Page 25 of The Enigmatic Governess of Buford Manor
“Jolly good. Where is Duchess Buford?”
“She waits in the formal dining room for your return.”
The men made their way inside as Theodore and Peter ambled behind.
“Ah! You have finally returned!” the duchess cried, rising from her seat.
“We are not tardy,” the duke replied, a note of amused exasperation in his voice. “You are merely impatient.”
She extended her hands toward her husband “Do you fault me, Your Grace?” she replied, “when I yearn for your safe return every moment you are gone?”
Nicholas felt a pang in his heart watching them together. Theirs had been a union of arrangement but over the years, they had learned to love one another as Nicholas had not known in another pair. The duke cleared his throat uncomfortably, lowering his gaze from his wife’s longing face.
Without being told, Peter and Theodore excused themselves from the dining room. They had been with the family long enough to know when the duke and duchess wished to spend a tender moment together without prying eyes.
Nicholas watched as his father took his mother’s outstretched hands and they stared at one another for a long, wistful moment before quickly separating.
Being apart is sorrow for them both,he realized, and the idea only made Nicholas adore them more. He wanted nothing more than to experience the same love his parents did, coupled with the sweet glances and whispered words of affection.
“Why do you look at us so?” Duchess Buford asked, reclaiming her seat at her husband’s side. The duke sat in his high-backed chair at the head of the table.
“I marvel at you. That is all.”
“Marvel at us? How so?”
“You are what I aspire toward for myself.”
His parents snickered gently.
“You shall have it,” his father replied with a confidence Nicholas wished he possessed.
The duchess raised the gold bell at her side and Mary appeared instantly through the chef’s entrance.
“Yes, your grace?”
“Mary, send for the rest of the house, please.”
“Yes, your grace.”
Nicholas and his father exchanged a look of confusion.
“You are having the children eat with us now?” the duke asked dubiously.
“They are hardly children any longer,” the duchess replied dryly. “Betsey is nearly a woman and Harry could use the structure. Also, the new governess has no experience.”
The men grew more perplexed.
“What has that to do with it?”
“She needs guidance wherever possible. The supper table is one such place. I imagine she will appreciate the effort.”
Nicholas could see his father was not pleased but the younger Frampton was tickled by the idea of his cousins joining them. He did not see enough of them with his schedule and theirs in constant conflict.
“Why did you permit a governess without experience to come here?” the duke grumbled, but Nicholas knew there was no malice in his question.
“She came highly recommended by Eloise,” Duchess Buford replied. “And I have much better things to do with my time than search East Anglia for a governess.”
“I am certain she will adjust to the position with ease and grace,” Nicholas offered. “Just as Miss Eloise did.”
