“How are their parents enjoying Kent?” Mama asked.
“They only left the children here yesterday, and we haven’t heard from them yet. But they looked very happy as they left,” Patience said, taking a seat with a smile. Sophia had looked radiant. The month with her husband home had done her well.
Berta, their new maid—who was forty-five years old with a stern face—brought the children in.
“Miss Patience,” Harry said as he ran across the room to give her a hug. They hadn’t had much time to see each other yet. Harry had only mumbled that they had been practicing some songs before being carted off to bed. “You met Father.”
“Yes, I did, and he is a wonderful man. No wonder you missed him so much.”
“Now Mama smiles like a duck all the time.”
“And you and Augusta are also smiling like ducks, I see.”
“Really?” Harry beamed.
“Truly.”
“Lady Ottersby,” Nicholas barked from the seat next to her.
“What?” Patience turned to ask him.
“Young man, that woman whose skirts you are holding is not Miss Patience. She is Lady Ottersby, and before she was Lady Ottersby, she was Lady Patience Kendrick. She has never been a miss.”
“Harry, you are welcome to call me whatever you like.” She pointed to Nicholas. “This is my brother, Nicholas, the Duke of Harrington. He will probably want you to call him ‘Your Grace.’”
“It isn’t that I want people to call me that.” Nicholas cleared his throat. “It is, however, customary.”
“Your Grace.” Harry made a very serious, very low bow. Augusta tried to imitate him but got off balance and had to straighten up abruptly.
“A pleasure to meet you, Harry, Augusta,” Nicholas greeted them as formally as he would a peer.
“I hear you are going to perform some music for us,” Mama said. “Would you like me to accompany you on the piano?”
Harry and Augusta nodded.
Mama left her seat and went to the piano. The children walked to her side, Augusta skipping a little. Harry leaned forward and whispered in Mama’s ear. She nodded and started to play a child’s tune. The children started to sing. Augusta’s voice faded in and out depending on which words she knew, but Harry sang strong and well.
After about twenty minutes of children’s songs, Anthony pulled out his pocket watch. It must be almost time for their walk in the garden. They clapped extra loud on the children’s last song and then begged to be excused.
“Just a few more?” Harry asked. “Your mother plays the piano very well.”
“What if Nicholas stays to listen for a bit, and you can practice something special to sing to us when we get back.”
Anthony placed a hand on Patience’s arm. “We don’t need to walk today. It is fine.”
“Nonsense, it is 11:15. It is our habit to walk in the garden at 11:15.” Truthfully, they had missed a few days since marrying, but Patience had learned a few things since she had left home, and one of them was that although Nicholas may have been right and it was time she took life more seriously, he didn’t have life figured out either. Nicholas needed to find some time to relax and remember the young man he used to be. What better way to do that than by spending time with Harry and Augusta? Patience wished she could make it a weekly occurrence. “Nicholas, we will be back in fifteen minutes.”
Nicholas eyed the children first, then stood and followed them to the door. “Lord Ottersby, may I have a moment with my sister?”
“Of course.”
Nicholas and Patience stepped into the corridor outside the music room.
“You are going to leave me here alone with those rascals?”
“They are not rascals, and you won’t be alone. Mama is there.”
His look did nothing to convey comfort in her words.
“It is just for a few moments while we go for a walk.”
“Shouldn’t I come with you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“For the same reason you shouldn’t have mentioned my hair when you entered the music room. Anthony and I enjoy being alone together. The last thing you would want to do is be on a walk with the two of us. You were the one who made us wait three months to be married; you can’t begrudge us our time now that we are.”
That quieted him. Who would have thought that being married would have given her so much power over her brother?
He went back in the room, and Anthony came out. “Should I ask His Grace to join us?”
“Please don’t.”
“I feel strange leaving in the middle of a visit. We really don’t have to walk today.”
“I want to, and what is more, I think Harry and Augusta will be good for Nicholas.”
Anthony shrugged his shoulders and put his arm out so Patience could take it. They went to fetch Ollie first so he could join them on their walk. She had debated leaving him with Nicholas when they married, but Nicholas didn’t care for Ollie the way she did. When she’d asked if they could have him, Nicholas’s response was “He has always been yours.”
“You know, when you first told me of Ollie, I hadn’t thought he would be quite so large.” Anthony laughed as he gently lowered Ollie’s front legs back down to the ground. Ollie only jumped up on people when they greeted him enthusiastically, and Anthony had made the mistake of leaning down and speaking to him just as soon as he was out of his kennel.
“Well, I did say he reminded me of you.”
“That is the reason? Because of my size?”
“That and other things.”
Anthony laid a hand on Ollie’s head, which calmed him immediately. There was a brisk wind in the air, but the sun was shining. He turned to Patience, and his eyes reflected that light. “What other things?”
Patience shook her head. “I’m not you; it isn’t as though I have a list.”
“I would almost never tell someone they should be more like me, but in this one instance, I am quite disappointed. That is one list I would love to see.”
“I suppose I could tell you a few of the reasons.”
Anthony dropped his hand from Ollie’s head and stepped toward Patience. His eyes traveled from the curls at the nape of her neck to her lips.
“Don’t tell me.” His face was only inches from her own, and his breath tickled her cheek. “Write it down in a careful column, and I will read it anytime you are cross with me.”