Page 11 of Snapdragons
“Is—”
Before Miss Seymour could say anything more, the butler stepped into the drawing room. “More visitors, Mr. Layton,” the butler said.
“Show them in,” Digby said as he rose.
Niles stood as well. Doing so gave him a distraction from Miss Seymour and her questions.And her beguiling eyes.
The butler moved back to the doorway and, after a quick nod to whomever was in the entryway, announced to the room, “Lord Jonquil and Mr. and Mrs. Barrington.”
Digby had predicted a Gent might arrive. In all honesty, two at once wasn’t very surprising. The Gents often traveled in packs.
Lucas bounced into the room first. “Look who I found wandering the Yorkshire roads.” He motioned to Kes and Violet.
What would Miss Seymour think of the extremely informal arrival? A quick glance revealed the same studying gaze he’d received from her earlier that day but this time directed at Lucas. She appeared to be very astute. He didn’t imagine there was much she missed.
A subtle elbow from Kes to Lucas’s side brought a little more decorum. All three of the new arrivals seemed to have quite suddenly taken note of the unexpected additions to the party.
Digby, dignified and gracefully proper, moved to wherehis newest guests stood. “Allow me to undertake some introductions. Mr. and Miss Seymour, this is Lord Jonquil”—he indicated Lucas—“and Mr. and Mrs. Barrington.” He motioned to Kes and Violet in turn. “Friends,” he addressed the three, “this is Mr. and Miss Seymour of County Wicklow in Ireland.”
Bows and curtsies were exchanged along with words of pleasure at making one another’s acquaintance. Niles received so many furtive glances that any discretion his friends might have been trying to employ was lost entirely.
Digby had said he’d written to the Gents, informing them of at least some of Niles’s predicament. If he’d mentioned Miss Seymour by name, or had at least mentioned that the match chosen for Niles had been an Irishwoman, this introduction would feel very significant to them.
Kes, despite being known among them as Grumpy Uncle, could be counted on to be circumspect. Lucas, who had fully earned his moniker of the Jester, on the other hand...
Violet proved the most immediately helpful. She crossed directly to Miss Seymour. “What a pleasure it is to find another lady present. How long have you been at Pledwick Manor?”
The two ladies sat on the sofa and engaged in what Niles hoped was a perfectly unexceptional conversation. Digby asked Mr. Seymour to excuse him a moment, then he pulled the rest of them aside.
“We received your letter,” Kes explained. “Since we’re the closest, we thought we’d best make the journey.”
Digby looked to Lucas. “You were in Nottinghamshire.”
He nodded. “And still arrived ahead of Kes.”
“By thirty seconds,” Kes countered.
Digby held up a hand to stop the pretended argument. To Lucas, he said, “With you so recently a father again, I can’t imagine Julia is overly pleased with your departure.”
Word had arrived about six weeks earlier of the newestmember of Lucas’s growing family, a son who’d been named for Digby and Henri.
Lucas reached into his pocket and produced a folded bit of parchment, which he handed to Digby with an almost smug look.
Digby unfolded it. Niles and Kes flanked him and read silently over his shoulder.
My dear Gents,
I am absolutely certain you are convinced that Lucas has made a horrific miscalculation and has abandoned his recently-delivered-of-a-son wife without giving sufficient thought to the decision. I insisted he make the journey. Niles is too dear to us to ignore his current difficulty. While I cannot make the journey with Lucas, I am not truly abandoned. Both of our boys have two grandfathers and a grandmother here who are spoiling them unabashedly.
Niles, I do hope you can sort this out before it becomes a catastrophe.
The rest of you: behave!
Yours, etc.
Your Julia
“Well, that’s us put in our place,” Digby said with a smile.
