Page 16 of A Sense of Turmoil
‘Help me up, child,’ she said, lifting an imperious hand.
Flora obliged and they made their way into the drawing room with the countess leaning heavily on Flora’s arm. They were the last to arrive and as soon as they appeared the countess’s grandchildren all made a big fuss of her.
‘It’s so good to see you down again, Grandmamma,’ Henry said.
‘You’re looking well,’ Charlie added, leading her to her favourite chair.
Emma and Mary joined their brothers, but Luke simply stood where he was beside Archie’s chair, staring at Flora. She looked up at him, wondering if she had done something to offend, and felt ridiculously reassured when she realised it was admiration that was keeping him rooted to the spot. Archie pushed himself to his feet and also gave her a slow, appreciative smile.
‘Gentlemen,’ she said, dipping a curtsey.
Archie winked at her as he hobbled across to the countess’s chair and paid his respects. Luke noticed the gesture and scowled, which Flora thought rather silly of him. Archie was his closest friend and Luke knew as well as anyone that lame or not, he was the most incorrigible flirt. She turned to watch him, now seated beside the countess, already making her roar with laughter.
‘How are you feeling?’ Flora asked Charlie’s wife Miranda, glancing at her distended stomach.
‘Ready to burst,’ she replied cheerfully. ‘If this child does not put in an appearance soon, I might have to jump off a bridge. It’s impossible to find a comfortable position.’
‘I’m told babies are apt to make their own minds up about such things,’ Flora said with a sympathetic smile. ‘Is it very uncomfortable?’
‘Only when I breathe, but I dare say it will be worth it once the little monster is born and worms its way into my affections.’
‘They have a habit of doing that,’ Emma agreed, joining them. ‘I have already forgotten all the agonies of childbirth and am quite besotted with Sebastian.’
‘As you have every right to be,’ Flora assured her.
‘I think we should invite Lord Felsham to move in permanently,’ Emma said, watching Archie as he flattered the countess and brought her back to life with his outrageous stories. ‘His form of entertainment seems to be a great deal more effective than anything prescribed by the doctors.’
‘He is quite the rogue,’ Miranda agreed, grimacing, presumably because the baby had kicked her.
Dinner was announced and Flora went to help the countess to her feet. Archie watched Flora settle the countess into her chair at the foot of the table. She then sat to one side of her charge and Archie took the chair directly across from her. The meal was an informal affair and everyone was in the best of spirits. Luke was peppered with questions about Boston in general and the Flemings in particular.
‘I am surprised that they have settled their affairs in London so quickly and are coming down here already,’ Mary said.
‘The same thought had occurred to me,’ Archie muttered to Flora, who nodded in agreement with him.
Luke, Flora noticed, gave short responses to his family’s natural curiosity and looked pleased when Paul stood and tapped a spoon against the side of a glass, bringing any further discussion about the Flemings to a close. He modestly announced his and Mary’s news, and the couple were swamped with congratulations.
‘Babies seem to be all the rage,’ Archie said to Flora. ‘I feel left out.’
‘Then find yourself a wife,’ Flora replied, laughing.
‘Ah, that’s when the whole idea becomes less appealing.’
‘Are you so averse to matrimony that you cannot bear even to contemplate the possibility?’ Flora asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘I am still smarting from your rejection of my proposal,’ he responded with a typical rakish grin.
‘Hardly!’ Flora smiled at him. ‘You will have to find someone whom you can bear to spend the rest of your life with sooner or later. You have a responsibility to procreate, Lord Felsham.’
‘It’s still Archie,’ he said softly.
‘Naturally, I am terrified of you now that you are a marquess, and wouldn’t dream of addressing you so informally.’
He laughed, relaxed, ruggedly handsome, indelibly scarred and all the more engaging as a consequence. ‘There is little that terrifies you, I fancy.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that. My father is to be invested as the dean of Salisbury Cathedral. My presence at the service is required, and that frightens the life out of me.’
‘Then don’t go.’
