raisins.”
“I’ll have a word with him, and then perhaps I can have my breakfast and finish waking up. In peace.” For she would not have peace while Fairly was with her. She would feel safe, though, which was a puzzle.
“You will have a significant amount of peace, my dear. I am, as noted, off to spend some time with my sisters, then I’ll hie myself to Kent, where I’m told the estates are going to ruin without my guiding hand. I expect I’ll be gone for at least three weeks, probably longer, and I wanted to leave you my directions in case you have need of me.”
Well, good. He drove her to distraction with his cheek kissing and scone sharing. “Won’t Mr. Jennings be about to deal with emergencies?”
“No, he will not.” He peeled raisins off the scone one by one and made even that undertaking look elegant. “Jennings has some leave coming, and then he’ll join me in Kent. Watkins will be on hand, and I’ll leave a messenger here for emergencies.”
“We’ll manage adequately without you.” Pray God, they would.
“It is my fondest hope that you will. I’m overdue for a family visit.”
Maybe it was the way he denuded his scone of raisins, like a small boy, or maybe it was because she was finally waking up, but Letty didn’t want him to leave yet.
“Tell me about them. Your sisters, their children, where they live…”
She hadn’t realized, when she’d asked the question, how his reply would torture her. He warmed to the topic easily, prosing on at length about sisters, in-laws, nieces, and nephews, until scones, raisins, and even the tea in his cup were apparently forgotten.
“You love these people,” Letty said, “and you love to be with them. Why haven’t you set up your own nursery? Surely there’s some competitive, male part of you that’s tempted to jump into the race?”
He swept the discarded raisins into a pile on his plate and dusted his hands. “Felicity and Astrid regard my marriage as inevitable, and my brothers-in-law think duty to the title will also see me to the altar, but some of us were meant to be parents, and some of us were meant to be only uncles.”
Thinking of Danny, Letty nodded.
“You just went far away, Letty-love. I did not mean to be grim.”
“You don’t sound grim; you sound resigned.” As she was resigned.
His brows rose, though Letty was learning to read the warning signs. She stole three raisins off his plate lest he ask an inconvenient question.
“Was there something you wanted to ask me about other than my growing family?” he inquired.
“Yes, but it’s… delicate.”
He nudged the plate with its raisins a few inches toward her and crossed his arms, while somebody back in the kitchen started singing a naughty song in French. “If it’s about money, Letty, be blunt.”
“It isn’t about money,” Letty said, stealing three more raisins lest they go to waste. “It’s about the ladies. They all… Their menses all occur… They’re nearly synchronized, somehow, all of them.”
“What?” He looked not appalled, but interested, the way a biologist would be fascinated with symptoms of a new lethal disease.
“Every woman in this house has started getting her menses the very same week, most of them on the same day.”
“Fascinating.”
And the week before this fascinating phenomenon, the household was treated to felony assaults, hysterics, sulks, fights, and endless raids on the kitchen.
“Fascinating, if we’re talking about a convent or a girls’ school, but we’re not.”
“What do the women say?” He still looked intrigued, which tickled a fact from the back of Letty’s mind: prior to assuming the title, his lordship had first apprenticed to a ship’s surgeon and then trained as a physician. His employees hoarded up such details about him, which would probably make him uncomfortable if he knew.
“It’s common, apparently,” Letty said, arranging her cutlery so she’d be less tempted to sneak more
“I’ll have a word with him, and then perhaps I can have my breakfast and finish waking up. In peace.” For she would not have peace while Fairly was with her. She would feel safe, though, which was a puzzle.
“You will have a significant amount of peace, my dear. I am, as noted, off to spend some time with my sisters, then I’ll hie myself to Kent, where I’m told the estates are going to ruin without my guiding hand. I expect I’ll be gone for at least three weeks, probably longer, and I wanted to leave you my directions in case you have need of me.”
Well, good. He drove her to distraction with his cheek kissing and scone sharing. “Won’t Mr. Jennings be about to deal with emergencies?”
“No, he will not.” He peeled raisins off the scone one by one and made even that undertaking look elegant. “Jennings has some leave coming, and then he’ll join me in Kent. Watkins will be on hand, and I’ll leave a messenger here for emergencies.”
“We’ll manage adequately without you.” Pray God, they would.
“It is my fondest hope that you will. I’m overdue for a family visit.”
Maybe it was the way he denuded his scone of raisins, like a small boy, or maybe it was because she was finally waking up, but Letty didn’t want him to leave yet.
“Tell me about them. Your sisters, their children, where they live…”
She hadn’t realized, when she’d asked the question, how his reply would torture her. He warmed to the topic easily, prosing on at length about sisters, in-laws, nieces, and nephews, until scones, raisins, and even the tea in his cup were apparently forgotten.
“You love these people,” Letty said, “and you love to be with them. Why haven’t you set up your own nursery? Surely there’s some competitive, male part of you that’s tempted to jump into the race?”
He swept the discarded raisins into a pile on his plate and dusted his hands. “Felicity and Astrid regard my marriage as inevitable, and my brothers-in-law think duty to the title will also see me to the altar, but some of us were meant to be parents, and some of us were meant to be only uncles.”
Thinking of Danny, Letty nodded.
“You just went far away, Letty-love. I did not mean to be grim.”
“You don’t sound grim; you sound resigned.” As she was resigned.
His brows rose, though Letty was learning to read the warning signs. She stole three raisins off his plate lest he ask an inconvenient question.
“Was there something you wanted to ask me about other than my growing family?” he inquired.
“Yes, but it’s… delicate.”
He nudged the plate with its raisins a few inches toward her and crossed his arms, while somebody back in the kitchen started singing a naughty song in French. “If it’s about money, Letty, be blunt.”
“It isn’t about money,” Letty said, stealing three more raisins lest they go to waste. “It’s about the ladies. They all… Their menses all occur… They’re nearly synchronized, somehow, all of them.”
“What?” He looked not appalled, but interested, the way a biologist would be fascinated with symptoms of a new lethal disease.
“Every woman in this house has started getting her menses the very same week, most of them on the same day.”
“Fascinating.”
And the week before this fascinating phenomenon, the household was treated to felony assaults, hysterics, sulks, fights, and endless raids on the kitchen.
“Fascinating, if we’re talking about a convent or a girls’ school, but we’re not.”
“What do the women say?” He still looked intrigued, which tickled a fact from the back of Letty’s mind: prior to assuming the title, his lordship had first apprenticed to a ship’s surgeon and then trained as a physician. His employees hoarded up such details about him, which would probably make him uncomfortable if he knew.
“It’s common, apparently,” Letty said, arranging her cutlery so she’d be less tempted to sneak more
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