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“And please be sure that any house you let in Hull is furnished and available for my arrival next month. No later.”
His secretary appeased, Aidan turned his attention back to the letter for Kate. Perhaps he was overstepping himself, taking a house in Hull, but if he was, so be it. It was only a house. And his pride. And his every hope. He knew from experience that those things could be lost, but Kate was worth the risk.
He spent a good five minutes deciding on a closing to the letter, finally settling on a frustratingly simple Yours, Aidan, then worked hurriedly through a stack of aging correspondence. Now that he knew when he would return to her, he found it easy to address business issues. Before an hour passed, he’d wrapped up the simp
ler problems and was walking down the stairs to finally greet his family.
He’d escaped that duty when he and Penrose had arrived two hours before. Edward and Cousin Harry had been out riding. His mother had yet to rise. And nobody knew when Marissa and her husband would arrive.
The house had been eerily quiet when Aidan had walked in, and now as he followed voices to the library, he felt a smile tug at his lips. Despite his eagerness to return to Kate, it felt good to be home. Better than it had felt in years.
“Well, Harry,” he drawled as he stepped through the open doors to find his brother and cousin lounging near the fire. “I hear you’ve finally talked a woman into accepting your suit.”
“I have.” Harry rose to pull Aidan into a tight hug with a few bracing slaps to the back.
“Congratulations. Dare I ask which one? Mother has had me on tenterhooks.”
“Miss Elizabeth Samuel.”
“She’s a lovely girl. And Marissa will be thrilled that her closest friend will become part of the family.”
Harry grinned proudly. “You look well, Aidan. Your smile makes me fear for the bank accounts of the gentlemen you left behind in London. What have you gotten up to?”
Aidan looked past his cousin’s shoulder and found that Edward’s gaze was dangerously sharp. “I’m only excited to hear there’s another wedding on the calendar.”
“Good Christ,” Harry barked on a laugh. “If you don’t wish me to know, simply say so.”
Aidan smiled. “I don’t wish you to know.”
“If it has you smiling, you may take your secret to the grave with my blessing.”
Edward didn’t look quite so enthusiastic, but his narrowed eyes couldn’t pierce Aidan’s mood. In fact, Aidan chuckled as he dropped into a chair and set his feet on a table.
“And,” Harry continued, “if it’s a business you’ve taken over, please consider gifting me with a share as an engagement present. I won’t consider it the least unsentimental.”
“Duly noted.”
Harry clapped his hands together. “All right. I’d best change. I must sit for my portrait in an hour.”
Aidan gave Harry an incredulous look. “Portrait?”
“Yes, a wedding portrait, to be debuted at the wedding, of course. I believe your mother whispered something about tying doves to the sheeting, to gracefully whisk it away just as we are introduced at the breakfast.”
“Good God, man,” Aidan croaked, picturing a flock of panicked doves tangled in linen and trampled by frightened guests. “You cannot be serious.”
“Your mother is serious, and I am not man enough to defy her. Are you?”
Aidan shuddered at the thought of his mother planning his own wedding. Thank God that if it ever came to marrying Kate, it would likely be a quiet affair. Then again, his mother didn’t know the definition of quiet.
“Poor Harry,” Aidan said when his cousin had sauntered out. “Mother is getting her revenge for Marissa’s hurried wedding, I suppose. I wonder if she has commissioned that golden carriage she spoke of?”
“She tried to sneak the bill past me,” Edward said. “But I caught her out. You didn’t reply to my last letter.”
Aidan blinked at the sudden change of subject. “I apologize. I’ve been traveling.”
“To Kingston-upon-Hull?”
He tried to keep a straight face. This was serious, after all. Kate was a married woman. But he couldn’t help the slight quirk of his lips.
