AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t think so hard, Natalie,” Alex said as he twirled them around. She gripped his shoulder, afraid of falling.
“Fear not, my lovely. I will never let you fall.”
Yes, she was finding it harder each minute to remember this was not real.
CHAPTER10
“I’m so pleased to see you,” Rayne said, hugging Natalie as she stepped over the doorway to the Sterling townhouse.
“I am delighted to be home, also.” Natalie wondered if she would have been so happy to say goodbye to Alex if he hadn’t reminded her when he escorted her to her doorstep that he would be fulfilling his promise to begin courting her for real. He’d even stated he would call for her the next evening for a trip to the theater.
She was thrilled with the idea of real courting and visiting the theater. These were things she and Milton had never done before they married. He did pay her some nice attention, bought her a few baubles, and they walked out a few times, but she should have guessed from his lack of interest in the things she liked to do that he would not be the best of husbands. The finest gift he’d given her was Annalise. And for that she was eternally thankful.
“Mama!” Just then her beautiful daughter came racing down the stairs and threw herself into her arms. “You’re home!”
Natalie drew her into her arms, the soft, warm feel of her small body and the scent of little girl almost brought tears to her eyes. She drew back and looked at her daughter. “I am so very happy to see you but, remember, little girls do not race down the stairs and fling themselves into people’s arms.”
“I know, Mama, but I couldn’t help it. I missed you so much.”
As hard as it was for Natalie to reprimand her daughter when she was so glad to see her, she knew, because of their connection to Lord Sterling, Annalise would be given a Season when she turned seventeen. What came as a jolt was if she and Alex took their courting as far as marriage, Annalise would be the stepdaughter of a viscount, which would surely place her right in the middle oftonevents.
But that was too far ahead, if at all.
Natalie gave her another quick hug. “I missed you as well. Now go back upstairs to the nursery and I will see you in a little while for tea.”
Since Annalise was not deemed old enough to sit at the table with the adults—something Natalie and her sisters were certainly allowed to do, their childhood being so very different—her daughter was permitted to take tea with her mother and aunt to help her learn the correct way to do it one day herself.
Natalie was so grateful for the opportunities her daughter would have that she never did. She would prepare for her adult life right alongside her cousins. Natalie had insisted on paying for her clothing and fripperies, as well as her own, which Sterling had objected to.
When Natalie explained to him that it was important to her to know that her daughter would be prepared for her life as a lady, and that the funds for the preparation would come from her, he deferred to her wishes, but insisted that when the time came he would pay for all the necessities for Annalise, including a finishing governess and a proper wardrobe for her coming out.
Rayne linked her arm with Natalie’s. “I must leave soon to visit a patient, but you must tell me all about your trip. Did anyone surmise that you and Lord St. John were not actually engaged?”
“No.” She smiled, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.
Rayne placed her hands on Natalie’s shoulders and regarded her with a smile. “What is this? Why are you blushing?”
Natalie shrugged. “No reason. If you will excuse me I’d like to get my things unpacked and take a short lie-down before tea.”
Rayne continued to stare at her, her finger tapping against her lips. “If I didn’t have a patient to visit right now, I would not let you get away with this.”
Before she began to blush some more, Natalie made her way up to her bedchamber. Mary was there unpacking for her.
“Thank you so much, Mary. I can finish up. I’m sure there are things that Lady Sterling has for you to do.”
“If you are sure. I can take care of you and then see what her ladyship needs.”
Wishing time alone to ponder all that had transpired at the wedding, and where she and Alex were headed now, she dismissed the maid. It did her well to remember her place as she finished unpacking her things and then crawled onto her familiar bed.
Despite her mind going in circles due to all that had happened to her since she had left this safe room, she fell into a deep slumber within minutes after her head hit the pillow.
* * *
Alex strolledinto his club and was immediately waved forward by Lord Sterling. He sat in a circle of comfortable chairs with Carter Westbrook, Lord Grayson, Nick Smith, and Marcus Mallory. He knew all the gentlemen and was glad to see them all together.
Sterling stood and waved Alex to an empty chair between Westbrook and Smith.
“Alex, I assume you know all these gentlemen. I know you dined with Smith and Westbrook a couple of weeks ago at my house.”
