The Consolation Prize (Brides of Karadok #3) - Alice Coldbreath Page 0,76

for she had seen enough of those easy manners and charming smiles to guess as much.

“Well, let me put it this way, he had always had a lively appreciation of women,” said Anne with feeling.

“I see.” Una said slowly. “Well, Rose is exceedingly pretty, but she is also a modest and virtuous girl. “Even if she did catch his eye, I do not think he would willfully seduce an innocent young woman under his own roof.”

Anne grimaced. “Maybe not, but he has a smooth tongue and a handsome face. He never lacked for feminine attention I assure you, even at sixteen. I remember one time our father was forced to intercede in an entanglement he got himself into—” She hesitated. “But perhaps that is not a suitable story for me to tell.”

Una smiled at her reassuringly. “I am aware that my husband was not a monk before he met me,” she responded calmly.

Anne set down her cup and jiggled Toby on her shoulder. The child’s breathing was noisy and regular, and he seemed to have finally fallen asleep. “You’re not what I was led to expect,” she said frankly. “Muriel has many faults, but she’s usually a decent judge of character. I can’t think why she was so mistaken about you.”

Una winced. “In truth I was not quite feeling well last night. I fear I made a poor impression.”

Anne looked intrigued. “You’re not …?” Una looked back at her expectantly. “With child?” she suggested, lowering her voice confidentially.

“I shouldn’t think so,” Una answered truthfully. “It’s such early days.”

Anne looked coy. “You never know,” she said vaguely. “It might explain—” She bit off her words with dismay. “I mean, it would probably be good for Armand. Teach him some responsibility and encourage him to be a little less selfish. Of course, it would thoroughly dash my own son’s chances of inheriting Anninghurst,” she said with a regretful sigh. “But then, John always said the chances were never that high anyway. Not with Roger forswearing the religious life like he did.”

Una lowered her own cup. “Anninghurst is your father’s seat I think?”

“Oh yes, and there’s not the smallest chance of Henry ever having issue now. Muriel must be well past child-bearing years,” Anne continued blithely. “But I never would have foreseen Armand settling down for another good ten years or so,” she admitted. “Which all just goes to show you should never count your chicks before the eggs hatch,” she said with a philosophical shrug.

“As I understand it,” Una said, refilling their cups. “You have not seen Armand in a few years.”

Anne reached for a cup with a snort. “That’s an understatement. “He avoids Derring like the plague.” She shot a sideways glance at Una. “Has he spoken to you of his upbringing?” Una opened her mouth, but Anne did not let her continue. “He was our mother’s favored child, you know. She spoiled him to the exclusion of the rest of us. She always used to say he took after her own father and never had a good word to say about Henry or Roger. It was all Armand, Armand, Armand.” Anne’s lips thinned with displeasure. “Of course, now I’m a mother myself, I see just how bad it was.”

Una bit her lip. “He may have mentioned something of the kind,” she admitted.

Anne looked surprised. “He has? I wonder,” she took a sip of ale.

“What are you wondering?”

“If you’re enough to lure him to spend a bit more time at home,” Anne said bracingly. “He’s spent precious little time seeing to his affairs here.” Her features assumed a slightly wistful air. “I was encouraged to hear him say he is visiting his farms this afternoon. Perhaps that is down to you? John says he has not a head for honest—” She broke off her words hastily.

“What I mean to say is,” she started again painstakingly. “I do hope you will be able to exert a beneficial influence over Armand. If you could only stop him from attending those awful tournaments and making a show of himself to the crowds there, that would be a start.”

Una frowned uncomprehendingly. “But I understood that even the highest knights in the land sometimes compete at the rural tournaments?” she said. “There is no dishonor in it surely?

Anne shook her head. “You do not understand. My husband went to watch him once and he said he was embarrassed to see a brother-in-law of his, indulging in such artful fakery and squandering his talents the way he