“I’m so glad to see it,” she said earnestly.
“You can say if you want to come home early, or if you want to stay.”
“I can tell you that already, I will want to stay,” she said, blushing a little. “Matthew told his mother we are all staying till the end of the month.”
“Of course…” He was irritated that Livia would know he was visiting Matthew’s house.
The ferry had taken the two pairs of horses over, and now Tom Drydale, the ferryman, was hauling it back for the carriage. The coachman, the footmen, and the ferryman rolled the wheels so that the carriage was settled amidships on the flat barge, and Hester and her father climbed inside to sit with Julia, who clutched Rob’s hand in pretend terror for the entire length of the crossing. As he had promised, it was not long before they were on the other side, bowling through the stone pedestals of the Priory gate, and drawing up before the open front door.
“And here we are!” Rob said heartily.
The footmen jumped down, opened the door, let down the steps. Rob dismounted and held out his hand to help Julia down, as the front door behind him opened. He turned with a smile, expecting Matthew, but, to his horror, it was Matthew’s mother, the Nobildonna herself, dazzlingly beautiful in a dress of peach silk with cream lace, who stood in the doorway, her eyes bright with amusement.
“Dear Mrs. Reekie, dear Dr. Reekie, and you must be Miss Reekie! Welcome to Fairmere Priory, welcome to my home.”
Julia Reekie’s curtsey was perfectly judged, the correct height ofobeisance from a considerable heiress of the City of London to a lady of the court, a close friend of the queen, and her hostess. Hester beside her curtseyed lower. Livia turned her confident smile on Rob, who was lost for words. Speechlessly, he took the hand of the false wife who had betrayed him and left him for dead, and bowed.
“And here is my son, your friend, Matteo Peachey,” Livia said smoothly; a gesture of her fan brought Matthew forward to make his bow to Julia and Rob and to greet Hester. Rob and Matthew exchanged a glance of mutual horror. Matthew shook his head very slightly, as if to say that this was none of his doing, and he had not known his mother was coming.
“Come in! Come in!” Livia urged them. “You must be so tired from your journey. Did you have to take the ferry? Such a ridiculous performance, is it not?” She turned to Julia. “Will you take a dish of tea, Mrs. Reekie?”
“Oh, tea!” Julia said faintly.
“I have brought some from London! The footman will take your luggage. Matthew—take Miss Reekie to find her cousins, and show Dr. Reekie the gardens, I am sure he is longing for a walk after spending so long in the carriage.” Livia swept Julia away to the parlor, leaving Matthew, Rob, and Hester in the hall.
“Uncle Rob!” Mia broke the stunned silence, coming into the hall from the garden door, followed by Gabrielle.
“And Hester!” Gabrielle said, kissing her cousin. “We’ve been waiting for you this whole afternoon.”
Both girls curtseyed to Rob, and he kissed their cheeks. “How long has Lady Avery been here?” he asked urgently. “How long is she staying?”
Mia’s dark eyes widened. “Isn’t she a goddess?” she whispered. “You should have seen her hat.”
“Her ladyship came today, just to welcome you and Mrs. Reekie,” Gabrielle said, silencing her sister with a glare. “I believe she is to stay only till tomorrow.”
“I didn’t know,” Matthew said shortly, blushing to the roots of his hair. “She didn’t say she was coming.”
“No matter,” Rob said kindly to the young man. “You couldn’t stop her. Nobody could. Lord! Is my sister here? Have they met?”
“No! Ma Alys is at the wharf.”
“Thank God for that at least—but—has she met my mother?”
Matthew looked completely at a loss. “We all had lunch together,” he volunteered. “Mother Alinor, the Nobildonna, Uncle Ned—and us three.” He was completely nonplussed. “Mother Alinor was just herself, very calm, very pleasant. She put the Nobildonna at the head of the table as if she came every day, and after lunch, Mother Alinor said that she always takes a rest in the afternoon, and then she just went off! Uncle Ned too. He hardly said a word. But we’re all to have dinner together.”
“Dinner?” Rob repeated. The two men exchanged an aghast look.
“Except Uncle Ned,” Mia added. “He said he would rather be hanged.”
Rob choked down a laugh.
“But what is the matter?” Gabrielle asked, looking from Matthew to Rob. “What’s wrong? Why should the Nobildonna not come to her son’s house? Why is it such a surprise? What would be so awful if she had met our grandmother Alys?”
Matthew tried to smile at her. “Nothing’s wrong,” he told her, glancing at Rob. “It’s just that I’ve never seen them together, except the once, when she came to the warehouse on royal business. It’s like two worlds colliding.”
“The stars are shaken in the firmament.” Rob recovered, and chucked Hester under the chin. “Nothing to concern you. We all quarreled very badly once; but it was a long time ago, and clearly it’s all forgotten and forgiven. I’ll go and see the horses stabled. Hester, you can go with your cousins.”
“I’ll come with you, sir,” Matthew said quickly. “And then perhaps you’d like to come to the library for a glass of wine?”