Page 21 of Unmasking the Silver Heiress
He had seen Kit in London this past Season, recently returned from war and decorated. He had been as he always was, bright-eyed and eager to explore what the future might hold. Optimistic and hungry for life, now that he could settle his family's debts, free of his wastrel of a father.
They had spent a few nights together, sipping port at White’s, but both had been so occupied with their own business that it seemed they hadn’t seen each other at all, in the end. Nate had rather brusquely declined an invitation to visit Kit in the autumn, which was less than ideal as a backdrop for showing up at his doorstep out of the blue, much less as harried and unkempt as he likely appeared.
Still, he did not hesitate nor consider finding lodging elsewhere. Despite it all, he knew he would be welcome, and when Kit answered his knock at the door, he didn't speak a word of complaint. He didn't speak any words at all. He simply offered a welcoming embrace, given freely with no expectation of answers as payment.
* * *
It wasn'tuntil the next morning that Nate felt truly human again. His clothes were a bit worse for the wear, having been hard-worn through his journey, but a shave and a bath and a spot of breakfast in a comfortable chair were enough to calm some of the feral panic he'd been indulging for the last several days.
Upon arrival, his cousin had led him inside and immediately seen to his comfort and repast, insisting that explanations could wait until the morrow. It had been a relief, for another hour or two on that damned horse and Nate was certain he would have keeled out of his saddle and spent the night in the grass.
Kit was gone in the morning, attending to some business in the fruit orchards he'd recently purchased back into his family's name, and so Nate dined alongside his aunt Susan, who patted him on the hand by way of greeting, and was perfectly happy to sit in comfortable silence until he deigned to speak.
Silence had been a means to survival when Uncle Archie was still around, his temper always teetering right on the edge of explosion, and even with him rotting away in some debtor's prison on the other side of the world, the habit still loomed heavily over them.
She looked much the same as she had the last time Nate had seen her, slender, but strong, with a posture that would not be humbled by any misfortune life threw at her. She had a few new lines around her sweet blue eyes and some of the sheen in her light hair had given way to silver. Her smile was still warm, her eyes crinkling with pleasure at having found him seated at the table, and her hands still bearing the telltale callouses of a woman who spent entirely too much time at a loom.
"I have married," he said to her, to break the silence.
It was perhaps too abrupt an announcement, said in too loud a voice, for her head snapped up in surprise, making him wince.
"Have you?" she said softly, reaching forward again to touch his hand. "When?"
"Within the last month," he replied vaguely. "It was an elopement, which is why I did not reach out to the two of you to attend. There was no formal wedding."
"Oh," she replied, considering him. "I would never have thought an elopement to be something within your purview, Nathaniel. She must be quite the woman."
"Her name is Eleanor," he said, "she will be joining me in a few days' time. We were hoping to spend the remainder of the holiday season at Meridian."
At that, her eyes widened considerably, her hand tensing on top of his own. "Nathaniel! I do not even know if Meridian is safe to live within anymore," she whispered, as though the house might overhear. "It has been unattended for a very, very long time. Why not simply stay here, with us? You are most welcome."
"I cannot. It must be Meridian," he replied with a weak smile. "It has evidently been cared for enough to still be habitable. A friend of my parents' has been seeing to the general upkeep of the estate, though it has remained unoccupied throughout my absence. We are hopeful that we can make a home of it again."
She appeared too stunned to formulate a reply, blinking at him in astonishment.
"I shall tell Kit when he returns," Nate said, patting the hand she had frozen atop his. "Hopefully he will be willing to assist me in some of the restoration."
"But what of your wife?" Susan asked, clearly a little scandalized. "Where is she?"
"She will be joining me in a few days' time with some of our furniture from London and a small staff to assist us with restoring Meridian to its former glory. She is looking forward to connecting with some old friends here. You might be familiar with the Dempierre family?"
"Me?" Susan said with a little laugh. "I think you well know I don't walk in such circles, Nathaniel. I knowofthe Dempierres, but I certainly have never spoken to any of them. I couldn't afford the privilege!"
"Wealthy, are they?" he replied, as though the information were of no great import to him. "It is strange that I don't know of them, then. I don't recall any Dempierres amongst thetonduring any Season in recent memory, and yet my wife insists that they have quite the social clout."
"Well, they are French, aren't they? They keep to their own. Bit sore about the plight of exile, I imagine. They live in a little castle on the cliffs and host survivor's balls and all manner of other foreign pageantry." She hesitated, a scandalous thought causing her eyes to widen. "Nathaniel, Is this bride of yours from France?"
"She is from Winchester, my dear woman, fear not," Nathaniel replied, unable to stop a chuckle from bubbling over. "I shouldn't do something so shocking without at least sending warning first."
"I daresay you would," she admonished, not unkindly. "You've marched down your own path since you were old enough to crawl, haven't you?"
He gave an apologetic shrug, still smiling. "I suppose I do have a tendency to plot independently for my future. It may become more difficult now that I have a wife."
"I certainly hope so," she answered, dabbing at her lips with a napkin. "Well, if you're determined to live at Meridian, we might as well go see how the place stands, don't you think? Kit won't be back until after luncheon, and it's a short ride from here. Do you have the keys?"
"I do," Nate said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "I will fetch them. I suppose there's no time like the present, and I admit I'm curious as to how the old place is faring these days myself."
"I'll get my shawl, then," she said, pushing back her chair. "There's no telling what we'll find. God help us."
