Free The Companion of Lady Holmeshire by Debra Brown

when he asks me what is happening.” She frowned. “I have never seen Mr. Barreby so sober; I think he suspects me of having pinched something.”
    “ I think he suspects everyone of having pinched something!” Anne countered, “But, nevertheless, he keeps a pleasant household like my Papa; we laugh and jest at supper. I am far more in fear of this Belgrave staff! What shall we do at suppertime? Where must we eat?” Her fidgeting reappeared, and Lizzy pressed her hands to her lap with a governing glare. Anne conceded.
    Gwyn was the decisive one of the lot. “I shall demand that they bring your food up here. We will see how that pleases the butler. If it does not go well, you girls will be forced to eat downstairs, I suppose, so no one is angered. If necessary, I shall stay here alone with Nick. I am the only one required to eat here, anyway, unless I have a nursery maid, and I best have one!”
    The butler was pleased enough to allow them to eat upstairs for the first day, but it did not last. And Sarah, the kitchen maid, was unimpressed with the gracious thanks that she had received upon reclaiming the dishes from their tea. She had even stood and checked them for chips!
    ***
    “ Buy myself a home in London? Please, I am trying to eat my dinner!” Wills put down his hand a bit too firmly and was surprised at himself. “I have enough to care for, thank you. I want only one house to be bothered with for now, while I am single and focusing on the needs of the country, and the Northumberland air is much more pleasant. Why should I care to have a house in the city? I do not wish to throw parties, should you have thoughts about that. I shall leave that to Helena. She is a divine hostess. Is her dining room not perfect?” He parted his upturned palms to draw attention to its burgundy and gold elegance. “And someone will always take me in when I come limping into town, as my doting Grandmother did a few weeks past! And someday I’ll be stuck with Grandfather’s house to refurbish. How many can I manage?”
    “ Why do you think I have brought these peers here to dine?” the Duke leaned toward Wills, “I need support to take on your stubborn mind. You shall be required to have a city house, and entertain, should you sit in Parliament.” He leaned back into his chair. “Everyone must agree if they are to have Cherries Jubilee!”
    Jovial Lord August-Crane raised his glass, “A house for Lord Holmeshire! To be sure. It does not have to be a Belgrave mansion, My Lord, but you’ll need a home here. I agree.” He leaned closer to Miss Carrington, uncomfortably seated in a room full of peers, and whispered, “I do favor tinned cherries!”
    “ Lady Genevieve will have a home for you here; when she marries, she shall have Chenbury House with her settlement. You should be able to entertain well from there. But I hear you are not in a hurry to marry!” the Duke scolded with his fork.
    “ And now I know the purpose of this. I must entertain, so I must have a house. The need for a house shall make me marry! Do you suppose she would allow me to live in the house on her expectations? Or would the young ladies advise her against it?” At that he rolled his eyes, but being a gentleman, ever so slightly.
    The room was stunning, the banquet table sparkling with the chandelier’s reflections dancing on the crystal and silver. Floral bouquets of spring roses, lilies and ivy trailed down its middle over elaborate, lacy linens. Footmen moved silently, in and out, as though choreographed. Serving dishes were attractively filled and daintily emptied. Everything was beautiful, orderly and agreeable. It was only the conversation that was trying.
    “ The benefits of marriage are not to be downplayed, sir.” Lord Embry waved a bun at him. “That is why I am a father so many times over, you see. At any rate, I cannot understand why you delay the inevitable. It is not as though you must sit home and gossip once married, you know.”