Page 31 of Sensibly Wed

“I do not mind the rain.” I cut my tomato into even smaller pieces. “It makes for a good excuse to remain indoors and read.”

Henry chuckled. “There is no arguing with such sound reasoning.”

“Perhaps we can pray for a little more rain so I won’t be required to attend my bride visits.”

Henry’s responding chuckle did not sound as cheerful as before, and he pushed his kippers about a little more on his plate. “I do not know why I selected these,” he said softly. “I cannot abide fish of any type.”

I glanced up sharply and laughed. “Indeed? Perhaps you are as nervous as I.”

He scrubbed a hand over his chin, and the gesture reminded me of James last night in my doorway, his shirtfront open and his handsome eyes on me. The brothers did not look at all similar—their noses and the shapes of their eyes were nothing alike, one had curly hair and the other relatively straight—but they shared some of the same mannerisms.

“Undoubtedly more so,” he said.

“Mr. Bradwell—”

“Call me Henry, please,” he said, softening the request with a smile. “We are brother and sister now, after all.”

I swallowed. “Very well, Henry. I wouldn’t wish to make you uncomfortable in your own home. If my presence here is causing you distress or making you feel the need to escape—”

Benedict came into the room with James on his tail, both men in riding clothes and windswept hair, and I clamped my mouth closed. The interruption was ill-timed. I could not despair about their riding attire, however. What a blessed relief. If James rode with his brother, then I would never be forced to tell him how very much I disliked the activity.

Henry rose. “I am going to fill a new plate.”

James glanced from me to Henry’s plate. “Kippers? You hate fish.”

“I wasn’t thinking,” Henry said.

“What is new?” Benedict grinned from the sideboard. “You likely had a book in your hand while you filled your plate. Am I wrong?”

Benedict raised his eyebrows to me, and I couldn’t help but smile. “You are not wrong, sir.”

“Please, call me Benedict. We are brother and sister now, you know.”

“Funny.” I gave him a smile. “Henry said the same thing. You will call me Felicity, I hope?”

James took the open seat beside me. He reached over me for Henry’s untouched plate and slid the kippers onto his own. Benedict winked from the sideboard, and I turned my attention to James. “How good of you to avoid waste.”

He sent me a soft smile. “Henry would never eat them. He must have been extremely distracted in order to dish kippers for himself.”

I had nothing to say. There was no true reason for anything to be uncomfortable between Henry and me, anyway. We had never come to any sort of understanding. In fact, if I had not married James, I might never have seen Henry again.

James speared a kipper. “I have an activity in mind for us this morning, if you are available.”

“I’m not sure I am. Your mother would like to order cards so I might deliver them to your neighbors for bride visits, and she mentioned finding a maid for me.”

“Perhaps I can convince Mother to forego that for today. We can go for a ride this afternoon, instead.”

I choked on a bite of my toast and coughed, taking the glass of water James offered to clear my throat. That was his intended activity? “Ride? On a horse?”

“Well, I would not mind riding a stag, but that might prove tricky.”

I couldn’t help but laugh and covered my mouth with my napkin. After taking another sip of water, I leaned back in my seat. Henry and Benedict were seated now, Henry’s plate now devoid of fish.

“Did you not just return from riding?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” James said.

Benedict lifted an eyebrow. “That was not a bruising ride, Felicity, but merely an exploration mission to determine the depth of the repair we’ll need to order for the rut.”

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