Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Amelia giggled. “Oh, my dear husband you are kind. Marriage will wipe away the stain of a scandal in society’s eyes no doubt, but I most definitely know that I am still one,” she replied.
Amelia was no fool. She knew what society said about her when they thought she couldn’t hear.
She had relatives who delighted in telling her the worst of the gossip.
She had been labeled a brazen hussy for forcing a proposal from her one-time beau, and her sister had fueled that belief to explain her own desperate flight to Gretna Green, which made her betrayal of Amelia—and marriage to Amelia’s beau—acceptable to their family.
“The scandal was a long time ago,” he insisted.
“Five years in the wilderness taught me who my real friends were,” she said, and then squared her shoulders.
“I have spent a great deal of time trying to forget by helping my brother and his tenants. I thought helping those in need on Anthony’s estate would prove my usefulness and virtue and be welcomed back into the fold.
But I came to enjoy a simpler life instead.
There was always so much I could do for the tenants, and I could almost forget the betrayal ever happened.
But my good deeds changed nothing for them, I’m sure. ”
Chatham caught hold of her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I think you exceeded expectations. You will make Adam and Lucy a fine mother.”
“Yes, that is the only reason we married, after all,” she teased, throwing a smile his way, hoping they truly could become friends.
Chatham inclined his head and let her fingers go. “It was that, and the fact that you seemed to understand my sense of humor. Your brother often does not.”
She laughed softly, remembering their most recent dinners at her brother’s estate. “He can be a little bit dim at times. He’s very smart, of course, but also incredibly deaf to the subtle nuances of your humor.”
He laughed heartily at that and gestured toward the manor. “I’d say you are right about that. Well, shall we introduce you to the children as their new mama, and hopefully I can introduce you to my esteemed papa as my wife shortly after.”
Chatham walked by her side into the house, hands behind his back as they discussed her brother, but tension grew in her.
What if the children didn’t like her? What could she do to win their favor?
Chatham would be counting on her to make a good impression today, and while she very much hoped the children would accept her as their mother quickly, there could be friction not easily resolved.
Chatham strode into the nursery first and was greeted by childish cries of delight. However absent a parent he believed himself to be, his children appeared oblivious to his supposed shortcomings and welcomed him back as if he were a great treat.
He crouched down before them. “Children, I have someone special I want you to meet.”
The pair looked around him to the doorway, where she stood. Their eyes did not linger on Amelia for long. They were much more interested in their father’s return.
The girl, Lucy, was prettier awake, but her next words proved her dreadfully spoiled. “Did you fetch me the lady’s maid I asked for, Papa? Did you buy me a dozen pretty silk gowns to wear for you?”
Amelia groaned inwardly. A girl of her limited years hardly needed a lady’s maid, or silk gowns to parade about in. She would be a handful.
“She is not a maid. This is Amelia, Lady Chatham, your new mother.”
The girl’s gaze flew across the room, and there was suspicion in those eyes. “That’s silly, Papa. Mama is Lady Chatham, but she’s dead and gone now!” Lucy exclaimed, an expression of practiced anguish on her face.
“Yes, but if your mama is in Heaven, she cannot look after you. Amelia is the new Lady Chatham, and she will do well for you as a mother,” he promised the girl.
Lucy’s expression hardened, then she pouted at her father as she folded her arms across her flat chest. “I don’t want her. Send her away, Papa! I only want you and my mama.”
Chatham shook his head. “Lady Chatham will…”
This argument could go on forever, so Amelia quickly stepped forward. “Lord Chatham, might I speak?”
“Of course.” He stood immediately, his expression vexed as he met her gaze. He was clearly disappointed by his daughter’s reaction to his happy news. But he went to his son and tousled the boy’s hair.
The boy was even more like his father now he was standing. He’d be tall when he was fully grown. Amelia wondered if Adam remembered his real mama, or knew what it meant to be mothered. If not, Amelia and Adam would have to learn to do that together.
She inclined her head to the pair. “How do you do, Adam, Lucinda?”
“We are very well,” Adam piped up, stepping forward to bow and sounding far older than his years.
Chatham nodded approvingly at his son.
Lucy, however, only scowled more fiercely and folded her arms over her chest tighter, refusing to greet the stranger in their midst with any degree of civility.
Amelia was stung by the girl’s immediate rejection of her mother’s replacement, but she did her best to ignore it as she turned her attention to the maid who stood in the shadows.
She was the same woman that was there last night.
She was younger than Amelia had first assumed her to be.
A little shorter than Amelia, more rounded, but she possessed a ready smile that set her at ease.
She’d been playing with the children on the floor when they’d walked in. “May I ask your name?”
“Jane Finch, my lady.” The woman came forward. “I look after the children every day.”
“Jane is in our employ, not the duchy’s,” Chatham hastened to add.
“How wonderful.” Amelia would win the maid over first and Lucy later. “Have they eaten today, Miss Finch?”
