He smiled gratefully at the footman, who poured a steaming cup of the bitter drink for him, and he closed his eyes as he swallowed it, for just a moment turning out the cacophony of voices that resonated in his ears.
He opened his eyes to find four pairs of expectant eyes upon him as Maxwell placed his shaggy head upon Jeffrey’s knee, the dog’s droopy ears and chin settling upon Jeffrey’s leg.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Oh, Jeffrey.” Penny rolled her eyes. At eighteen, she felt she was already a woman, and she shook her head at him, her blonde curls swinging around her face. “Why do you never listen?”
“I do,” he said gruffly, looking around the table, finding only his mother had any ounce of sympathy on her face. The rest were simply looking at him as though he had told them he was going to marry each of them off right that moment. Not that they would ever allow him to choose their husbands without their opinions.
“Fine,” he sighed. “What is it?”
“We heard a rather interesting tale about you last night,” said Rebecca, looking at him with her chin on her fist and a gleam in her eye. “About you ensconced in a drawing room with an unmarried woman.”
“That is ridiculous,” he said, shaking his head and returning his focus to the eggs and ham on the plate in front of him. How in the world had anyone even known the two of them had been there? As far as he was aware, no one had been the wiser but for Lady Phoebe’s friends.
“Andshe did not look particularly pleased when she left,” Rebecca continued, leaning toward him now. “In fact, after your conversation, she found her aunt and left the party completely.”
“I didn’t realize you were all so inclined to believe everything the gossips tell you,” he muttered, looking up to see that his sisters had all cleared their plates, obviously having remained at the table only to pester him about this story, which truly was of no particular consequence. “Do you not all have things to do? Lessons to see to? Friends to visit?”
“We are not leaving until you tell us more about this liaison,” Penny said primly, and Jeffrey slammed his coffee cup on the table much harder than he intended to, but nevertheless it made his sisters and his mother jump. Maxwell even left him to explore the plates of his sisters instead.
“There wasnoliaison,” he said in a tone to make them understand that he would not speak any further on the subject. “I simply had a conversation with a woman that turned into a slight disagreement. It is of no consequence and I am sure I will not be speaking with her again. It has nothing to do with any of you, and I would be pleased if you would simply leave it be. Do you understand?”
He looked round at each of them individually, the youngest blinking at the bite to his words. He typically was soft with his sisters — he knew it was a failing, but since he had taken responsibility of them five years ago when his father passed, he had never had the heart to be particularly stern with them, and now, perhaps, he was beginning to pay the consequences.
“Very well,” Penny finally said, and she led Annie away from the table, Rebecca following, although not before she turned to send him a venomous look, and while he wanted them to understand his consternation, he had to hide his smile.
His mother leaned over, covering his fist with her hand as she looked at him imploringly.
“It is not like you to be so upset over something so minor,” she said softly. “Is everything all right?”
“Of course, Mother,” he said, bestowing a smile upon her as he turned his palm to grip her hand in his. She was still beautiful, her blonde hair, so like his own, just beginning to show signs of grey woven through it when the light hit it just right. Somehow, it suited her.
“What did you think of Lady Phoebe?” His sister, Viola, finally spoke from across the table. Unlike her sisters, she was a serious sort, and she was able to ascertain his feelings better than anyone.
“That she is rude and I should be glad not to speak to her again,” he said, waving his hand in the air.
“I would think otherwise, the way you have responded,” said Viola, her smile as gentle as her mother’s. “In fact, this is the first woman that has causedanysort of reaction from you in quite some time.”
“Are you interested in her?” his mother asked hopefully, light coming into her eyes. Jeffrey knew she had been wishing he would soon find a woman he cared for, but he dissuaded her hopefulness by shaking his head vehemently.
“Not at all.”
“Nor any woman?”
“Mother, we have discussed this,” he said patiently. “I have enough women to look after without having to worry about a wife.”
“Jeffrey, you know we are the ones who take care of you,” Viola joked, and he shook his head at her with a laugh.
“Maybe so,” he said. “But I have not yet met a young woman who is appealing enough to spend the rest of my life with. I should like to a meet a woman who, for once, has a mind of her own, who does not simply mutter what she believes I would like to hear.”
“Perhaps you have simply not given these ladies a chance to be themselves around you,” his mother said practically. “You can be an imposing man to some.”
To some. Not his family, nor to Lady Phoebe Winters, apparently.
His mother rose from the table, coming around behind him to place her hands on his shoulders. She leaned down to kiss him quickly but softly on the cheek.
“Whoever you choose to marry one day — hopefully soon — I'm sure she will be lovely.”