The Viscount's Bride by Wilma Counts

Author:Wilma Counts [Counts, Wilma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2015-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

Hannah wiped at her tears as Lord Amesbury ushered Mr. Tettle out to the men waiting beyond the door. In a matter of minutes, the viscount returned. He regarded the three children solemnly. Hannah could see dilemma written all over his face.

“Mrs. Hacket and I have discussed the situation, my lord. Elsie and I will take the children to the vicarage for a day or two. There is a neighbor who will help Mrs. Hacket take care of matters here.”

“Very well,” he said with what she thought might be relief, but also admiration, and that thought pleased her inordinately. Then she wondered curiously if he had assumed she would fall to pieces in a crisis.

Mrs. Hacket gathered some meager belongings for the children and stuffed them into a cloth bag. Within minutes, it seemed, they were ready. To Hannah’s surprise, Lord Amesbury picked up the sleeping toddler, handed him to Elsie, and himself picked up the other boy and settled him on one arm. He took the bag in his other hand.

“Ready?” he asked Hannah, who had hold of Patsy’s hand.

Patsy twisted her hand from Hannah’s and ran to her grandmother. “Gramma? Do I gotta go? Can’t I stay with you?”

Mrs. Hacket hugged her. “No, honey. You go with Miss Whitmore now and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” The older woman looked to Hannah for confirmation. Hannah nodded.

Three adults and three children made for rather close quarters in the carriage. The children, emotionally and physically exhausted, fell asleep almost instantly. Hannah, sitting next to Viscount Amesbury, was intensely conscious of him every time the carriage hit a bump and jostled them together. There was a prolonged, uncomfortable silence.

“I . . . I wish to thank you, my lord,” she said quietly.

“There is really no need to do so,” he said. “In fact, I thank you for making this easier than it might have been—both for me and the Tettle family.”

“What is to happen to them now? I mean, the children and Mrs. Hacket.”

“I do not know. Something will turn up, surely.”

“It would be a shame were they to be separated,” she said.

“It would,” he agreed, but said no more until they arrived at the vicarage. He exchanged a few words with her parents, then bade them all good night and he was gone.

It crossed her mind that most men of his social status would just wash their hands of the Tettle family, but she somehow doubted that he would.

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