Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“Iam relieved that I did not get you into trouble,” Percy said, looking as if the weight of worry had been sitting with him all evening. “Truly, I thought I might have…” He shook his head. “It is easy to find oneself on Philip’s bad side. And me especially. I have a particular knack for it.”
Iris laughed. “Nonsense. Philip adores you.”
“He does,” Percy agreed. “Which is why he does not mind so much snapping at me. Aware that he can apologize later and all will be forgiven.”
“I take it that you are not so worried then,” Iris asked. “Have you two spoken since yesterday?”
“Not yet,” Percy said with a shrug. “But it will be no bother. He knows I meant nothing by it, just as he knows he overreacted.” A rolling of the eyes. “Which he did, mind you.”
Again, Iris laughed. “Perhaps. But it came from the right place, so I am inclined to forgive him.”
“Inclined to? Or already have?”
Iris felt her cheeks flush bright pink. Although she doubted that Percy meant to elicit memories of the previous evening, that was precisely what had happened.
It had been that way all last night. As she readied for bed.
As she tried to find sleep. Time and time again her mind went back to earlier, on her knees, the duke’s tongue buried inside of her, and the noises she had made as he’d brought upon her a type of pleasure that she had not known to exist but now knew she could not live without.
“As I said, all has been forgiven.” She shook her head, attempting to dispel the memories.
“Thank God.” Percy laughed to himself as he took a sip of his tea. Looking more relaxed than when Iris had first started speaking with him, she was touched to see how much he cared.
Indeed, where some might have thought that Percy’s presence in the home was a detriment, seeing as Iris and Philip were only just now starting to get along and might have liked their privacy to further confirm their feelings and where this marriage was headed, Iris could not have disagreed more with the notion.
Percy had a way of making Iris feel comfortable. As if she were as much a part of this family as he was. And when she had arrived just now to find him already breaking his fast, she’d smiled and joined him happily, thrilled by the idea of getting to know her husband’s brother a little better.
“So, tell me, what have you planned for today?” Percy asked.
“Today?” Iris blinked as she considered. “Truly, I have not thought past breakfast.” With that, she tore off a piece of toast and took a small bite. “Which is going rather well, I must say.”
He laughed. “Good thinking. Starting the day on a full stomach. After that, I find everything else comes rather easily.”
“What of you?” she asked him.
To that, he pumped his eyebrows. “You mean after Philip comes down from his room and begs for forgiveness?” They laughed together. “As I said, I am here only a short time, and I was hoping I might use some of it to annoy my brother. And now his wife, seeing as the two of you are paired together.”
“Oh. And what did you have in mind?”
“Perhaps a walk after we feast?” he suggested. “The day is lovely and should be taken advantage of. And maybe even a picnic? You still have so much of the estate to explore, and we can easily make a day of it.”
Iris liked the sound of that. “Assuming that Philip agrees.”
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Percy winked. “I know my brother well and I can tell already how taken he is with you.”
“Truly?” She found her cheeks flushing again.
“Oh yes,” he said seriously. “In fact, I might suggest that you ask if he not come, just to see how upset it makes him.” Again, they laughed together. “But I would not push him too far. Not yet, anyway,” he finished with a cheeky wink.
It was then that Mr. Tibbitt came rushing into the breakfast room. He looked somewhat concerned and confused, and when he saw that it was just Iris and Percy alone, he hesitated.
“Mr. Tibbitt?” Iris asked when she saw him. “Is something the matter.”
“Ah…” He hesitated. “Is His Grace about?”
“Sleeping still,” Percy sighed. “Typical.”
Mr. Tibbitt’s worry increased; the aged lines on his face deepened. “That is a shame. I was hoping… well… it is not so much a bother as it is a situation which he will likely wish to be made known of.”
“And what situation is that?” Iris asked.
“We have an unexpected guest,” Mr. Tibbitt said.
“Mr. Tibbitt,” Percy sighed with humor. “I have been here since yesterday. You really should be paying more attention.”
“It is not that,” Mr. Tibbitt said, ignoring the jibe. “It is your mother, Your Grace, the dowager countess. She is here.”
Iris blinked and leaned back as if she had been slapped. “My mother…”
“Is here, yes,” Mr. Tibbitt confirmed. “She arrived just now and asked to see you. I told her that you were not decent, and that I would check to see if you were. But if you wish for me to send her away…”
Iris frowned to herself, caught completely by surprise.
