Passion and Propriety (Hearts of Honour Book 1) (48 page)

“He didn’t have much choice.” Grace gave a wry smile. “Once word spread he was organising a surprise party, Lady Cromley insisted on being included in the guest list. You did open yourself up to trouble when you asked her and Lady Wescott to be your mentors.”

Hannah shuddered. “Only as a means to divert their suspicions. Don’t think I haven’t had cause to regret my impulse.”

“I’ll bet.” Grace chuckled. “William was quite concerned, even threatening to have them barred—can you imagine the to-do that would have created? But I told him there was no need. I can deliver a snub with the best of them, not that I’ve had much cause of late. Dr Cooper’s drinking is quite out of hand, and now that I’m included in the inner circle of a viscountess, I’m actually in good favour. They need me more than I need them,” she concluded.

“Even Lady Cromley?” Hannah couldn’t imagine Grace’s stepmother ever turning to her for help.

“My tonic is the only thing that brings her relief from her rheumatism, though now the worst of the winter has passed, she may go back to giving me the cold shoulder.” Grace shrugged and made way for Hannah’s other guests.

The next hour passed pleasantly, with Hannah enjoying the opportunity to catch up with friends, both old and new, while they were served a sumptuous afternoon tea. Showered with more gifts than she’d received in a lifetime of Christmases and birthdays, she couldn’t help feeling a little overwhelmed.

“Whatever am I going to do with all these candies?” she asked William while their guests were busy enjoying a slice of her strawberry and cream layered birthday cake. “I’ll end up as large as a whale if I eat them all myself.”

His eyes widened before he looked with alarm at her well-rounded belly. “I’ll dole them out one at a time,” he said, then went to fetch Grace and bring her over to where Hannah was seated.

“A chocolate or two won’t do her any harm,” Grace assured him. “Now go fetch us both another glass of that delicious punch. I’m parched from fending off numerous requests for impromptu diagnosis, and I can only imagine how Hannah must be feeling after listening to this lot’s vacuous chatter.”

“Yes, ma’am.” William bowed his head before departing, muttering under his breath about being treated like a lackey in his own home.

“He’s not really offended, is he?” Grace asked with a marked lack of concern.

Hannah laughed. “Not in the least. He finds your refusal to ‘toady’ refreshing. In fact, he wants to broach the possibility of your calling him by his Christian name. You’re like family to me, and he feels the same way.”

“Good Lord.” Grace sat back. “What about if I called him Blackthorn? Isn’t that more acceptable for a close acquaintance of a lord?”

“Typically, yes, but after not hearing it spoken for a decade, he’s discovered he’s quite partial to the sound of his given name . . . and it’s another way for him to break with the traditions he finds tiresome.”

“I’m all for breaking with tradition,” Grace said with a smirk. “William it is, then, and of course he must call me Grace in return.”

Her wry tone let Hannah know she was quite aware his motivation was to further secure his wife’s best friend’s standing in the community, as few folks could say they were on first-name basis with a viscount.

“I saw you chatting with Mr Loring earlier,” Hannah said, looking to where the handsome, fair-haired gentleman was standing in the centre of a circle of Hartley womanhood, his expression somewhat hunted. “No dishes were thrown or insults hurled. Dare I hope there’s been some improvement on that front?”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Grace muttered. “It was a brief encounter, the best kind where the two of us are concerned. I overheard him saying his son was doing poorly, which is hardly surprising considering the barbaric methods the London physicians insist on using. I would have liked to offer my sympathies, but since it went so badly the last time I broached the subject, I was reduced to making some inane comment about the weather.”

“At least you tried.” Hannah offered her friend an encouraging smile, puzzled by the animosity between the two. Mr Loring was the epitome of congeniality—with anyone other than the village healer who might actually do his son some good. Whatever the reason for his prejudice, William was yet to uncover it.

“Not sure why I bothered,” Grace said. “I still haven’t forgiven him for making me ride his horse astride the day you fainted. As if it wasn’t bad enough he dragged me out of the Eastons’ parlour like I was sack of potatoes, he insisted there was no time to fetch a carriage. Next thing I knew, I was perched atop his mount, without a by your leave, and he had clambered up behind me. The dreadful man received an eyeful of my calves and ankles, as I ended up with my skirts hiked around my knees.”

Hannah giggled, then covered her mouth, the action unbecoming for a viscountess.

“Has he ever spoken of it?” she asked, and Grace shook her head.

“He wouldn’t dare, not after the tongue lashing I gave him on the ride up from the village. To be honest, I don’t think the man even noticed my legs were on display—which is hardly flattering—as he was so worried about you.”

“Worried about how William would cope if anything were to happen to me, you mean.”

“That, too.” Grace’s smile fell, and she quickly reinstated it, but her efforts appeared more forced than natural.

Before Hannah could remonstrate with her friend over her unnecessary pessimism, fearing her husband was susceptible to its influence, William announced it was time to adjourn to the ballroom for the afternoon’s entertainment. Intrigued, Hannah badgered him for an explanation while he escorted her on the journey, but his lips remained sealed.

Upon discovering the velvet-padded chairs from the dining hall arranged in rows and a string quartet preparing to perform, her eyes lit up.

