Mistletoe and Mayhem - Cheryl Bolen Page 0,72

the soles of his boots.

“There.” Under the steady gray gaze, the pulse in her neck ticked. “I shall be more careful in the future, Mr. Lovelace.”

“I’m going up,” Mother announced. “George, you’ll escort me. Girls, don’t keep Lady Glanford up late.”

At the door, he cast a glance back and caught the lady in question watching him. She dropped her gaze and turned away.

So, she was not unaffected either.

Mother sailed along on his arm with nary a limp or a creak of her bones, yet she seemed thinner, more fragile since his father’s funeral.

“Retiring early, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Not so early. You’ll remember that dinner was late.”

Mother could, and often did, stay up until dawn for parties and balls. Father had shared her love of society. It was no wonder she wanted her children at home for this first Christmas without him.

Though, he knew, that wasn’t the main reason she’d called him home.

As they ascended the steps, he plunged in. “What the devil is wrong with Fitz, Mother?”

“You’re just like your father,” she said. “Right to the point. I do miss him so.”

“I know. While we’re getting to the point, tell me also why Lady Glanford is here.”

She paused as they reached the landing. “What think you of Charlotte, George? She’s very eligible.”

“She’s a lovely young girl, and I don’t wish to marry her.”

“Well, I tried.” Smiling, she turned and presented her cheek to him, pointing up at the ceiling, where a kissing bough hung. “I may as well take advantage.”

George laughed, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “You’re still lovely as ever, Mama.”

“And not looking for a spouse either, so don’t even mention the notion.”

“No one could replace Father.”

She squeezed his hand and led him along to her private sitting room, dismissing her maid, and seating him next to her on the settee.

“I wish your father were here,” she said. “And Grumby as well.”

Grumby was their longtime steward. “He’s gone?”

“He’s never quite recovered from the fever that took your father’s life. I’ve given him leave to spend time with his sister.” She sighed. “I’m afraid neither he nor Fitz are seeing to the business of Loughton. Fitz comes home for a few days and is off again. His friends are a wild set. I thought, after Glanford died—”

“Fitz was still entangled with Glanford?”

“I fear so, though he kept it from your father.”

“And Lady Glanford’s visit?”

“The poor dear traveled by stagecoach, left the boys and her maid at the Swan, and turned up on my doorstep. She was determined to wait at the Swan until Fitz returned. Of course, I insisted she move in here with us.”

“Of course. But…she came to see Fitz?”

“The boys are delightful. I wouldn’t mind keeping them, if Fitz wishes and she agrees. Arthur might go off to school with James and Edward. They would enjoy that.” She squeezed his hand. “Sophie has been good with all the children, and has helped a great deal with the Yuletide preparations.” She studied the flames licking the grate. “I sense that she greatly needs help, and Fitz is her boys’ guardian.”

“She might have written Fitz with her concerns.”

“She said she has, and I believe that’s true. I’ve seen letters posted from Lancashire.”

If Fitz was ignoring his own family responsibilities, it was certain he wasn’t concerning himself with Glanford’s.

“She revealed nothing more?”

“No, and I didn’t wish to pry. She has a shield about her, but I sense her distress. I want you to get to the bottom of it, George. Talk to Fitz.”

He stood. “I’ll do so, first thing.”

“Tomorrow is soon enough. You must be exhausted after your long journey.”

She followed him to the door and turned her cheek up again for a kiss. “I’m so glad you’re here. Not just for Fitz’s sake, but for the others as well. The boys have been tormenting the life out of the girls.”

He patted her hand and wished her a goodnight.

It was well on to midnight when Sophie shepherded the girls up to their bedchambers and climbed the stairs to the nursery suite. She kissed Ben, and then tucked the covers around Artie, not at all sure he and his chamber mates, James and Edward, were truly asleep. Even if they stayed up half the night whispering when she left, she was grateful they weren’t alone in the freezing cold manor house entailed to the Earl of Glanford.

She wished the nursery maid a good night and slipped down the stairs to the guest suite she shared with her maid.

Willa jumped from the