The Earl and the Wedding Crasher (The Brides of Elderglen #3)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

W hen Louisa awoke the next morning, she had resolved to spend more time with the children. Truth be told, she had been finding the adjustment from bookish third daughter, who was frequently teased for daydreaming her time away, to Lady of her very own manor to be something of a trial. She had been trying her best to learn quickly, and she thought she was getting somewhere with the lessons and duties Mrs. Brooks was so diligent about helping her master, but there was so much to learn and everything was so much bigger and more serious here than at home. In her deepest, most private fears, she sometimes wondered if she would ever truly feel like this was her home, and that she was able to run such a household the way everyone seemed to be expecting her to.

There was however one thing that Louisa knew she could do well, and that was to guide those poor little children through their grief and back out into the light. Now that she and Cedric had reached a shaky kind of truce, and especially now that he had witnessed firsthand her talent in comforting them, she was quite sure that he wouldn't object so much to her being involved with them. As she dressed that morning, Louisa thought hard about the situation. What should I do with them today, she asked herself quietly. What could cheer them up and bring them out of their shells a little more, show them that life here at St Vincent isn't all silence and sadness?

Louisa endured her morning hour with Mrs. Brooks before she shook the housekeeper off and made her way up to the nursery. She knocked quietly, but received no answer. Frowning, Louisa twisted the doorknob and pushed it carefully open.

Abigail and Kenneth sat quietly on the floor in the middle of the large room. The heavy drapes were open, allowing gleaming golden sunlight to stream onto the children. Louisa's heart ached as she observed them huddled together, small and lost. She took a breath and forced a smile onto her face, summoning her most cheerful energy.

"Children, here you are! How are you feeling this morning? Did you manage to get a little sleep?"

Kenneth's head whipped up at the sound of her voice, and a smile broke out across his little face. He stumbled to his feet and rushed over to her. "Aunt Lady Louisa! Good morning!" Kenneth held out his hand and tilted into a half-bow, and Louisa wondered whether it was Mrs. Brooks and Cedric who was teaching him his manners, or whether this was something he had already started to copy from his dear father.

She struggled to contain her laughter, biting her lip as she reached out and shook his hand solemnly. "And a very good morning to you too, young Master Kenneth," she replied as she curtseyed to him. He giggled happily, and Louisa felt her heart lift a little. She was relieved that at least one of the children had warmed up to her at last. Oh, how she hoped sweet Kenneth's bond with her would help his sister eventually feel more comfortable too.

She looked over at Abigail, who had risen slowly when Kenneth did but had remained standing on the soft rug, quietly watching them. Louisa offered up a smile. "Abigail, darling? How are you feeling this morning?"

Abigail shrugged, studying the edge of the rug intently. "M'fine," she mumbled, almost too softly for Louisa to hear.

"You got back to sleep all right? Did you eat all your breakfast?"

"Yes, thank you."

Kenneth broke in impatiently. "Abigail ate two eggs but only one piece of toast so I ate her other piece because I was hungry and she said she didn't want it and Abigail also said that Uncle Cedric might be upset with us for causing a fuss last night and that you wouldn't want to see us because we were being babies but we're not babies. We're not," he finished breathlessly. Behind him, Abigail shifted uncomfortably and glowered at her brother.

Louisa sighed before crossing the room and kneeling gently in front of Abigail. She brushed a few strands of soft light hair out of her eyes, watching her stiffen warily. "Is this true, Abigail? Do you think your uncle and I are upset with you?"

Abigail shrugged again but remained silent. Louisa waited, letting the quiet stretch out until Abigail finally relented. "No. Yes. I don't know. We're not babies. We shouldn't cry like that."

"Oh my darling. Everybody cries sometimes. Did you know," and here, Louisa leaned in to whisper conspiratorially into Abigail's ear. "I cried my very first night here at St Vincent."

Abigail stared wide-eyed at her. "Did you really? Why? Didn't you want to come?"

"Of course I did. But everything here was so new to me, and I had never been away from home before. I missed my sisters." She hesitated for a second before admitting, "I missed my papa. So I had a little cry. See? I'm not a baby, am I?" She pretended to look horrified and was rewarded by a thin giggle.

"No, suppose not."

"Well there you go. Now you know. 'There are no babies here, just people who need a little cry sometimes. So there's nothing to be embarrassed about, is there?"

