He had the feeling she was not only mourning the woman, but the books that would no longer be forthcoming. As to Fenimore, Mamma had enjoyed Precaution. He could borrow her copy. “I could discover which other books she likes.” They still rode together in the morning. “That’s a start, I suppose.”
“I assume you must know something about running an estate. Alice is very interested in the subject.” Lady Mary turned her head sharply, and there was the sound of someone entering the hall. “And no hyacinths. She is allergic to them. I must go.”
Damn him for an idiot. He didn’t even know the flowers Alice liked. He hadn’t ever bothered to find out.
Lady Mary left the parlor as quietly as she had entered it. From the hall he heard her say, “Good morning, my lord.”
Giff went to the door to better listen to what was being said. Something told him the girl had a plan.
“Good morning.” It was Normanby, and he grumbled at her. That was not well done of him.
She, on the other hand, sounded cheerful. “How did your meeting with my brother go?”
“As well as it could, I suppose. Although, why anyone would allow a lady to choose her own husband is beyond me.”
Giff wished he could see Lady Mary’s reaction to that.
“It is a family tradition.” There was a bite in her tone. “Just as there is a tradition of keeping our family close even after one marries.”
“I must suppose that would depend upon who one marries.”
“Not at all. Have a good day.”
The door closed, and the butler entered the room. “My lord, his lordship will see you now.”
When Giff followed the butler into the hall, Lady Mary was gone. What she had said about the family maintaining close ties struck him. He’d seen it at the breakfast he’d attended. If he wanted Alice, he had to be prepared to accept the rest of her family as well. Even the children. Especially the children. Blast it all. He should have asked Lady Mary about the list.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Alice awoke to rain, meaning she would not be able to ride today. However, Lord Normanby had asked her to walk with him this afternoon. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she donned her robe, crossed the corridor into the parlor, and took out the list she and her sisters had written.
Intelligent
Kind
Like house animals
Like children
Make us laugh, and think we are funny
Interested in the plight of the poor and unfortunate
Must support us in our charities and other ventures
Passable looking
Allow us to be ourselves
Be able to support a family
Must love us in return
Taking out a pen, she dipped it in the standish and wrote, Be a friend at the bottom. Since Eleanor’s wedding, it had struck Alice forcibly that as she would not have her sisters with her all the time, whoever she married must be a friend as well as a husband. Thus far, Lord Normanby seemed intelligent and kind. She would know more by the end of their walk today.
She went back to her bedchamber, washed, and dressed, then went down to the breakfast room.
Elizabeth yawned. “Posy is not happy. She tried to hide under my bed, but George found her and took her out.”
Alice smiled as she pictured the Dane attempting to crawl under her niece’s low bed. “I am surprised she did not come to my chamber.”
“The door to the nursery was closed,” Gideon said.
The footmen were most likely tired of hunting for Posy when it was raining.
Mary and Theo took their seats. The two of them had their heads together. Alice wondered if Mary would feel left behind after Theo wed. The three years between them had not kept them from being fast friends, but it would stop them from coming out together. A footman set a pot of tea on the table in front of her, and she poured a cup.
“What would you like this morning, my lady?”
“Shirred eggs, toast, and whatever fruit we have.” She would have to find something to do until her walk this afternoon.
“The table looks empty,” Gideon said.
Matt looked at him with slightly raised brows. “It won’t when everyone visits.”
“We will have to put another leaf in the table when the rest of the family is here,” Grace added.
Looking at it from Gideon’s point of view, Alice had to agree. When she married, there would be one more person gone. That is how it felt when her older sisters had wed. But then he and Elizabeth were able to join them. “In no time at all Edward and Gaia will be sitting at the table.”
