ladies. “Hello, little beauty,” he said to his niece. “I don’t suppose you have a smile for Uncle Dom today, do you?”
Two dark and solemn eyes regarded him unblinkingly.
“I didn’t think so,” he said, touching her soft dark curls with a gentle hand. “You are going to slay men by the thousands when you grow up. Eyes like that should not be allowed. Whoosh!”
This last exclamation was provoked by the fact that his nephew had just launched himself onto his back.
“Is that my old pal?” he asked. “You just about bowled me right over with that one.”
“Old pal,” the child said, leaning over his uncle’s shoulder and giggling into his face.
“Ellen,” Lord Eden said, tousling the boy’s hair, “come for a walk?”
She smiled and got to her feet.
“Just don’t make her climb any cliffs today, Dominic, please,” the countess said, only to look up to find both her husband and her brother-in-law grinning down at her. “Odious pair!”
Caroline had the grace to wait until her uncle was strolling away toward the bridge with Ellen before looking up at her father, smiling that special smile that lit up her whole face, and raising her arms to be picked up.
“Bad little princess,” he said, stooping down for her.
“Oh, Edmund-” his wife began, but he held up a staying hand.
“No, Alex,” he said. “Absolutely and irrevocably no. I will not interfere. And unless my intuition is quite wide of the mark, I really don’t think any interference will be necessary. They are two reasonably sensible adults who have almost worked their way through a problem. If you want a prediction, I would say that we will be hearing an interesting announcement before another week has passed. So forget it. I am not going to do anything.”
“How rude you are to interrupt me,” she said. “I was merely going to remark that she told me quite openly that the child is Dominic’s. And I was about to predict that he is bearing her away to make her an offer. The very idea that I would ask you to interfere in adult affairs!”
Caroline had spotted the ball and wanted to get down again. The earl set her on the grass and turned to smile at his wife.
“It makes one almost envious, does it not?” he said. “Look, Alex, they are turning up the valley. Our valley. We haven’t visited our hut since coming home, have we?”
“We have had guests to entertain,” she reminded him.
“Soon,” he promised her, leaning down, his hands clasped behind his back, to kiss her lingeringly on the lips. “We’ll find the time to go up there soon, Alex. Who knows? Perhaps we will start our third child there, as we did our first. Now what are you indignant about?”
“You should not kiss me in public like that,” she said, turning pink. “Someone will see.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Christopher and Caroline?” he said. “It would be dreadful indeed for them to discover that their papa still fancies their mama at the advanced age of four-and-twenty, would it not? Or is it the servants you are worried about? I imagine they all have the intelligence to have drawn their own conclusions long ago from the fact that we have but one bedchamber between the two of us. Alex, you are poppy red. I really can’t resist the urge to discover if there is any brighter color.”
He set his hands at her waist and kissed her even more lingeringly.
She made no attempt to fight her way free.
Chapter 24
THE BEACH OR THE VALLEY?” LORD EDEN ASKED as they reached the stone bridge across the stream.
“The valley,” Ellen said. “It is so very peaceful.”
“And the day is very like summer,” he said, “despite all the signs of autumn.”
He took her hand in his as soon as they were out of sight of his brother and sister-in-law. She did not resist. They walked in companionable silence for a while.
“What has happened with your stepdaughter?” he asked. “You appear to be on reasonably good terms today.”
Ellen told him of her morning encounter with Jennifer and of the fact that the girl had made a few stilted attempts at luncheon to address remarks to her, even when it had not been necessary to do so.
“It will take a little time,” she said. “But I think our broken relationship can be repaired. I am afraid she has just learned one painful lesson of adulthood-that those adults we have depended upon and loved are also weak and fallible mortals.”
“I will have a talk with her,” he said, “though she probably does not feel particularly friendly toward me at present. I will assure her that she will always have a home with us.”
They walked on.
“At the risk of incurring Alexandra’s wrath,” he said when they came to the place where they had tethered their horses on another day, “shall we climb up? The view should be lovely on a clear day like this.”
They scrambled up the bank and through the trees until they reached the clearing almost at the top of the slope. And they stood side by side, not quite touching, looking back along the valley to the sea.
“I’m glad,” Ellen said, “that it all belongs to someone who appreciates it. Your brother does, doesn’t he?”
“It is only since I have been away,” he said, “that I have stopped thinking of it as my home. I love Amberley. It is my childhood home, and Edmund’s home. But for the first time I feel some enthusiasm for going to my own property. It is a lovely place, Ellen, in quite a different way from this. And it is mine. I will be able to establish my family there from the start.”
Ellen took a step away and sat down on the grass. Lord Eden joined her there.
“Now that your stepdaughter knows,” he said, “there is no further reason for us to delay announcing our betrothal, is there?”
Ellen hugged her knees. “I suppose not,” she said.
He laughed softly. “I think it is as plain as the nose on everyone’s face anyway,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I want to set a wedding date, Ellen,” he said. “Will this side of Christmas be too soon for you? I thought perhaps we could marry in the chapel beside the house here, with just our families present. Under the circumstances, I don’t think it would be appropriate to have a public wedding, would it?”
“Let’s talk about it later,” she said, turning her face up to the sun and closing her eyes. “Let’s just enjoy the day, Dominic.”
“And talking about weddings spoils the day?” he said. “Very well, then. Let’s enjoy the day.” He lay back on the grass and clasped his hands behind his head.
They were silent for a while, and Ellen began to relax in the sunshine that felt almost hot on her face. Had she hurt him, she wondered, by refusing to talk about anything as definite as a wedding date? She would have to talk about it soon. Their betrothal would doubtless be officially announced later that day, and then there would be no avoiding the questions of date and place.
She turned her head to look at him. He was gazing back, his eyes half-closed against the sunlight, his mouth half-smiling.
“Come down here,” he said, stretching one arm along the ground.
She lay back, her head on his arm, and closed her eyes. A couple of minutes passed before the light of the sun against her eyelids was blocked out and she felt his mouth on hers, warm and light, his lips slightly parted.
She opened her eyes when the pressure was removed, and looked up into his green eyes. He smiled slowly, and she felt herself smile in response. She did not move.
His tongue explored her lips when his mouth returned to hers, and probed gently between. It was a long and a lazy kiss. Ellen did not move, beyond relaxing her lips and allowing his tongue its will. He felt good. He smelled good. She felt her whole body relax.
She kept her eyes closed when he stopped kissing her and lay back down beside her again. His hand was
