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Dorothea blushed, and Griffin took her hand. Their closeness was evident even to those with the meanest degree of perception. They were still very much in love and, in all likelihood, were eager to express their love after being confined in a carriage all day with a teenager and two babies.
Attie glanced at Delilah, who stood beside Fraser, a similar expression of contentment in her eyes.
Two couples who indulged in their passions.
How she envied them! What had happened to her own husband to make him succumb to melancholy and turn from her?
But perhaps, surrounded by a loving family, he would come back to her and remember to embrace the joy of life again.
“Where’s Devon?” Dorothea asked.
“He’s taking the air,” Delilah said brightly. “We expect him any moment, don’t we, Atalanta?”
Attie nodded, averting her gaze from Dorothea’s concerned expression.
“Perhaps we should wait for him, Griffin, before taking our rest.”
The last thing Attie wanted was Dorothea’s sympathy. Thea possessed the ability to understand exactly how everyone was feeling, and Attie had no wish for others to know the extent of her own despair—because then she’d have to admit it to herself.
“No, please don’t wait,” Attie said. “Devon wouldn’t want you to be overtired.”
“That’s settled, then,” Griffin said. He set the children down and took Dorothea’s hand. “We’ll see Devon at supper.”
Rowena let out a huff. “It’s like living with a courting couple on a farm,” she said. “Come along, children, why don’t you help me with Betsy and the twins while my parentssettle inhere.”
“Let me show you where to go,” Delilah said, and she led the party through the hall and up the stairs, followed by Rowena—the once-troubled teenager, who’d turned into a lovely young woman—and the gaggle of children.
Dorothea took Attie’s hand. “Forgive me for not greeting you,” she said. “Perhaps we can talk over supper—when Devon’s returned.”
Attie embraced her. “I should like that,” she said. “Now, go and take your rest. Your husband is getting impatient.”
Griffin approached his wife and lifted her into his arms once more, then he followed the rest of the party upstairs, leaving Attie alone with Fraser in the hall.
“I must say, I approve of my brother-in-law,” Fraser said. “A man after my own heart—and he has a novel way ofsettling in—I’ve never heard it calledthatbefore.”
“He’s done Dorothea the power of good,” Attie said. “I’ve never seen her so happy. Love agrees with her.”
“As it does with us all,” Fraser said.
Attie turned away to hide her tears.
“I should return to the hall,” she said. “There’s still the fireplace to decorate.”
A huge hand engulfed hers. “He’ll be all right on the mountain, Atalanta.”
“How did you know…”
“I see it in your eyes,” he said. “And I saw it in his eyes also—the darkness, which I noticed when I first met him, will never completely fade.”
“I know,” Attie said. “Sometimes he says such things—as if he hates himself—then he retreats from me, and I can do nothing for him.”
“We all feel like that sometimes.”
She looked into his eyes—the bright green eyes of the businessman, Highlander, and duke—the man envied by the world. A man who lived life to the full.
“Even you?” she asked.
“Even me. When a man has everything he’s ever wished for, he doubts whether he deserves it—and fears that it will be taken from him.”
