“I am very sorry that I stole Owen away for so long,” Nancy said, turning her pretty blue eyes and her charming smile upon Thomas himself. Her expression was quite different from the one that she had offered her husband and she added, “After almost a month on our honeymoon, I am sure he is most desperate to catch up with you.”
Even before Thomas could respond, the Viscountess offered her husband another glance that suggested she hoped she had taken the sting out of whatever had passed between the two of them.
“You are quite welcome, Lady Kendall,” Thomas assured her, knowing that it was only right not to get in the middle of whatever spat was going on between the two of them. Though he could see from their expressions and the way their gazes danced with affection that whatever it was, was not too serious, and perhaps even some kind of game between the two of them.
That was one thing that Thomas was slightly envious of, the way that they looked at each other. Even when they appeared to be at odds and ends, they were still most affectionate. “I would not begrudge you your honeymoon. In fact, I quite admire you for being able to put up with this one for an entire month all on your own!”
He flicked his gaze in Owen’s direction and all three of them began to laugh. Nancy was quite clearly charmed by his words and began to nod in agreement, stating that she had indeed found it troublesome at times.
“Well, I never!” Owen gasped, feigning offense. “I shall have you know that you are the troublesome one, Viscountess Kendall.”
“Then we do make quite the pair, do we not, Lord Kendall?” Nancy responded most affectionately and the two gripped each other’s hand upon the table. Thomas watched the way the two of them squeezed each other’s fingers before Owen lifted her knuckles to his hand and kissed them most affectionately.
It was not a simple brush of the lips as one would greet and perhaps even charm a lady but a full connection of the lips, promising yet further touches of the flesh later that evening and Thomas quickly averted his gaze to give them a little privacy.
“Not at the dinner table,” he grumbled under his breath, merely rolling his eyes enough for only Owen to see. As his closest friend, the Viscount was aware of his nature and easily caught him doing so, rolling his eyes back in return.
“I never would have taken you for a prude, Thomas.” Owen chuckled, releasing his wife’s hands.
“It is not prudish to be proper,” Thomas responded, a mischievous smile playing upon his face as he leaned closer to his friend and added, “What one does at the dinner table does not always directly correspond with what occurs in the bedroom.”
“Indeed,” Owen responded, looking as though he was trying not to let the rest of the table in on what they were discussing. The two gentlemen then quickly straightened up in their seats after one look from Lady Kendall and Thomas quickly realised that he was fast beginning to find himself in the scolding seat alone with his friend.
Perhaps, it is merely a measure of our friendship that the wife’s scolding should extend to the best friend,Thomas thought, chuckling to himself, almost certain that riling Nancy would likely bring much pleasure in the future so long as he did not take things too far. The new Lady Kendall appeared to be a young woman with a fine sense of humour.She did marry Owen, after all,Thomas thought.
It was not until Nancy’s attention was drawn back away from their conversation to another, that Thomas found his own gaze following hers. All too late he found his eyes drawn once more back to the beautiful hazel gaze of Miss Skeffington.
Catching her already gazing in his direction, Thomas was quick to offer a mischievous and knowing smile, pleased when he saw the way her cheeks reddened. Abashed, she quickly looked away and Thomas began to wonder whether the week might be far more entertaining than he had anticipated.
***
“I think perhaps we ought to join the ladies in the parlor,” Owen announced almost an hour after dinner had concluded. The Viscount had not moved from his chair at the head of the dining table, though the other gentlemen of the party had all moved down to sit closer as soon as the ladies had left in the usual tradition.
No doubt, they had been in the parlor talking of their gentlemen, discussing what they thought their men might be discussing without them or worse, talking of the latest gossip and fashions from France.
Thomas reached into the pocket of his dinner jacket, borrowed from Owen’s own wardrobe, and produced his pocket watch. The grandfather clock at the other end of the room, though large, was still too far away for him to be able to read the time. Seeing that it was almost ten, Thomas began to nod his agreement.
“I am sure that we have kept them waiting for long enough,” Mr Tulk agreed. “I am sure that my cousin shall be going spare.”
Owen feigned horror at the idea of his wife being left to her own devices with the chance to collect her gossip and then began to chuckle, rising from his seat where he had happily been playing cards, smoking, and drinking his darkest liquor for the last hour.
“It sounds to me as if your wife might well be entertaining the ladies with a little music,” Baron Colton announced even as the butler opened the door to allow the gentlemen through. “I should rather like to hear her play for myself.” Owen was most definitely amused by this, chuckling under his breath even as he began to shake his head.
“Forgive me, Lord Colton, but I would not wish my wife’s musical talents on my worst enemy,” Owen admitted, glancing around almost as if he expected Nancy to come at him from behind with a clip around his ear for saying so. He then quickly added, “What she makes up for in musical talents, she more than makes up for in other areas.”
Though Thomas knew that Owen was not one for speaking of bedroom matters in public, he could also see just how the other gentlemen took the man’s words. Thomas himself wondered that if perhaps Owen’s newfound marriage might have loosened his lips upon the matter. Yet there was no time to question him on the matter as they all began to make their way from the dining room to the parlour, the sound of the piano forte growing louder.
It was as they drew close to the doors of the parlour that the most beautiful singing voice began to hit Thomas’ ears. It was quite something to hear, drawing him into the room even as the door was opened by the butler and they were all gestured through by Owen himself.
A part of Thomas found himself wondering whether perhaps it might be Miss Skeffington performing for the other young ladies but upon entering the room he found that he had been wrong. Both the voice and the piano playing were the work of two of the young married women amongst the party. They appeared quite content sitting side by side upon the piano stool, the singer offering smiles whenever someone close by offered a remark upon her voice.
Unwilling to disturb the young ladies who appeared quite happy listening to their friends, Thomas skirted around the edge of the room and collected a fresh drink from one of the servants before finding a quiet spot to stand close to an open window. The night air was cooling after the warmth of the dining room and Thomas silently stood enjoying it along with the musical talents of the two young women.
He was quite surprised when he heard heels clicking upon the hardwood floor close by and glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Miss Skeffington herself slowly making her own way around the room toward him. Nancy stood a little further around, watching the two of them with a prideful expression as though she had set the very thing in motion. Thomas found himself wondering once more whether something might not be quite right with the festivities.
Still, he offered no cause for alarm as Miss Skeffington slipped neatly into position close to his right elbow, holding her own drink before her in both hands and watching the ladies at the piano forte even as she offered him a rather discreet curtsey.
“Lord Warrington, I do hope that you are well recovered from your earlier ordeal,” she said, her tone quite formal. Unsure for a moment as to what she meant, Thomas turned his gaze upon her only to see that she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye.