Page 129 of Sloth: The Fallen Earl
The Countess of Wakefield—now the Dowager Countess of Wakefield—was not taking the news well. Not. At. All.
Granted, Wakefield’s mother never tookanythingwell. She never had. There’d been horror and outrage when Wakefield’s eldest sibling, Aldora, threw over a respectable marquess for the man’s scandal-ridden brother. After that, there’d come the dowager countess’s volatile response to Katherine marrying Bainbridge—because of course, only the dowager countess would be angry with a daughter marrying a duke. Not when she’d had her sights on a different bridegroom for Katherine, their toad of a cousin, Mr. Ekstrom.
Ah, and then there’d been Mother’s shameful handling of Anne’s feelings for—and eventual marriage to—the Earl of Stanhope.
It would seem, however based on the dowager countess’s reaction to Wakefield’s news, his decision happened to be a linetoofar.
Seated next to Cressida on the cushioned window-seat that overlooked Mayfair, Wakefield acknowledged he’d never predictedthisindecorous display—his mother lambasting him for all London to see and remark upon.
After all, he’d deliberately chosen his place here next to Cressida to shield her from any potential display from her new mother-in-law.
With the lecture the dowager countess continued to heap on Wakefield’s ears, however, it appeared his offense was the most grievous crime any of her four children had committed in their collective years on this earth.
Beset by guilt, he slid his fingers into Cressida’s. “I’m so sorry,” he said, soundlessly.
Cressida opened her mouth.
The dowager countess missed nothing. “You are sorry?” she squawked. “Do you truly think an apology will appease me or your sisters?”
He looked to his elder sisters for help—as did their mother.
Alas, by the trio of glowers trained his way, no help was coming from the sibling front.
The dowager countess raised her voice. “Do you?”
It was on the tip of his tongue to point out his apologies had been to his wife. He thought better of it. Suitable contrition was the way to end this as quick as possible. “No—”
“No, you don’t!” Katherine finished for him. She folded her arms at her chest, “That’s right. An apology is insufficient.”
At her side, Anne crossed her arms to match her sister’s pose, and responded only with an agreeing nod and glare for Wakefield.
Worried lines creased his wife’s brow. He leaned down and whispered close to her ear. “They’re usually better than this.”
Cressida lifted her hopeful gaze to him. “All of them?”
“No.” He spoke out the side of his mouth. “Only the twins. Aldora is rarely in London. But my mother…” He gave his head a regretful shake. “This is a familiar state you can expect to find the dowager countess in.”
“Lovely,” Cressida said, through lips that barely moved.
“Are you smiling, Benedict?” Anne exclaimed. She spun to Katherine. “Is he—?”
He slapped a hand to his heart. “I would never.”
Mother fixed a glare to kill on him. “There are many things you would do…included among them is hurting your mother and sisters.”
“That was not my—”Intention.
The rest of his assurances were lost to the dowager countess’s latest—and first—diatribe against her only son. Before now, Aldora, Anne, and Katherine were the recipients of Mother’s displeasure.
The dowager countess raised her voice several decibels. “Whatever were you thinking, Benedict?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw.
Accustomed though he was to the dowager countess’s occasional tempers, the same could not be said for Cressida.
He glanced at his newly wedded wife. She epitomized calm.
Feeling his eyes on her, Cressida peeked up at him.