Abigail shook her head slowly. She still didn't look entirely convinced, but now she was leaning into Louisa rather than away and her eyes had lost their wary edge.

I'll call this a success , Louisa thought triumphantly. Or at the very least, it's progress .

She held out her other hand to Kenneth, who waltzed up to them happily. "Now then you two, how would you like to join me in playing a little game?"

Kenneth nodded enthusiastically but Abigail hesitated, clearly not completely won over yet. Kenneth turned his wide eyes on his sister. "Please Abigail? Please let's play?"

Louisa nudged the girl. "You can pick the game, can't she Kenneth?"

Abigail tilted her head, considering for a moment, before her eyes lit up. "Blind Man's Buff! I want to play Blind Man's Buff!"

Kenneth agreed enthusiastically and Louisa smiled. "Well, why don't you show me how to play?"

Cedric pushed his bacon around and around on his plate. He had struggled to fall back to sleep the previous night, tossing and turning fitfully as he thought about the children, his poor distraught niece and nephew. His heart clenched a little as he remembered their hysterical cries and his inability to help them.

" I want my papa." Little Abigail's trembling voice still circled in his head. Thank the heavens that Louisa had been there, he supposed. At least she seemed to know what they had needed. He swallowed some dark coffee as his thoughts turned to his wife and their late night conversation in his study. As the days went on, he had come to expect their talks to be something of a double edged sword.

On the one hand, his wife was clearly mulish and annoyed with him at any given opportunity. He was often frustrated by her refusal to adhere to even his simplest requests. But on the other hand, he would be lying if he said he wasn't affected every time that damned blush crept across her cheeks and down onto her collarbones. He had even found himself to be enjoying riling her up, seeing how flustered he could make her before she caved and turned away from him. He knew it wasn't altogether fair of him, that Louisa must surely think he's some kind of cad who delights in tormenting her, but this teasing was as close to her as he dared to allow himself.

Enough. I can't sit about all day thinking of my wife and how best to fluster her.

Cedric had just begun to lose himself in paperwork when the unmistakable shrieks of children wafted through his closed door. He was on his feet in an instant. What if something had happened to one of them - or to Louisa! He tore open the study door and strode down the hallway towards the nursery, quickening his pace even further in response to another shout. He reached the open door all ready to demand an explanation - and stopped.

Kenneth was spinning giddily in the center of the room, a white handkerchief tied securely around his eyes. He stopped and staggered slightly, then put his arms straight out in front of him and charged forwards. Abigail, who had been standing a few paces away, shrieked excitedly and darted away from him. Kenneth stumbled after her, bumping into a plush red armchair which caused him to turn and set off in another direction.

Cedric tried to conceal his amusement as he stood, half hidden in the gloom of the corridor, watching the game. Round and round Kenneth stumbled, as Abigail and Louisa managed to evade his grasping little fingers. It occurred to Cedric that this might have been the first time he had heard both children laughing and playing since they had arrived at St Vincent. The happiness on their faces was obvious, even as half of Kenneth's was obscured by the blindfold.

Just as Kenneth started to tire of being the being the blind man, his lip beginning to quiver dangerously, Louisa stooped in front of him and allowed him to tag her. Kenneth crowed victoriously as she helped him take the blindfold off. Cedric shifted, but Louisa hadn't noticed him.

"You're it, you're it!" The children chanted in unison.

"Yes, yes, give me a moment. There," Louisa tied the handkerchief around her own head and stood again.

"Don't forget to spin! You have to spin 10 times," Kenneth instructed her seriously.

Louisa did as she was told, stumbling slightly as she set off. The children cackled as they ran from her and Cedric could see Louisa strain her ears, trying to pick out Abigail's laughter over Kenneth's before she moved in the girl's direction.

She must be trying to give them turns so that Kenneth doesn't feel singled out, he thought.

Before he quite realized what he was doing, Cedric had stepped forwards into the room. The children faltered slightly as they noticed him, but he put his finger to his lips, indicating for them not to tell. He moved to stand slightly to Louisa's left, brushing against her sleeve ever so slightly. She sensed the presence beside her and whirled, grabbing hold of his arm firmly. He grinned even though she couldn't see him, and stayed quiet, waiting for her guess.

