestick.” Gabriel let out a laugh. “You are a woman of great worth. Next time I face a duel, I shall bring you as my second.”

Thea rolled her eyes. “Thank you, but I believe I’ll decline the honor.”

They turned left at the top of the stairs and walked along the hallway to where a double set of closed doors led off to the right. “I have never been in this wing of the house,” Gabriel admitted as he opened one of the doors. “But since there is no nursery in the main portion of the house, I assume it must be here—if, of course, there is a nursery at all.”

They walked along the corridor, which was narrower than the one they had just left, opening doors on either side and peering into the rooms. Several of the rooms were empty, though one or two contained some minimal furniture. Clearly, this section of the house had not been used in some time.

“Why do you think Lord Rawdon came here?” Thea asked. “Why did he think your sister was here? He seemed very intent on speaking to her.”