Porteous Merryhew was a distant relative who’d inherited her father’s marquessate. She began to take pins out of her hair, gloomily considering her fate. After today, Hermione feared the children would have the opposite effect, and then she’d have to marry Cousin Porteous. Such folly to drag them on this journey, but her sister, Polly, had been willing to do anything to secure Great-uncle Peake’s money, and she’d been sure her darlings would turn the trick. They looked such darlings now, their lashes resting on round cheeks, blond hair curling against the pillow, but there’d been moments when they’d seemed monsters. Let sleeping dogs lie, or rather, sleeping puppies.
She’d begun to draw them, but the rattle of the rings on the pole had caused Billy to stir.
She would have liked to relight at least one candle and read a little, but it wasn’t worth the risk, especially with the bed-curtains still undrawn. At least baby Henrietta was with her parents next door. She’d lived with her sister and brother-in-law for the past year and enjoyed her niece and nephews, but she wasn’t accustomed to having sole charge of them. That wasn’t far from the truth, but now that they were asleep, she needed a little time to herself. In the end she’d extinguished the candles and pretended she, too, was ready for bed. If all went well, tomorrow they’d arrive at Great-uncle Peake’s house, and rambunctious children could be disastrous. It was cheap, however, which had been the main consideration.Įven after their supper the boys had been bouncing with excited energy, but it was important they get a good night’s sleep. It was a particularly noisy place, for the walls were thin, and even now she could hear indistinct conversation from one side and someone yelling out in the innyard.
She’d only just settled them.Īt ages five and nearly three, Billy and Roger should have been asleep hours ago, but the family had been late to arrive here, and an inn was a novelty for them. Lady Hermione Merryhew prayed throughout the nine slow tolls that they wouldn’t wake the two boys in the big bed.
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