“Not yet, my lady. I thought to wait on his lordship’s orders when I heard that he had returned.”
It was important to show she was in charge and would brook no nonsense when dealing with servants.
“I would like the children to keep regular hours from now on, no matter what my husband and I do. Say, seven in the morning for breakfast, eleven for luncheon, and five for their supper. I’ll speak to the housekeeper later to review the menu for them, but I will be joining them quite often for meals.
You will not be needed during those times and may attend to other matters until called for again. ”
“Yes, my lady,” the woman agreed.
“I assume you can read and write?”
“Yes, my lady. I read as often as I have time to, and I read to the children, as well.”
“We will discuss your interests in books in further detail later tomorrow. I have a few volumes with me that I can share.”
The maid’s eyes widened with excitement at the news. “Thank you, my lady. That is very generous of you,” she exclaimed. “
“But the children’s health and well-being are your priority, Miss Finch. I will depend on you a great deal in the coming years. Now, you will not be needed for a little while and may leave to refresh yourself.”
The maid stood a little taller at hearing that she was considered indispensable already and had the luxury of free time. A little kindness and consideration went a long way toward creating a smoothly run household. She would miss the servants she’d left behind at Upper Folly.
“I’ll straighten their beds and tidy up before I go,” the maid promised and started rushing around, eager to be on her way.
Satisfied with the nursery maid’s potential, Amelia turned to face her husband. “Well, since none of us has eaten yet, shall we adjourn to the morning room, my lord?”
Adam grabbed Chatham’s hand but bounced up and down, tugging on him, “Yes, yes! I’m ever so hungry, Papa.”
Lucy, though, stomped her foot. “We can only go downstairs when Grandpa calls us. He makes the rules,” she announced, determined to limit Amelia’s power over everyone.
Amelia ignored the outburst, though, and headed for the doorway.
Adam, eager to have his stomach filled at last, quickly followed and caught hold of her hand. “It’s this way,” he whispered.
Amelia smiled down at him, pleased by his trust…until she glanced back.
Lucy hadn’t followed them to the door. She’d set her jaw into a stubborn line and held her ground on the far side of the room. Amelia suspected that Lucy, being the oldest, had usually led the way downstairs and influenced many of her brother’s decisions.
Amelia would not wait for her today or any other day, because eventually the girl would have to understand she had to come second to Amelia, who was now a countess.
Chatham watched his daughter with a frown and, under his gaze, the child’s eyes filled with tears. It seemed an attempt at manipulation, and Amelia wondered what her husband would do.
Chatham shook his head. “You must do what Mama says.”
Amelia turned away, relieved that Chatham would not yield to a child’s attempt at manipulation, but sorry for the pain her marriage was causing the girl.
Chatham urged Amelia and Adam into the hall without another word.
“Can we go riding today, Papa?”
“No. We will visit your aunt after we eat,” he told the boy, as they started down the hall.
Amelia was not certain which sister he meant at first. Chatham had barely spoken of his siblings so far, and her brother had no interest in them, either. “Will we?”
“Yes, the Whitfields’ home is not far. Just a short stroll through the grounds. Easy for the children’s legs.”
The youngest sister had married a Whitfield. She nodded.
Adam tugged on her hand. “Papa said beef pies are not for breakfast, but Grandpa always gives me one. Do you like pie?”
“I do, very much, but never for breakfast,” she told him.
The boy heaved a sigh. “Cook always lets me have what I want.”
Was it any wonder the children were happy to spend time here without their father? However, they would not be spoiled too often anymore. Amelia disliked giving children everything they wanted, because they often wanted more than was good for them.
Adam seemed to be the easiest to win over, though. All Amelia would have to do was feed the boy well, and he’d be putty in her hands.
Amelia glanced behind her, hoping to see Lucy had joined them. But she was still not there by the time the stairs came into view. How stubborn could the girl be?
Chatham just shook his head. “Shall we go down?”
He gestured for Amelia to lead the way.
By the time they reached the bottom of the first flight, Lucy had caught up, but she was still pouting. She rushed toward them, or rather directly to her father, reaching for his hand to hold.
Chatham was dragged to the head of their little procession, and the child skipped along at his side.
“Adam,” Lucy called after a few steps. “Come and join Papa and me.”
Adam released Amelia’s hand immediately and rushed forward to join the pair, leaving Amelia to walk alone.
She sighed, missing the warmth and trust of a little boy she already liked very much.
Lucy lifted her nose as if Amelia was insignificant.
Chatham ruffled his son’s hair, shook off Lucy’s clinging grip, and stopped to wait for Amelia ahead of a pair of large doors.
“Give her time,” he whispered.
“I intended to,” she whispered back, keeping an eye on Lucy as a pair of identical footmen opened the doors ahead. A child’s heart was easily broken, but it didn’t have to be that way. Amelia would treat her gently, if given a chance.