An Inconvenient Heart by Colline Grace

Author:Colline, Grace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

George sat with his mother in the fine carriage, swaying side-to-side with the rough road. Remy had gone ahead to make the arrangements and they were riding to Welridge for a few days’ visit and tour of the mills. They were but a few hours out and his mother had been uncharacteristically quiet for the majority of the trip.

Observing her, he noted the fine lines of tension about her eyes and mouth. The skin there was thin, thinner than he remembered and the hair springing back from her forehead was a little faded, a tiny bit grayer than it had been. His mother had never gone into a cap, and wore her hair uncovered as a younger woman would. He smiled at her.

She caught him staring and said with an uncertain expression, “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all. I was just wondering when I am to wish you joy,” he said with a speculative expression.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She turned away quickly and presumed to stare out the window.

“Mother, I can see you two are courting. I just do not know what to do about it.”

“There is nothing for you to do except continue to be courteous and respectful,” she said, continuing to stare at the countryside.

“Do you have an understanding?”

After a moment, she said, “Yes, I believe so. It has been awkward, though.”

“Why?” George was taken aback.

“Well, there’s you, and he has grown children from his late wife.”

“So he is a widower,” he said.

“Yes. For many years, now.” She turned her attention back to George.

“Have you met his children?” he asked. The thought of having stepsiblings was a surprise.

His mother’s eyes narrowed slightly, then widened as she answered in a gentler voice, “His sons manage the mills. This will be my first time meeting them.”

“And you are apprehensive?” he ventured. “Obviously. I am too old to be put on display.” The edginess was back.

“Surely it is not quite so bad…”

“He is very fond of his sons.”

“Well, Mother. They will like us or they won’t. We won’t be that worse off if they don’t.”

She tried to smile, but couldn’t, and he realized just how much she cared about this. As a woman, she had little option but to marry in order to be free of her titled stepson, William. As an aging woman, she had few options in the marriage market. That she had found Remy must have seemed like a miracle to her.

She cleared her throat delicately. “And you…when am I to wish you joy?”

“Well, Mother, since you ventured there, let me tell you that she has already refused me.”

Delia stopped and spun around. “What?!”

“I asked, she refused.”

Her face became red with anger. “That silly girl, what is she about? Leading you on and then…”

“She did not lead me on, Mother.”

“She most certainly has! A woman knows, George!”

“Well, whatever her reasons, you may now put her out of your mind. She doesn’t want the likes of me.”

“Well, then, the girl doesn’t deserve you.”

They relapsed into silence, his mother seeming to prefer it and, indeed, George did no less.

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