Realm 06 - A Touch of Love (21 page)

It was near dusk when the carriage rolled into Maryborne’s parkland. They had stopped twice for meals and a third time to change horses. Mr. Watkins knew when to push the animals and when to slack off to get the most from the team. “Is that the house?” Simon called excitedly from the coach as the manor had come into view. Over the evening meal, Carter had disclosed the fact his sister and the earl had a six-year-old son named
Ethan
and a four-year-old daughter called
Lisette
. The boy anticipated having new playmates.

Carter brought Prime along side the coach. “Yes. We will be there within minutes.” When the boy’s head disappeared inside the coach, Carter had imagined Mrs. Warren straightening the child’s clothing before they disembarked. It was a very maternal picture, and he found it brought an easy smile to his lips.

Carter rode ahead and dismounted as the manor’s door swung wide to reveal his sister. He had promised the baroness he would call regularly upon his siblings, but he had only traveled to Lincolnshire once in the past six months. He knew instant regret at having failed his mother. However, in his defense, he had visited with Maria and the new grandchild in Staffordshire three times. Harry was a delightful child, and Carter loved the role of adoring uncle. He had also joined Delia and Viscount Duff in Warwickshire twice. Their daughter Catherine was two and her father’s “princess.”

With Maria and Delia, Carter could spend an evening or a week. Neither chastised him for always being in a rush to return to his governmental obligations. Louisa, on the other hand, rarely accepted his responsibilities as reason for his absence. Her insistence upon his tarrying with her kept Carter from calling more often.

“Carter!” she called as she rushed to embrace him. Although Louisa was his oldest sister, she was petite, like their mother and Delia. Maria was tall for a woman, but Viscount Sheffield had not minded. “Harry will be a tall, strapping youth,” the viscount had declared lovingly when the brothers had teased their middle sister.

He caught Louisa up in his arms, lifting her feet from the ground and spinning her the way he had done since he had grown six inches in one year in his early teens. “You always smell of lemons, Louisa,” he said jovially.

His sister slapped at his chest. “Put me down,” she protested, but girlish giggles filled the air.

“Easy with how you handle my wife,” Ernest Hutton, the Earl of McLauren, warned from where he waited his turn to greet Carter. “Those are fragile goods.”

Carter placed his sister down gently. “Fragile, are we?” he said with a smile. “Does that mean the baroness will return early for another lying in?”

His sister blushed, but nodded as Carter extended his hand to Hutton. “Congratulations. When might you call me ‘Uncle’ again?”

The earl claimed Carter’s hand. “Early November.” Hutton looked up as the coach rolled into the circle. “Surely that is not your carriage, Lowery?”

“No,” Carter said softly. “It is let. I will explain all much later, but please accept those within as your house guests.”

“Of course,” Hutton assured. The earl reached for Louisa’s hand. “Come, Countess, your brother has brought guests to brighten our day.”

Cater could observe the manipulation forming in Louisa’s mind the moment his sister drew Mrs. Warren’s acquaintance. His oldest sister meant to play matchmaker, but not for him. She meant to place the lady in Mr. Monroe’s way. Carter was certainly not seeking a connection, but could not Louisa plainly
observe the woman held too much worldly experience for a man of Monroe’s limited insights? His assistant had not served in the war nor had Monroe traveled abroad. He had no commonality with Mrs. Warren.

“This is wonderful,” Louisa gushed. They had enjoyed light refreshments in the yellow drawing room after Monroe had excused himself for the evening. “We received news yesterday that Lawrence and Arabella will join us for a few days on their return to Blake’s Run. I expect them some time tomorrow. It will be pleasant to have both my brothers together under my roof.”

Carter glanced to Mrs. Warren. He had not wished to expose her to too many strangers in one sitting, but thoughts of his brother’s wife having the measure of Mrs. Warren pleased him. Although she was the granddaughter of the Earl of Vaughn, the former Arabella Tilney had been reared in America and was a bit hoydenish in an adorably adventurous manner. He thought Mrs. Warren could benefit from Arabella’s confidence and from his sister in marriage’s acknowledgement. “I was unaware Lord and Lady Hellsman had departed Scotland.”

“Our brother reports of an outbreak of typhus in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. He removed his wife from danger,” Louisa shared. Law’s news had put one of Carter’s escape routes on hold. If someone continued to pursue her, he had thought he might send Mrs. Warren and the boy to his family’s Scottish estate.

Hutton shared, “My countess is hoping the future baron’s actions prove an heir is anticipated on Lawrence’s part.”

Carter teased, “Not every couple is so anxious to set up their nursery as were you and Hutton, Louisa.”

His sister flicked his taunt away with a brush of her wrist. “It is a woman’s providence to bear children. It is how England will survive,” she declared. “Would you not agree, Mrs. Warren?”

Carter saw Lucinda flinch. “I have no family, Lady McLauren, and I have been a widow for over three years. I lost Captain Warren after the Battle of Vitoria during the Peninsular campaign.”

“But I thought…” Louisa began.

As if recognizing her discomfort, Carter explained, “Captain Warren had married prior to speaking his vows to Mrs. Warren. The boy’s mother is deceased. With the captain’s demise, Mrs. Warren serves as Simon’s guardian.”

Hutton asked, “Captain Matthew Warren?”

“Yes, Sir,” Lucinda said softly. It bothered Carter she had lowered her eyes. He was beginning to believe someone had abused her emotionally.
Captain Warren or Colonel Rightnour? Or both?

