Chapter Twenty
The carriage ride to Oxfordshire took forever.
Frances was amazed by the scenery at first, recognizing different trees and plants in the distance, but then it poured so much she couldn’t see out the windows.
Other than an occasional comment on where they were, Nathaniel kept his eyes on a book, jotting things down as they went.
Even reading out loud to her would have been better, but instead she stared out at the grey world, thinking it perfectly reflected hers.
“Just in time.”
Nathaniel shut his book and smiled as he looked out. Frances must have dozed off, because she didn’t know when the sky had cleared to reveal sun peeking through the clouds.
“This is Lark Estate?” Frances asked, in awe. She had very little experience with grand country estates, but she felt certain this one was bigger than Buckingham House.
While Sutton House was dark and grey, like the morning had been, Lark Estate felt like it was made of sunshine and love.
Even the ballroom and drawing room, which were dripping with opulence and meant to impress, felt homey.
She would bet every coin to her name that, in addition to grand balls with the ton’s elite, the room had seen impromptu dance recitals and lessons amongst the Sutton siblings, perhaps even some games of tag.
The house was lived in, and guests were a given.
Of the thirty-odd rooms, ten were held for the family and their personal guests whenever they chose to come home, while at least a dozen were in a constant rotation of family friends or foreign nobles seeking a place to stay.
“This feels more like a home,” Frances said without thinking after Nathaniel finished his tour of the interior.
“This is where we spend most of our time. With Rebecca’s season, we had to be in London, but it will never be home.”
“Not even…when you were younger?” she asked, not wanting to directly ask if the change happened when his parents died.
“My mother loved balls, or rather dancing. When we hosted house parties and masquerades, I could sit at the top of the stairs and watch the magic happen. Rules of propriety are less strict in the country, so we could go riding and fence and swim and do whatever we pleased with whomever. You wouldn’t know it now, from how prim and proper they pretend to be, but Lizzie and Sarah made the best pirates.
Even Tom—St. John, I mean—couldn’t cross. ”
“The viscount?”
“He grew up nearby, before he inherited, though his new estate isn’t too far. I have nothing but fond memories of growing up here.” Nathaniel sighed. “What about you?”
“We never came to the country. My mother doesn’t care for it.”
“But you do?” he guessed, given her favorite pastime.
“I love it,” she told him honestly. “I get along much better with things that don’t speak.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“How so?”
“My sisters take advantage of loosened rules to talk. Some might say too much.”
“To our heart’s content.” Grace walked over with Rebecca, neither looking the least bit offended. “Luckily, we already love her.”
“And they eavesdrop,” Nathaniel added before they all exchanged greetings and hugs.
“We thought the rain would have delayed you, but it cleared up beautifully,” Rebecca shared.
“Don’t you have lessons?” Nathaniel asked Grace before turning to Rebecca. “And James assured me he would escort you to—”
“I finished my lessons while it was pouring. You may quiz me,” Grace offered pertly.
“And I told James I would stay with Grace, then return with you. I was invited to a party at Lord Markham’s, and—”
“And James shouldn’t have to see that troll flirting with every oaf who’s got a title.”
“Grace Louise Sutton!” There was warning in his eyes, but Grace just rolled hers.
“What? She definitely is, and Frances is family now.”
“Why is Miss—”
“A troll?” Grace finished, getting another look.
“She dropped James on the grounds that he led her on, which means she was only after the title, not him, so regardless of names we could call her—”
“A troll,” Grace supplied.
“She doesn’t deserve our brother.” Rebecca was more diplomatic, but her disdain and lack of respect for the woman were clear, and spoke volumes.
“He lied about…because of me?” Frances understood.
“Not because of you,” Rebecca argued. “She felt the heir to an unwed older brother who swore off marriage was more promising than the heir to a married one, but James has two older brothers, which means—”
“That she is a terrible human being,” Grace finished.
Frances still felt responsible, but she forced herself to smile.
“Has Nathaniel shown you the ducklings?”
“Only the inside so far.” Frances assumed the ducks would be outdoors, but she had seen ponds with frogs and all sorts of creatures at some of the more opulent balls she’d attended.
“It’s almost time for dinner,” Nathaniel warned.
“It won’t take long.” Grace pulled Frances outside, while Nathaniel stayed back with Rebecca.
“It’s ready once the ground dries,” Rebecca filled Nathaniel in on the surprise he’d been organizing.
“Frances doesn’t mind the mud.” He watched his wife go off with Grace, then looked back to see Rebecca smiling at him. “What?”
“I remember your father chasing us with his hands covered in dirt after helping your mother in the garden. Lizzie and I would run to your mother, thinking she would be an ally, but she would bop us on the nose with the most innocent smile.”
“Are you saying dirt is something that reminds you of my parents?”
“More than mine,” she pointed out.
Her mother, his aunt, had always smelled like vanilla, soothing and familiar, but her father had an antiseptic scent you had to overcome when you first met him. Nathaniel’s father was the man he hoped to live up to, but his uncle had nurtured his love of science and mathematics.
“I think they would have—”
“Don’t say it,” he warned.
“I still mean it,” Rebecca insisted. “And in a good way, not the shameful one you take it as.”
“Are you enjoying your season? Should I be worried about you being here, away from society?”
“You don’t need to worry now you have Frances,” she teased.
“And my season is everything I thought it would be and more. Lady Markham has the annual tea party out here, there’s a house party ball Lizzie told me I couldn’t possibly miss, and you must remember that if my goal is to find a husband who loves the country as much as we do, I am much more likely to find him in the country. ”
“It appears you don’t even need me.”
“I’ll always need you,” she assured him. “Though if you took a step back to enjoy some time with your new wife, Lizzie would be happy to force James to fill your shoes.”
The mere thought of the hoops Lizzie would put James through for the benefit of Becca’s future happiness brought involuntary laughter.
“See, we were hardly gone a minute, and now Frances knows a dozen more of the estate’s inhabitants,” Grace announced upon their return.
“Rather fuzzy, but very polite.”
Frances said it with such a straight face that the three of them burst out laughing.
“If only all our bipeds were as well-mannered,” Nathaniel mock-lamented, but he felt lighter than he had in a long time.
“I don’t even need to understand that word to know he means me.” Grace sighed and rolled her eyes before dragging Frances to the dining room.