Page 59 of His Duchess of Scandal
“Indeed.” Josephine nodded. “Heaven knows my boy will be ever so rampant when he grows up.” Her gaze flicked to Hermia. “If I can involve a young lady in his life from this age, I believe it will either calm down the wildness I already see, or it will make him a heartbreaker before he ever attends his first ball.”
“I am only ten!” Phoebe insisted. “I will not have my heart broken by ababy.”
Hermia masked her smile with a cough. “I fear we have two highly spirited children to watch over today, then.”
“I believe we do.” Josephine laughed as they headed into the conservatory. “Speaking of hearts, where is your husband?”
Hermia stumbled slightly at her friend’s question and shot her a look.
“What?” Josephine asked, settling onto the settee.
Hermia joined her right as the children settled on the adjacent one. She had a feeling the relative peace wouldn’t last for long.
“Nothing,” she answered. “It is just that—well…”
Josephine, beautiful in an emerald-green day dress that complemented her auburn hair, merely looked amused. “It is not often that I see you at a loss for words.”
“I am not at a loss,” Hermia said quickly—too quickly and defensively, judging by her friend’s growing amusement. “I do not believe His Grace and matters of the heart go hand-in-hand. Either way, he is out meeting with the tenants. We will depart for London soon, so he is wrapping up his business here.”
Josephine’s pale eyebrows rose. “Heavens, has it been a month already? Time passes when lovers are?—”
“Phoebe,” Hermia cut in with a pointed look, “how about you and Thomas play outside? The weather is pleasant enough.”
“Can I show him my favorite tree to climb?”
“Heavens, no.” Josephine laughed. “However, you can challenge him to kick a ball. How about that? Thomas is quite fond of such things.” Looking at Hermia, she added, “William learned that the hard way with a good pocket watch that was left on his vanity.”
Hermia stifled a giggle as the children clambered off the settee and hurried outside, followed by their governesses.
She watched the children for a moment, feeling a painful pang in her chest as Phoebe showed Thomas how to hit the ball so it didn’t soar, but gently rolled.
It surprised her, such assiduousness.
She overheard Phoebe say, “You are a baby. We do not want you to get hurt. If you do, I will be blamed for it by my papa, so be gentle.”
She smiled fondly, sighing.
When she finally turned back, she found her friend reading her like an open book. Mercifully, she was granted another moment as a maid entered and set down a tea tray and desserts.
The maid curtsied and scurried away, leaving her in the heavy silence.
“You ought to try the macarons,” she suggested, hoping to distract her friend.
“I shall try them when my dear friend tells me what has her so quiet,” Josephine answered smoothly.
“Just me, then, for now.” Hermia took a macaron and bit into it slowly, acutely aware of her friend’s eyes on her.
“Hermia.”
“They really are delici?—”
“Hermia.”
Finally, she looked back at Josephine. “Yes?”
“I have never seen you like this,” her friend said quietly. “Uncertain of yourself. Skittish, almost, as though you do not know what to do with yourself. You have had a month-long honeymoon. For many, that is a time of beautiful exploration, of emerging from one’s residence with a fresh glow. I certainly did. Tell me what has happened.”
“Nothing,” Hermia replied quietly, realizing just how lonely she had been this past month.
