Page 36 of When She Loved Me
“Letters to post, and some trivial business matters,” he answered. “Nothing of import. And what had you been reading so animatedly when I came upon you in the bookstore?”
“Animatedly?”
“My dear, your hand was fisted, and your brow furrowed to such an extent, I pitied the character whose thoughts or words or actions had instigated such rapt furor.”
“That dreadful Mr. Darcy,” she said, recalling exactly which passage had wrought so disagreeable a mien. “Or rather, when he was dreadful.”
“Ah, yes, he prevailed, did he not? Won the hand of the fair Miss Bennet if I recall.”
“Lord Leven, are you supposing I am to believe that you’ve actually read Miss Austen’s novel?”
“Not at all, but you may suppose that I once suffered a dinner partner who spent all of the blessed seven courses, giving a full account of Miss Austen’s story, to such effect that even if I had been inclined to have purchased the fiction, I might have saved myself the time and monies, for the lady in question not only offered a complete and thorough chapter by chapter recounting, but then also her own review of the manuscript, that I felt I was indeed on rather intimate terms with the entire Bennet clan and Mr. Darcy as well.”
Nicole couldn’t help herself but laughed out loud at this picture, of the powerful and some might say unapproachable Earl of Leven having been trapped by politeness and forced to endure possibly several hours’ worth of a retelling ofPride and Prejudice. “Could you not claim illness?” She asked through her laughter. “Or possibly some remembrance of a prior engagement, to have vacated your position at her side?”
“Possibly, but the dinner was at my own home.”
Franklin stepped forward and announced that dinner was to be served now. Trevor stood and offered his hand to Nicole, who rose carefully and allowed her husband to lead her to the smaller of the two dining rooms. Trevor released her hand when they’d reached one end of the table, where Henry stood behind that chair. While Trevor made his way to the head of the table, where stood Charlie, Nicole turned and winked at Henry, standing so seriously at attention. The boy smiled at her but only quickly before Trevor faced Nicole again, indicating with a nod that she should sit. Charlie and Henry moved at the same time, pushing their chairs in as they sat. The boys disappeared then, and Franklin moved about the table, refilling first Nicole’s glass and then the earls before taking up a sentinel position near thesideboard. The boys returned shortly, each carrying a circular tray, conveying the first course of soup to the lord and lady.
Nicole had only enjoyed one taste off the side of the spoon of Abby’s fabulous pea soup when a long curling tress flashed before her eyes, falling away from the main structure and dangling down across one side of her face. While she stared at it, she was aware that Trevor’s spoon was arrested halfway to his mouth, though his jaw still gaped. And his lips twitched.
“Do not sit there laughing at me,” she said, noticing the pin still held at the end of the fallen lock. “Come and fix this.”
“Me?”
Believing no help coming from his end, she picked up the offending tress, which drooped nearly into her soup and lifted it out and up, attempting to guess where she might reattach it.
“Oh, what a hobble! She will be crushed if I return with it in shambles.”
Trevor set down his napkin on the table next to his soup and walked the length of the table. At her side, he accepted the loosed lock of hair and wondered aloud what might be done with it. “Shall I just squish it into the bulk of it? How does this pin work—oh, I see.” Nicole felt some pressure against the left side of her head, but only closed her eyes at the nearness of him, his waist just at eye level should she turn. “Voilà, and there you have it,” he said then, and she opened her eyes to find him standing there still. She sensed his hand hovering near her exposed neck. She breathed slowly, her coiffure forgotten.
The door from the kitchens swung open again, and they were reminded that they were not alone; Franklin had remained at his position even before the footmen returned now with items to add to the first course. Trevor retook his seat just as Charlieand Henry set down individual dishes of lamb cotelletes and artichokes in cream sauce beside each of them.
The boys remained now, only standing stiffly, side by side, several paces away from the table. Nicole concentrated on the food, slightly unnerved at the thought of making conversation with her husband under the sure scrutiny of Franklin and now the boys as well.
The earl seemed less troubled by the very idea.
“I had a visit from your grandmother some weeks ago,” he said casually.
Nicole nearly spit out the spoonful of soup she’d just sipped.
“A visit?” She wondered, recalling her grandmother’s extreme distaste of what she perceived as,a completely unacceptable arrangement that must end now or by the saints, I’ll have him flayed alive. “Or, trial by fire?”
Trevor’s lips quirked. “An amazing woman, with some very critical opinions on certain matters.”
That was an understatement, she knew well and good, and as confirmed by the gleam in his eye. But for their audience, she might have inquired if this, then, was what had finally brought him round to Lesser House. Instead, she only commented, “We saw grandmother only this past Christmas.”
“A remarkable woman,” he said. “Truly, I will look forward to meeting her again.”
Quiet then, while they enjoyed the fare and considered other topics of conversation, though Nicole sadly recalled that there had been a time when words between them flowed quite effortlessly.
“I’ve sent for Timsby, my valet,” he said shortly.
“Good Lord, how long are you staying?” That just fell out of her mouth. Nicole clamped her lips and stole a glance at the footmen, who were doing a superb job of pretending they had no sense of hearing. “I only meant... you must have so many affairs that require your attention in London.”
Trevor’s dark eyes showed a restrained indulgence as he met her gaze, and he said, quite pointedly, “There are many affairs here that require my attention, first and foremost.”
Nicole tried to ignore this, but his eyes upon her so piercing and heated just now, brought a flush to her cheeks and a swift recollection of his kiss only hours ago.