“I recall Warren from my university days. He was younger than I, but I knew the man in passing.” Carter noted Hutton’s raised eyebrow, and he realized the earl had something private to share with him.

“Yes, Thornhill and Warren were familiar acquaintances. The duke requested my assistance in aiding Mrs. Warren in locating the child’s maternal relatives. Mrs. Warren believes it important for the boy to know family.” It was a stretch of the truth for Louisa’s sake and to protect Mrs. Warren’s reputation.

“Well, whatever the reason, you are welcome in Lincolnshire,” Louisa professed. “I am thrilled to have your company.”

At mid afternoon the following day, Carter joined Louisa and McLauren on the estate’s main steps to greet his brother’s coach. He had not seen Lawrence since Carter had orchestrated his brother’s marriage proposal and wedding shortly before Christmastide. Watching the coach roll to a stop before the manor, he quickly realized how much he had missed Law. Immediately, he was assisting his brother’s footman with the steps.

A squeal and a shout of “Carter” was all the warning he had before his brother’s wife launched herself into his arms. Marriage had, obviously, not stifled Arabella Lowery’s spontaneity. He caught her and spun her around as he had done with Louisa only the day prior. Arabella laughed heartily. “What fun!” she announced as he sat her upon the ground. “Lawrence never mentioned you were at Maryborne. My, how I have missed you.”

“And I you, Bella,” he said genuinely.

His brother caught Carter up in a familiar man hug. “It is good to find you here,” Law said in that baritone timbre Carter had always associated with strength. Although they were relatively equal in height and weight, Carter had always thought at eight years his senior Lawrence outshone him in many ways.

Carter patted his brother’s back as they parted. “Has the glow decreased?” he asked softly. Although their father had disagreed, Carter had recognized
Law’s obsession with Miss Arabella Tilney the first time he had observed the two together.

Law glanced to where his wife greeted Louisa and the earl. “Lord, no.” Lawrence’s smile widened. “I have never been so content. You should make the effort, Carter. Marriage would be good for you.”

Carter immediately thought of the lady awaiting their appearance in the drawing room, but quickly placed the thought from his mind. Their connection was nothing more than pure fancy. Marriage was not for him in the near future. He had a position to win and several investigations to solve before he seriously considered searching for a wife among the
ton’s
newest crop of ingénues. “I am but four and twenty. There is time for such thoughts as I approach thirty. You waited until three and thirty.”

“If Bella had made her arrival earlier, I would have been just as ready to claim her,” Lawrence confessed.

Arabella rejoined them. “Louisa and I have decided our husbands must emulate Carter’s greeting. I find I quite like being lifted high in the air,” she teased as she laced her arm through her husband’s.

Law laughed easily, and it was a comforting sound. Carter realized it had been many years since Lawrence had been so carefree. “And what if I am not as able bodied as my younger brother?” Law taunted as he playfully tweaked his wife’s nose.

Bella offered a pretend pout as they followed Louisa and McLauren inside. “Have I chosen the wrong brother?”

Law gave Carter’s shoulder a hearty shove. “I assure you Lady Hellsman, I have no brother.”

Carter joined their playful laugher, and they entered the drawing room as a trio. However, noting Monroe’s presence on the settee beside Mrs. Warren brought him to a stumbling halt.

“Oh, my!” Arabella gasped. “I had no idea Lady McLauren had company.”

Louisa looked pleased at the domestic setting upon which they had come. His sister said sweetly, “Carter brought guests with him.” She gave him an expectant look.

Leaving Bella’s side he joined the couple. “Lord and Lady Hellsman,” he said formally, “may I present one of my colleagues from the Home Office, Mr. Dylan Monroe, and an acquaintance of some duration, Mrs. Warren.” He
shot a quick glance to McLauren; Carter had spent over an hour this morning apprising the earl of the true reasons for his seeking refuge at Maryborne. His brother in marriage had immediately placed orders for additional men to guard the estate’s perimeter. There was much unrest in the Northern shires, and many wealthy landowners hired armed men to protect land and property.

During the conversation, Hutton had expressed his earlier reservations regarding Matthew Warren. “There were rumors of young Warren being involved in some sort of minor theft. Some said he was the one who sold what was stolen to those within the village and the surrounding countryside. He was never brought up on charges, but it was common knowledge if one required a new shirt, a pen, potent drinks, or a dozen other such items, Warren was the man to see. I hold no proof of Warren’s involvement, but I thought you should know. Likely, he did not have the funds for his education. Many turned to outside means to support their schooling. I suppose Mrs. Warren held no knowledge of her husband’s propensity to handle stolen goods.”

Carter scowled. “I cannot imagine Lucinda Warren would tolerate her fiancé making his way in school in such a manner. They were betrothed from birth, and Warren was several years her senior. I hold a strong suspicion the lady learned of Captain Warren’s nature after their vows were pronounced, but she has shared nothing of his continuing his thieving ways after joining the military. The captain served under her father during the Peninsular campaign. If Colonel Rightnour had known of such actions from one of his officers, I am certain the colonel would have called his son in marriage up on charges. Rightnour was known to be a stickler for protocol. From what I know of Warren, he was very possessive of his wife, and she suffered from the lack of freedom.”

“Was not Rightnour the man you replaced at Waterloo? Does Mrs. Warren know what happened in Belgium?”

Carter’s frown lines deepened. “I do not think the lady is aware of my disapproval of what occurred on the battlefield. She was in Brussels with Rightnour, but I assume she was too distraught to recognize her father’s error during that last siege from the French.”