“So when and where is the first amusement you will attend after your sister’s wedding?”
Rebecca frowned. “I haven’t accepted any. Why do you ask?”
“I think the next one will not see me kicked out of your bedchamber.”
Rebecca turned away. The earl was making it very plain that he wanted more than she’d ever considered to give him, but an affair or series of discreet meetings with a gentleman had never been what she’d anticipated for her life. She wanted more than that. Respectability. A place in society.
None of which Rafferty seemed ready to offer her.
“You were drunk,” she reminded him, turning back. “Let us not talk about the future today.”
He stroked her arms briskly. “As you wish, but don’t think I will stop trying to lure you back into my arms.”
She spotted guests coming in their direction and took a step back. She pointed at the structure above them. “So, the garden arch is about fifteen years old,” she told Rafferty in a voice sure to carry well across the garden. “The vines were planted the spring after its construction.”
“It’s lovely,” he agreed, half-laughing. “I have one just like it at home, but it’s not as old as this. You’ll see what I mean
when you visit.”
Visit? Rebecca forced a smile but her happiness in being with Lord Rafferty diminished. Lovers were temporary, and they were never, ever to be confused with having honorable intentions. Until that moment, she hadn’t really thought their affair could be more, but she suddenly wanted a new life. One with a husband and children of her own.
She bid Rafferty goodbye and returned indoors.
Chapter 11
“Are you not drinking again, Rafferty?” Lord Samuel Westfall asked as he appeared at Adam’s elbow.
Adam considered the dregs of his whiskey he’d been holding for the last hour and decided he wanted no more of it. He was not in the mood for alcohol. Not when there were much more exciting things to do in the evenings—namely, finding a way to get near his lover of last night again.
“Not in the mood,” Adam murmured, offering up a smile but keeping a sharp eye on Rebecca’s movements about the drawing room. Right now, she seemed intent on organizing her family yet again.
Adam had become fascinated by watching Rebecca flitter about the drawing room, coaxing everyone to enjoy themselves. She was good at getting other people to do what she wanted without them ever realizing that she had. Rebecca had a talent for organization; for bringing people together, too.
“I’ll have to drink the best Stapleton has to offer all by myself at this rate,” Samuel complained. “Father may have mellowed because of his marriage but has outdone himself with this house party.”
Adam looked at Lord Samuel in surprise. “You should have directed that compliment toward your own sister. Mrs. Warner’s to thank for the success of the house party. She’s been working tirelessly for a week and more.”
Samuel’s glance was assessing. “Is that so? She never said.”
“It’s her way, isn’t it?”
Samuel chuckled softly. “We started calling her the general after Mother died.”
Adam nodded. So her managing skills dated back to that point in her life. Adam raised his glass to his lips and contemplated his unexpected lover. With the youngest sister, Lady Jessica, Rebecca was openly affectionate. But with her other sister, Lady Fanny Rivers, Rebecca seemed to hold herself apart. There was little warmth or approval when they looked at each other. Even with the Duke of Stapleton, Rebecca was far more reserved than the others. She seemed closest to Samuel and his twin sons.
Adam hadn’t had a good reason to contemplate the Westfalls in any detail before now, but after the last days in Rebecca’s company, he was keen to know her better. Who better to question than her favorite sibling?
“How long are you staying at Stapleton?” he asked the man.
“Not too long. Never do. The boys are restless souls,” Lord Samuel advised with a nod.
Samuel’s twins were a pair of rascals with everyone, except their aunt Rebecca, who seemed to turn them into absolute angels with just one glance. They did what they were told for her. They were quiet for her. They looked to her for approval. The love she bore them was touching and also sad in a way. Rebecca doted on them in a way that had Adam imagining her with her own child.
“Your boys seem quite fond of their aunt.”
“Oh, yes. Can barely keep them apart when we’re in the same house. Just this morning they escaped the nursery early to wake her and say good morning. She’s so good with them.”
“She should have her own family to chase about,” Adam mused.