Page 36 of Secrets of the Marriage Bed
The boy’s face fell as he realised he was not going to be invited to see it.
‘What are you doing in these parts, Luke?’ Alistair asked. ‘I understood you were in Yorkshire.’
Lord Luke hesitated, then squared his shoulders. ‘My employer died. The new owner of the estate did not need my services. Beauworth took me on.’
Alistair’s expression darkened. ‘Did he now?’
His brother glared back. ‘Alistair, it is none of your business where—’
‘You are right, it is none of my business,’ Alistair said with indifference, yet he was not looking at his brother, he had once more turned his hungry gaze on his nephew. ‘Since you are in the district, perhaps you would like to bring Jeffrey to visit the stables. I’ve a couple of steady beasts looking for a home.’
His half-brother shot him a look of impatience when his son once again pinned him with a look full of small boy hope.
Feeling uncomfortable, Julia cast around for a way to ease the tension.
Perhaps this, at last, was something she could do for her husband. Heal the breach in the family. Or at least establish some sort of cordial relationship, so Alistair wouldn’t be quite so isolated. ‘We would be delighted if you and your wife would come for tea one afternoon. You could bring the boys and visit the stables?’
Jeffrey’s face blanched. His gaze flew to his father’s face, which had turned to stone. ‘I am a widower, Your Grace.’
And Alistair hadn’t seen fit to warn her. She wanted to shout at him. Or gallop over the nearest rise. ‘I beg your pardon. I did not know.’ She straightened her spine. ‘The offer of tea remains.’
A wry smile twisted Lord Luke’s lips as he looked at his brother.
Alistair bowed. ‘Please let my secretary know when your duties at Beauworth will permit it and he will check our engagements.’
Julia wanted to lash out at him for his stiff unwelcoming formality. All she could do was smile.
Lord Luke moved his horse closer to his brother and lowered his voice, clearly wishing to speak privately.
Julia smiled at Jeffrey and moved out of earshot. ‘You picked a good morning to go riding with your papa.’
The boy patted his pony’s neck. ‘The lads needed an outing and Papa needed to look at one of the drainage ditches.’ He sounded as if a tree fort might have been a much more enjoyable prospect. Yet Julia admired the father for taking his boy with him. Boys needed their father’s guidance.
Her own brother had certainly received none.
‘I appreciate the forewarning,’ Alistair said when his brother finished muttering. It was a rudeness she decided to ignore. A glance of understanding passed between the brothers, yet it held little warmth. Julia understood perfectly. She and her brothers had been out of charity with each other for years.
Lord Luke touched his whip to his hat. ‘Good day, Your Graces. Duty calls. Come along, Jeffrey.’ He clapped heels to his horse’s sides and took off at a steady trot.
The boy bowed and trotted after him.
Alistair watched them go, then turned Thor towards Sackfield.
Julia waited until they had turned into a lane that ran at right angles before speaking. ‘Is he your only sibling?’
‘He is.’
‘You do not like him?’
‘My brother has every cause to dislike me.’
The bleakness in his expression forbade further questions. What was it that his brother had imparted that made Alistair look more like a threatening storm than usual?
It was not her place to pry, despite the better understanding they seemed to have reached over these past two days and the kiss they had shared. Instead she tipped her face to look up at the sky. ‘I think this is one of those times when Jaimie will be proved wrong about the weather.’
From the corner of her eye, she saw him shoot her a piercing glance, but some of his tension seemed to evaporate. ‘It appears so.’
