Page 75 of Everything But the Earl
Grace took a deep breath. “I love my son. He makes me happy. I think once I make things right with my husband, I will feel a lot better. I just need to figure out how to do that.”
Catrin nodded. “Have a frank conversation. Apologize.”
“Yes.”
Grace changed the subject to pottery, and Catrin told a story about something one of her sons got into the other day, but Grace was only half listening.
Then Owen came home.
Grace could hear the commotion when Owen entered the house, and his voice drifted down the hall as he spoke with Driscoll or whoever had greeted him at the door. Driscoll must have directed him down the hall, because suddenly Owen was in the doorway.
Catrin shot to her feet, so Grace stood as well.
Formally, she said, “My lord, let me present my friend, Catrin Davies. Catrin, may I introduce you to my husband, the Earl of Caernarfon.”
Owen strode into the room. “We need not be so formal. I usuallygo by Caernarfon or Owen.”
“I go by Catrin, if that was not clear.”
As he was clearly trained, he took Catrin’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “It is nice to finally meet you. Grace has spoken of you a great deal.”
“All good things, I hope.”
“Yes, of course. She speaks highly of you. I appreciate that you’ve been a friend to her while I’ve been London.”
“It has been my pleasure.”
“Well. I merely wanted to drop in to say hello. I have some things to attend to. I shall leave you ladies to your tea. Are you staying for dinner, Catrin?”
“No, I must attend to my own brood.”
“Of course. Well, I’ll be off. Enjoy yourselves.”
“Thank you, Owen,” said Grace.
He nodded and left.
Grace sat back down and took a fortifying sip of tea.
“Well,” said Catrin, retaking her own seat. “I can certainly see why you’d want to resume marital relations.”
“Catrin!”
“He’s very handsome, your husband. He has some charm.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I suppose I expected someone older. I met the previous earl a time or two, and he was elderly when he passed, so I assumed his son would be older, but he is not much older than you are.”
“No.”
“Men do tend to take their time getting ready for marriage, whereas we ladies are often pushed out of our homes before we turn twenty.”
“Yes, well. I was a bit on the shelf because of a betrothal that was never going to end in marriage.”
“Yes, you’ve told me this story. And look where you are now!”
“With a husband who can barely stand to look at me.”
