Page 8 of The Scent of Snow
Pedro frowned. "I'll hire someone in spring. I won't force my guests to work on holidays."
Isabel kissed Anne's cheek. The Duchess of Braganza was resplendent in a violet gown, her skin glowing. Pregnancy agreed with her friend. "Don't listen to him, Anne. He just fabricated that tale."
Henrique lifted his brows. "I'm a scientist. I don't fabricate things. I invent them."
Isabel pursed her lips at Diomedes. "Don't you think it says something about you that you are the only unmarried person here?"
"That I'm the only one with sanity left?" The marquis bowed. He saw the children and bent further to pick the youngest.
"Almoster, if your wife is already taken, I might have to wait to marry this lady." He twirled the little girl in the air.
Julia laughed. "Not if you plan to sleep through the night."
Griffin grunted, eying the marquis up and down from his lofty height, no doubt considering and dismissing him as groom material for his infant daughter. Anne already pitied the girl's admirers. With her mane of black hair and striking blue eyes, she carried the best of English and Portuguese traits, and Anne could bet she would have a string of suitors.
Clara squealed, and when the marquis released her, she stumbled towards Anne. Anne caught her niece. The three-year-old linked her short arms over her neck. Anne kissed her forehead and brushed her cheeks against her crown of ebony hair. They shared a moment of intense bonding. This was what Pedro needed — to glimpse the kindness, the absolute delight of a child's guileless eyes.
Clara promptly gurgled in Anne's new gown.
Tony laughed, pointing his finger at the stain. "Now Aninha will smell as badly as Nanny Maria."
The nanny in question flushed.
Usually, Anne would have tweaked the boy's nose and maybe even chased after him, but a dead silence descended on the hall. Clara started to wail, and Anne could do nothing but stay rooted to the spot.
While Anne's brother sported a thunderous frown, and Henrique and the Marquis of Faial looked about to burst out laughing, Pedro stepped in her direction and halted as if considering how best to defeat a three-foot-tall enemy. He then produced his handkerchief and handed it to her. Anne held the piece of silk, brushing it feverishly against her palms.
Julia reprimanded the ten-year-old boy, and the nanny caught the fussing toddler, and they left the adults' presence. Crestfallen, Anne watched her plans sour.
Anne's gaze sought Pedro. He was tense, his eyes going from her to the assembled group as if ready to send them all back to their carriages.
A prick of unease climbed up her spine. Would Pedro ever feel at ease with her loved ones? This was just the first day. The first hour, actually. During the holiday, she would gift him with such family bliss he would wish for nothing more than a child of his own.
Julia shook her head. "Clara gets sick on the carriage ride, and Tony, he has a very sensitive nose."
Griffin snorted. "Sensitive nose? He has a thick Portuguese head, which only a boarding school can mend."
"We've talked about this," Julia said between gritted teeth. "He will be taught by tutors like a good Portuguese—"
"And be turned into a peninsular nitwit who knows nothing about following rules?"
The men collectively raised their brows. Count on Griffin to insult a whole nation before shedding his top hat.
Anne hated disagreements and lifted her hands. "I will get the children, and the sun is shining—"
Isabel perked up. "Sir, I’ll have you know Portuguese subjects are—"
"Grand rule breakers, thank heavens for that," Henrique said. "We wouldn't be here if we followed those dratted rules now, would we, darling?"
Isabel chuckled, her shoulders relaxing.
"Now, Pedro, I think we should remove this islander from the ladies' presence. Before they challenge him for a duel or worse, force him to eat Portuguese food."
Pedro, whose eyes had wandered to the bridge more times than Anne cared to count, nodded stoically and led the way out of the gatehouse.
Anne watched the men escape to their manly escapades, and a deep sigh escaped her chest. There were still three days to come. Certainly, she could turn her brooding husband into a family man by then.
Chapter 4