“A concert. Oh, William, how wonderful,” she said, barely resisting the urge to reach up and kiss him in her excitement. Seated beside him in the front row, Hannah’s smile stretched her cheeks as she listened to some of her favourite compositions played by the expert troupe. With her breath hitching occasionally at the painful prodding of the baby’s feet under her ribs, she ignored the pressure on her bladder for as long as possible, relieved when an intermission was called. Not wanting to miss a single note, she attempted a hobbling run back down the hallway from the necessary, one hand supporting her belly in an unladylike manner.

“Hannah, what are you thinking?” William strode towards her before steadying her with his hands to her elbows. “There’s no need to rush. You’re the guest of honour. The concert is not about to resume without you.”

“Of course.” She shook her head, still occasionally forgetting how much had changed in the last year. Her status in society was no longer one rung above invisible and, more importantly, she now had someone looking out for her needs. “Thank you so much, William. This is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, but it’s not over yet.” Less concerned with convention than his wife, he placed a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve got something special planned for after the horde departs. A
private
gift.”

“Another gift?” Hannah whispered as they took their seats for the second half of the concert. “But you’ve already given me this lovely bracelet.” She lifted her wrist to show off the colourful charms. “Not to mention organising a party
and
a concert. I don’t need anything more.”

“Stop scolding,” he murmured, leaning scandalously close to her ear. “It’s something we’ll
both
enjoy.”

“Oh.” Hannah fanned her suddenly flushed cheeks.

After the first few trying months, she’d been surprised to discover that her confinement—rather than dampening her desire for her husband, as one would have supposed—increased her longing to be with him. It took very little for her imagination to become exercised, and she found herself moving restlessly in her seat as she wondered what he had planned. She just hoped the party didn’t drag on too late, as she didn’t want to miss out due to fatigue.

William was clearly of a like mind, the brevity of his farewells after the concert bordering on rudeness.

“I warned everyone ahead of time that I wouldn’t allow you to be overextended,” he said when she raised her concern. “This way, they can be safely home before dark, and you and I can enjoy the next part of your gift. Now why don’t we go upstairs and take a short nap, then Marianne will help you prepare.”

“Prepare?” Hannah’s imagination went into overdrive, but in none of the exotic scenarios flooding her thoughts did she picture herself changing into one of her stunning ball gowns or having her hair piled in an extravagant arrangement atop her head.

“There,” her lady’s maid said as she fastened the clasp of the sapphires that matched Hannah’s silk gown. “You look perfect. I’ll go tell His Lordship you’re ready.”

Ready for what?
Hannah wasn’t at all sure how she would cope with a ball after her busy afternoon, nor being six months’ pregnant. Meeting William in the hallway and finding him attired in equally elegant eveningwear, her apprehension increased. But when they entered the ballroom, rather than the crowd she’d feared, Hannah encountered a table set for two beneath one of the candlelit chandeliers that rimmed the room. Enjoying a lavish dinner while being serenaded by the musical quartet was the perfect end to a perfect day, or so Hannah assumed.

“This has been lovely,” she said as they finished their dessert. “But I’m not sure why we needed to get
quite
so dressed up, or why you chose this location. Couldn’t the musicians have set up in one of the dining rooms?”

“They could have, but then we wouldn’t have had room to do this.” He pushed back his chair and came to stand before her. “Would you do me the honour, my lady?” he asked, extending his hand.

Hannah took it willingly, though she was still perplexed about his intentions. It was only after he’d escorted her to the middle of the ballroom that he nodded to the musicians who began playing a waltz . . . a very slow waltz. Hannah frowned as he placed his right hand at her waist and extended his less-than-mobile left arm for her to gently clasp his fingers. Her stomach came between them, and she’d seen him favouring his right leg earlier in the day. “Are you sure about this?” she asked as they took their first, tentative steps.

“Very,” he said with a decisive nod. “I’ve dreamed about this moment, having watched you dance from the sidelines for long enough, though never the waltz for which I am profoundly grateful. We’ve no audience to worry about, and I’ve instructed the musicians to play nice and slow. I’ve been practising, so we should be all right, but I don’t care if we’re not graceful. I want to dance with my wife on her birthday . . . even if it’s just once around the room.”

Tears filled Hannah’s eyes, and she quickly blinked them away.

“And I can think of nothing I would rather do at this moment than dance with my husband.”

Her tentative smile grew wider as they found their rhythm—a slightly halting one, but a rhythm nonetheless. With their gazes locked, they moved together with the music in slow but sweeping circles around the shimmering ballroom. Contrary to William’s prediction, they managed three entire circuits before his leg threatened to give way. It was more than enough to create a memory Hannah would cherish for a lifetime.

With the magical evening far from over, they sat and caught their breath for a while as the quartet continued to play. Inspired by the music of some of the world’s greatest composers, Hannah put her imagination to good work when they eventually retired to their room, adding more memories to the ones they had already collected.

With summer and the birth of her baby approaching, Hannah’s hopes that all would be well grew with her rapidly expanding belly . . . before waning as life became increasingly difficult.

“I don’t feel too bad most of the time,” she assured Grace, who was measuring her prominent baby bump. “I mean, my bladder is constantly under pressure, my ribs feel as bruised as they did when I fell from my mare, and catching my breath is becoming a problem. But that’s all quite normal, isn’t it, along with having a ravenous appetite and needing to take several naps during the day?”

“Yes, quite normal.”

Grace’s tone didn’t match her words, and Hannah reached for her friend’s hand. “You would tell me if there was something amiss? I don’t want to be kept in the dark.”