Page 70 of The Viscount and the Vixen
“Nonsense, my dear.” His father sat. “I should have alerted you that I had decided to begin joining you for dinner.”
Portia’s gaze swung between Locke as he settled into his place and his father. “So this is to become a regular occurrence?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, although we tend to dine a bit earlier.”
His father’s brow furrowed. “Have you already eaten then?”
“Only some cheese and fruit,” Locke assured him. “I’m famished now.” He signaled to Gilbert, who immediately left to no doubt order the footmen about.
“So tell me, my dear,” his father began, “which room are you tidying now?”
“I believe it’s a morning room or perhaps a marchioness’s library. It has some bookshelves. The sofas and chairs are covered in yellow fabric with flowers embroidered into it.”
“Ah, yes, my Linnie liked to read in that room in the afternoons. Looking through the windows, she could see me returning from the mines. Once I walked into that room to discover her stark naked and waiting for me. God, how she laughed at the look on my face. She had a contagious laugh. I couldn’t hear it without laughing back.”
Locke cleared his throat. “Portia, I believe we need to have all the furniture in the residence reupholstered if not completely replaced.”
“Don’t be a prude, Locke,” his father said.
“I think it’s wonderful that you enjoyed each other so much,” Portia said.
Good God, had neither of them any shame? He’d considered himself to be a libertine, but his exploits were tame compared to his father’s.
“If I’d known our time together would be so short, I’d have never spent a moment away from her.”
“You might not have enjoyed your time as much, because you’d have been distracted by the thought of losing her,” Portia said.
“There is that. I suppose not knowing is a gift.”
Thank God the servants arrived with the first course. Surely now his father would go on to more appropriate conversation.
“By the by,” his father said, “Ashe and Edward will be arriving in a fortnight with their families. Might want to tidy up the billiards room.”
“Do not tell us you took my mother on the billiards table,” Locke stated succinctly.
His father winked at Portia. “As you wish. I won’t tell you.”
She had the audacity to laugh. A cold chill skittered through Locke with the realization that if she were no longer here, he would still hear her laughter echoing within the rooms.
Chapter17
As Portia stared at her reflection in the mirror of her dressing table, she was somewhat nervous about the arrival of the marquess’s wards this afternoon. It was one thing to be paraded about the village as the viscount’s wife. It was quite another to socialize with respectable ladies who were well above her not only in station but in reproach when it came to behavior. After all, one was married to a duke, the other to her second earl. While the countess’s second marriage and the early arrival of her son had created quite the scandal, it didn’t change the fact that she had noble blood coursing through her veins.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were dreading today,” Locke said.
She glanced over to where he’d sat to tug on his boots. Finished with the task, he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his thighs. So remarkably handsome, so self-assured. He had no plans to go to the mines today. She suspected he wouldn’t frequent them until after their guests left. “I’m simply trying to decide which gown to wear.” Swinging around on the bench, she faced him squarely. “I don’t want to embarrass you or behave in a manner I ought not.”
Narrowing his eyes, he scrutinized her. “Surely when you answered my father’s advert, you expected to entertain nobility.”
“To be quite honest, no. I knew him to be a recluse and rather thought that my time would be spent with him and him alone.” She waved a hand. “Oh, I thought you might be here on occasion, but I suspected you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me.”
“If you never expected to entertain, why the devil are you tidying the rooms?”
The billiards room had not been high on her list to be set to rights, although in hindsight, she supposed it should have been. It would bring pleasure to her husband. When she’d first walked through it, she’d seen evidence of footprints left by young boys. Over the years, the dust had covered them but it hadn’t filled them in. She could well imagine the excitement that had thrummed through them when they’d discovered the contents of that room on one of their midnight excursions.
“Because it seemed a shame for a residence as magnificent as this one to be uncared for. Surely you want your children to treasure their heritage. How can they if we leave it all to rot?”
