her, don’t you think?” she asked. “It’s what I would want. I only wish we knew how to help them.”
“Perhaps in time we will,” he mused. “I had hoped that by learning their story we might know what to do, but I feel we are no further ahead than we ever were.”
“We’ll get there,” Hannah said, hoping that she could reassure him, “together.” She moved to sit on his lap so she could better see his face. “You haven’t had any nightmares lately.”
“No,” he said, a faint smile turning up his lips. “Not since I’ve been with you.”
Suddenly Hannah sensed a presence behind her, and when she turned, this time it was an actual person in the flesh standing within the garden.
“My apologies,” Falton said, obviously meaning it, “but Lord Byron is here.”
“Can you tell him we are not home?” Edmund said dryly, and Hannah had to press her lips tightly together to keep from laughing, an action she sensed Falton was mimicking as well.
“He has shown himself into the parlor,” Falton said, and Edmund sighed.
“Well, we best go get this over with,” he said. “I will speak with him alone after dinner, and then, hopefully, he will be gone.”
“Hopefully,” Hannah repeated, but a feeling of dread filled her stomach, one that wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard she tried.
Hannah squirmed uncomfortably in her seat throughout the meal. Lord Byron was as she had remembered him – loud, boorish, and quite honestly, rather drunk. Hannah could hardly eat a bite of her dinner, for all she could think about was the fact that she had nearly married the man. How horrible life would have been, she thought, taking a small sip of wine to fortify herself.
She could sense Edmund smoldering from the seat next to her. Instead of sitting across the table from one another, Hannah had taken to sitting at his right elbow so they could converse through dinner. Unfortunately, tonight Byron sat across from her, and he wouldn’t stop staring at her. It disconcerted Hannah, and apparently Edmund was none too pleased as well.
Hannah reached over to him under the table and squeezed his knee.
Byron now looked from Hannah to Edmund and back again.
“So,” he said, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest, “what has kept you two occupied here at Hollingswood?”
Edmund managed a tight smile. “Life, I suppose.”
“I don’t know how you do it,” Byron said, shaking his head. “How dreary it would be, out here in the middle of nowhere. It’s a shame to waste such beauty here.”
Hannah swallowed hard, looking over to Edmund, for his brother had clearly insinuated just what – or rather who – he was referring to.
“It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the two of us could have been married?” he said to Hannah with a chuckle. “And now here you are, married to my brother.”
“Everything has a way of working itself out,” she said, placing her glass down firmly on the table, determined to put this man in his place. She hoped there wouldn’t be too many more dinners such as these.
“So it does,” he said, smiling sickly at her before he took another sip of his own drink, his gaze not leaving her face.
“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Edmund said, pushing his chair back and standing abruptly. The fire cracked loudly in the grate through the silence in the room as he stood and stared at his brother.
“We’ve only just begun,” Byron protested, but Edmund shook his head.
“You and I will go to the library to continue this conversation,” he said. “Hannah doesn’t need to hear it.”
“My apologies, Hannah, if I have not been a gracious guest,” Byron said, slightly wobbly on his feet as he finally stood and began to wander out of the room. “Say, which bedchamber is yours?”
“Out!” Edmund commanded, and Hannah didn’t think she had ever been so grateful for her husband before.
What Edmund most wanted to do at the moment was sink his fist into his brother’s face and show him just exactly what he thought of his little show back in the dining room.
But if he wanted Byron gone, then he would have to play his little game. He led him into the library, and the door seemed to slam behind them of its own accord. Edmund couldn’t help but smile when Byron jumped.
“Sit,” Edmund said, but Byron crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at him.
“I thought I was the older brother here,” he said, and Edmund shrugged carelessly.