A Stroke of Good Fortune (Daughters of the Gentry Book 2) by Jennie Goutet

Author:Jennie Goutet [Goutet, Jennie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Millefeuille Press
Published: 2023-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Theo had not missed the tears pooling in Arabella’s eyes, despite the smile she wore. Heavens, but she was beautiful. She seemed too frail a woman to care for such a strapping boy as David—to have carried him and brought him into the world. But despite her timidity, he was discovering a force in her that revealed itself in how she cared for her son. She would not allow anything to harm him. Delicate, and as fair as an angel, she would be a fierce warrior on her son’s behalf.

He brought David back to his mother, allowing her to talk to him and cuddle him, which he sensed she needed. It was fortunate for her sake that it was the end of the day, and David was tired. He was more content to sit in her embrace than Theo imagined he must generally be. Only when he felt that David might be growing heavy in her arms did he suggest that perhaps they should go down to see if dinner was ready. Felicity leapt forward to take him at that moment with a deferential smile, and Theo held out his arm for Arabella. He was growing attached to the feeling of having her at his side.

They had no sooner entered the corridor than Trudy appeared at the top of the stairwell. “I was coming to get you, as we may now sit to dinner.”

They went downstairs together, Trudy laughing over Roger and Frank’s antics that day and recounting the news she’d had from their mother in Cornwall.

At the bottom of the stairs, Trudy turned her head to Arabella. “Were you reassured at seeing David? Is he adapting well in the nursery, do you think?” Her voice was warmer than it had been the day before, and Theo hoped it was because they were becoming closer.

Arabella nodded, a genuine smile on her lips. “He seems much happier with your sons to play with. I have often worried about him being alone with no siblings, the way I have always been. To see him playing with others cannot but please.”

“I have always been a proponent of large families—not that Vincent would have it otherwise,” Trudy said, then, at a glance from Theo, added with a twinkle in her eyes, “No, I shall not continue in that shocking vein.”

“Thank you,” Theo murmured wryly. He was not particularly keen on hearing any details of his sister’s marital intimacy.

They sat to dinner and ate, conversing as though they had known each other for years. He had to own that although his sister was forthright as Arabella had said, her natural kindness made her a good conversationalist, for she strove to bring Arabella out of her shell. He enjoyed listening to the details of Arabella’s childhood his sister had coaxed out of her. Many of the descriptions were somber, though, and it made him long to go back to the young girl she had once been and whisper promises that all would turn out well—not that he could make such promises, even to the woman grown.

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