Page 83 of Enticing the Devil

“I’m feeling a great deal better. Unfortunately, I still tire rather easily. I have to be honest; I haven’t been ill like that since I was a child.” She gave a little scowl. “I can’t say I appreciate the experience.”

“Which is exactly why it’s time for you to work less and find some more restful hobbies to occupy your time.” This was said by Eirwyn as the young woman entered the room with a large serving tray. Her tone was admonishing, but a smile tilted her mouth as she set the tray on the table.

The older woman gave a snort of derision but did not voice a contradiction to her daughter’s observation.

In efficient movements, Eirwyn settled an empty tray across her mother’s lap to which she transferred a steaming cup of tea and a plate of eggs and sausage. After serving her mother, the girl took the chair across the table from Anne.

“I hope you don’t mind a simple breakfast, my lady. I’m afraid our stores don’t currently provide options for anything elaborate.”

“Everything smells wonderful.” Catching the girl’s eye, she added, “And please, I hope you’ll call me Anne.”

The girl gave a half-smile and nodded.

“Now,” her mother said as she lifted her fork, “as Gwaynynog’s new mistress, I imagine there’s a great deal you’d like to know about the place. Where shall we start?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Anne admitted freely. “I’m afraid my education is rather lacking in this regard.”

“Of course, fy annwyl,” Glynnis said with a pat on her hand. “It’ll take some time to adjust, no doubt.”

“For us, as well,” Eirwyn noted bluntly, a hint of annoyance in her tone. “It might have been nice for Beynon to send some sort of notice regarding his nuptials.”

“Everything happened rather suddenly,” Anne noted in Beynon’s defense, “otherwise, I’m certain Beynon would have sent word.”

Eirwyn gave a soft snort of disbelief and her mother laughed.

“He might have, though he just as likely might not have,” Glynnis replied. “That son of mine has always been stubborn about doing things his own way.”

“Regardless of what anyone might say,” Eirwyn interjected with a roll of her eyes, which incited another chuckle from her mother.

Though they were criticizing a man who wasn’t even present to defend himself, Anne suspected by the warmth in their voices that it was done with love and she couldn’t help adding a comment of her own. “Even if it results in getting lost in a maze until after dark.”

Two pairs of dark eyes widened with surprise before Eirwyn noted with amusement, “Oh my, I imagine that got him quite heated.”

“Indeed,” Anne replied with a gentle grin. “But we managed to find our way out. Once he started listening to me, that is,” she added pointedly.

Glynnis cleared her throat to say with a smirk, “Well, it’s good to know he can be reasonable on occasion.”

“It would certainly be a new trick,” Eirwyn noted skeptically before turning to Anne with an earnest expression. “Please don’t get me wrong. My brother can be a terrible grouch. He can be frustratingly stubborn and overly protective. But he is undeniably devoted to his family. And we are quite grateful for him.”

“And now you are also part of this family,” Glynnis noted as she met Anne’s gaze. “I sincerely hope we don’t make you rue that fact.”

“Never,” Anne noted quickly and honestly. She might not have the greatest hope for her relationship with Beynon, but she was optimistic when it came to the rest of the family, which she was quickly coming to adore. “Although such a full household is a very new experience for me, I’m quite prepared to love every moment of it.”

Just as she finished speaking, a shrill scream sounded from downstairs. It was followed by swiftly running feet and Carys’s small voice yelling, “Mam! Mam, Daryn smeared mud in my hair.”

The accused boy reached the open doorway a moment before his little sister to add, “Only after she”—he pointed a sharp finger toward the girl who came up beside him with an undeniable streak of brown muck coating one of her braids—“put a giant frog on my pillow.”

Carys’s smile managed to be mischievous and innocent at once. “He just wants to be friends.”

The children’s mother sighed heavily as she turned a pointed gaze to Anne. “I suspect we might have to remind you of that sentiment every now and then.”

“Daily, no doubt,” Eirwyn offered in a dry tone as she set down her tea and rose to her feet. “I’ll take care of it.”

As the young woman herded the smaller children back downstairs, interrupting their impassioned pleas for justice with a firm and patient tone, a strange tension filled Anne’s chest, squeezing around her heart. The Thomas household was exactly what she used to wish she’d had while growing up. Laughter, activity, companionship, loyalty, and love.

Regardless of what happened in her marriage going forward, she wanted to embrace all that it meant to feel like a part of this family. Even if she hadn’t the slightest idea where to start.

“What is the matter, fy annwyl?”

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