"Well, well, well, who on earth do we have here?" Louisa mused. Cedric could see the children fighting to suppress their giggles behind her. Louisa squeezed his arm experimentally and frowned. "Oh dear, I'm afraid I've gone very wrong somewhere. This is far too tall to be one of you children. No, this is something else entirely. Is it…a lamp?"

The children laughed aloud at her guess and Cedric grinned. Louisa shook her head, smiling. "No, surely not a lamp. Oh! I know! It's definitely an armchair, isn't it? It's surely too tall to be anything else."

Abigail and Kenneth laughed harder and Louisa turned to face the sound. As she made to step away from him, Cedric grasped her wrist softly, making her gasp in surprise. He turned her to face him and gently reached up, brushing his fingers across her soft skin as he pulled the blindfold from her eyes. She blinked up at him, eyes widening as she realized.

Cedric smiled. "My turn to be the blind man, I think?"

The butterflies in Louisa's stomach fluttered nervously as she gazed into Cedric's eyes. She hadn't been expecting to see him standing before her, and she had briefly become worried that he was about to scold her for getting the children all excited and loud. His apparent eagerness to join in with the game had taken her by surprise and for a moment she simply did not know how to respond.

He was touching her face, the heat of his skin on hers leaving her confused and trembling a little, like a deer caught in the gaze of a lion.

Clearly though it had been longer than a moment when Cedric smirked wickedly and leaned in close to her. "Whatever is the matter, sweet wife of mine? It seems the cat has got your tongue. Surely you are not going to be shy with me?"

Louisa felt herself flush scarlet, heat building beneath her skin. She stammered but that only made Cedric's wolfish smile grow larger. She whipped around, trying to tame her racing heart, and paused.

The children had become cheerful and boisterous over the few rounds they had played, and she had heard clearly their laughter as she was guessing what piece of furniture she was holding onto. But now that Cedric intended to join them, they had become quieter. Louisa didn't think they were scared of their uncle, not at all, but there was a sort of wariness in their eyes when they regarded him that she desperately hoped she could help to erase over time.

She supposed it was because they didn't yet know him and, though she hoped the nighttime story and today's willingness to play with them marked something of a turning point, he was still distant with them in a way she imagined they were unused to from their parental figures. She wouldn't bring it up to him of course, but she sensed that Cedric was wary of the children also. It was no surprise that they were picking up on some tension and responding in kind.

Louisa cleared her throat and turned back to Cedric. "I suppose we shall have to find a bigger blindfold for you."

Cedric put a hand to his chest in (what she hoped was) mock affront. "My dear, you can't possibly be suggesting that I have an overly large head now, are you?"

"My lord, I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

Cedric's response was interrupted by a polite cough from the doorway. They turned in unison to find Ellis standing there, studiously inspecting her hands. "Beg your pardon, my lord, Lady St Vincent. I don't mean to interrupt but I've been searching for her ladyship for a time now."

Louisa smoothed down her dress. "Is everything all right, Ellis?"

"Yes my lady, it's just I've been sent by Mrs. Brooks to find you. She wishes to remind you that she has to show you the kitchen accounts today so that cook may pay the grocer's boy when he comes."

Louisa smiled apologetically to Cedric, but he held up his hands. "Please, don't hesitate on my account. Perhaps we can finish the game some other time."

"I'd like that." Louisa waved goodbye to the children and made to follow Ellis from the room. As she passed him, Cedric caught her hand in his. Those infernal butterflies fluttered in her stomach yet again as she met his gaze.

"I meant to tell you, we have been invited to a little soiree by Lord Allington. I'm sure you know of him."

"A soiree?"

"A party. I'm sure Mrs. Brooks will be discussing accepting invites if you haven't already. This will be our first gathering as husband and wife and so I want it to go well."

"Do we have to go?" The words were out of Louisa's mouth before she could think, and she could have kicked herself for her thoughtlessness. Cedric merely smiled.

"I'm afraid so. Our supposed honeymoon is over. It's time to reenter society." He bid the children farewell and left the room.

Ellis stood waiting for her, but as Louisa trailed after the maid her mind was on Cedric. Was it wrong for her to feel so conflicted at the reminder that their honeymoon was no usual time of newly wedded bliss?

It doesn't matter. I knew going into this that we had unusual circumstances. I need to stop being silly and focus on my duties as his wife, especially if we're to attend this damn party with all eyes no doubt looking our way.