On the one hand, she should have been glad to see her mother, as the two had always been close. And no doubt she was here to check on her youngest daughter, likely having been racked with guilt over what had happened. Yet, on the other…
She still cannot let me go. This does not feel so much like her worrying, but more her not trusting me to be capable of living my own life. And to have come all the way here… she is not even being subtle about it.
“It is quite fine,” Iris assured the butler. “Please, send her in.”
“Are you certain, Your Grace?”
“Of course,” Iris said to him. “She is my mother, after all. She should not be kept waiting.”
“At once, Your Grace.” Mr. Tibbitt bowed, turned about, and hurried from the breakfast room.
“Your mother?” Percy said, looking to where Mr. Tibbitt had run off too. “What is she like?”
“You are about to find out…”
Iris’ mother was a woman of many faces. She could be as kind and caring as a mother bird watching over an infant, filled with love and care because at the end of the day she only wanted what was best for her daughters.
She could also be cold and manipulative and strict. Not used to not getting her way, the matriarch of her household, she was as likely to fawn over Iris as she was to chastise her for reasons that Iris could not imagine but was likely soon to find out.
It was a moment later when her mother swept into the room, and the smile she wore, paired with glistening eyes, suggested at least that in this instance her mother was in a good mood. But will it last…
“Iris!” she cried, holding her arms wide as she came for Iris. “Oh, look at you.”
“Mother…” Iris rose from her chair and stepped away from the table, accepting her mother’s tight hug. “This is a surprise.”
“A good one, I hope.”
“Of course,” Iris assured her. Her mother then pulled back, clutching her by the arms to better look at her. “A surprise, but one I am grateful for.”
“You look…” She pushed her lips together as she studied Iris. “Have you been eating, dear? You look a little worn.”
Iris’ face dropped. So, it is going to be that type of visit.
“This was quite the trip to make,” Iris said in a bid to change the topic. “I thought you might have sent ahead, Mother? If we had known you were coming, we would have prepared for you. I feel you have caught us a little flat-footed.”
“Oh, nonsense.” She released Iris and waved her down. “In truth, I am on my way to see your sister.”
“Sister?”
“Eveline, dear,” she corrected. “The Blackwood Estate is but a few hours from here, so I figured why not stop on the way and pay visit to my special little girl.”
Iris winced, as she had always hated how her mother called her that. “So, you won’t be staying for long?”
“Perhaps…” Her mother frowned at her. “Although, there is no rush. What is an extra night if I can spend it with my daughter? Surely, that won’t inconvenience you? I would hate to think that I was.”
Iris hesitated, not sure what to say.
She did not want to appear rude and dismissive, as if she was trying to get rid of her mother.
And she loved that her mother had thought to visit her, knowing she only wanted the best. But already she felt them falling into old patterns, she the sick little girl, her mother the protector who would not dare to see her come under harm.
It was a mode of being that Iris felt she had outgrown. And not just because she was older now and no longer sickly, but the duke…
“We shall see what Philip has to say,” Iris offered instead. “Once he comes down from bed.”
“Oh, yes.” Her mother looked about as if expecting to see him. “Still sleeping, is he? At the very least I should wait until he presents himself. It would be rude not to.”
“Perhaps something to eat?” Iris turned to gesture at the table, only to see Percy still sitting there watching them. She had forgotten about him completely, and she winced at how rude she had been. “Oh, I am sorry! Where are my manners? Mother, this is Philip’s younger brother, Percy.”
Her mother’s eyes widened when she saw Percy sitting at the head of the table. And there was something in the look she gave him… a knowing smirk on her lips… a sense that she had met the man before. Although that was impossible.”
“The duke’s younger brother?” she said, holding that smirk. “Not Lord Robert…”
“Afraid not.” Percy rose from the table and stepped around it, presenting himself before her mother with a short bow. “Think of me as the better-looking sibling. More charming. And infinitely better company.”
“I am sure.”
Nothing was said for a moment, but only because Iris’ mother used that silence to assess Percy in a way that one might look upon a rat that had wandered into their home.
Iris looked between them, noticing immediately how uncomfortable Percy was in how her mother looked at him, while noticing how judgmental her mother’s stare had turned.
“Percy, is it?” she asked.
“That is right.”