Page 5 of The Earl Takes All
“Where have your thoughts gone?” Minerva asked.
Tea had been prepared and brought to them, but it had grown cold with neither of them touching it. “My apologies. I’m being an awful hostess.”
“Posh. Under the circumstances, you shouldn’t feel as though you need to be a hostess at all. You looked so sad just then. I think it’s more than the funeral or Edward’s death that’s troubling you. I’m here to listen if you want to talk.”
It seemed at once a betrayal and a weakness to voice her doubts, but perhaps another’s perspective could shed some light. “Albert’s not been quite himself since he returned.”
“No doubt grief taking its toll,” Minerva assured her.
“That’s what I’ve been telling myself. But he’s been so distant, offering and accepting no affection whatsoever. And that is so unlike him. Although I’m a beastly woman for finding fault with his lack of attention during a time such as this.” But how could they console each other when he took all his meals in his room, had yet to visit her bed?
“You’re not at all beastly, but I do doubt he’s in an amorous mood, considering the circumstances.”
“I don’t expect him to make love to me. I know I’m hardly attractive in this condition, swollen with child as I am, and as you say, he is distracted, but a gentle kiss would be welcomed.” Even a smile, a soft touch, a reassurance that he still cared for her. After months of being separated, when he’d finally arrived home he just stood there staring at her as though he hardly recognized her. She was the one who had wrapped her arms around him, the one who had squeezed. His only words had been, “I’m sorry.”
Then he’d marched into the residence as though that were enough.
“Have patience,” Minerva suggested. “The brothers were extremely close.”
“I know they were. But we were separated for four months. It was supposed to be only three; however Edward’s death delayed Albert’s return. Not that I’d realized Edward was dead. The telegram Albert sent merely read, ‘Delayed. Return as soon as possible.’ It wasn’t until he arrived in a wagon bearing a wooden box that I learned the truth. That in itself was odd—not sharing his burdens.”
“He probably didn’t want to worry you, not in your delicate condition.”
“Yet I want to be there for him. We’ve always had the sort of marriage where our joys were doubled and our burdens halved. But that’s merely a small indication of how he changed while he was away. During this week, I’ve had moments where I felt as though I don’t even know him at all any longer. Which is ludicrous. He’s my Albert.”
“Which, my dear, is what you must focus on. He no doubt feels as though he lost half himself in those jungles. The twins, I know, seemed to have a special bond, an attachment far more intimate and stronger than that found between other siblings.”
“I know you’re right. I just feel as though he’s keeping me at a distance.”
“Men are odd that way, striving to never show any weakness. I suspect he fears needing you and so he pretends he doesn’t. The very last thing he needs is for you to be pushy. It’ll just make him dig in his heels. Men are stubborn that way. Patience is all you require. He’ll come ’round.”
She hoped so, as she truly didn’t like this... oddness in their relationship. Made her feel out of sorts.
“How are you feeling with the babe?”
Welcoming the change in topic, Julia couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she folded her hands on her belly. “Wonderful. Happy about my condition in spite of the sadness over Edward’s passing. I do believe this one is going to stay around to play in the nursery.” She glanced at the clock on the mantel. “I think we’ve given the gentlemen enough time with their scotch. Shall we join them?”
As she and Minerva strolled into the library, the gentlemen stood, the somberness about them as they sat remaining with them, maybe even closing more tightly around them.
“Our apologies for being gone so long,” Albert said. “We got caught up in reminiscing. Time got away from us.”
“We thought as much,” Julia said. “Dinner will be served shortly. Perhaps we might all like to take a moment to freshen up before.”
“Splendid notion,” he said, then tossed back the amber liquid that remained in his glass. With a grimace, he clenched his jaw, gave his head a barely perceptible shake. It occurred to Julia that Albert never seemed to relish spirits with the enthusiasm of his brother.
Setting his glass aside, he joined her, offered his arm, and she inhaled his familiar tangy bergamot scent. They left the room in silence, with the others following behind just as solemnly. Because the duke and viscount were more family than friends, Julia had arranged for their bedchambers to be in the family wing, just down the hall from the master suite.
As they reached her door, she turned to her guests. “Shall we plan on meeting back in the library in half an hour?”
“That should be sufficient time,” Minerva said. “It’s not as though we’ll be changing out of our crepe.”
No. Julia would give Edward the full six months of mourning due him as her husband’s brother. She would go into labor wearing black.
“Grey,” Ashebury said with a nod to Albert, before nudging his wife down the hallway.
“Thank you, Julia, for everything,” Locksley offered quietly before heading to his room.
Albert opened the door to her bedchamber and followed her in. It was the first time he’d been in the room since his return. She didn’t know why her stomach fluttered with the thought.
