The Irish Duke (43 page)

“I think it’s a male,” he murmured.

The larger raven flew to a higher branch and waited. Tara flapped her wings but did not follow. Lu held her breath in anticipation. The raven called to Tara but she did not answer. “She’s afraid to fly. Perhaps her wing still hurts.” Tara fluttered to the ground and walked back to Louisa. “Do you think if we bring her back, he’ll come again?”

“Perhaps. Try again tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow, James. I shall be busy all day. Have you forgotten we are hosting a dinner party?”

 

The next morning, Louisa was up with the lark. She inspected the five guest suites with Kate Connelly and asked the housekeeper to air the beds in case their guests decided to stay overnight. She spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen with the cook and her scullery maids, planning the food and wine they would serve to their guests. Then she moved on to the large dining room, selecting the china, the cutlery, the crystal, the serving dishes, the linen, the candles, and the flowers. She even chose which cheese, fruit, and nuts would be served.

When James appeared with an amused look on his face, she told him he was underfoot. “Make yourself useful. Legend has it that all the Irish are musical. Find me some fiddlers or flute players. They can play in the small dining room, where they can be heard without being seen.”

James bowed. “I warrant I can also find you a harpist, Lady Abercorn.”

“That would lend a note of refinement, Lord Abercorn.”

With a straight face he asked, “Are you planning to dance for our guests? If it’s refinement you want, may I suggest an Irish reel?
The Ladies’ Pantaloons,
perhaps?”

She pointed to the door. “OUT!”

 

James rolled his eyes in rapture and this time he was completely serious. He had come up to dress for the dinner party and found the maid, Molly, tightening the strings on his wife’s corset. He motioned for Molly to leave. “I’ll do that. I’ve never seen a red corset before.”

“I find that difficult to believe, considering your association with certain members of the theater,” Lu teased.

James refused to take the bait. He fastened the corset strings and kissed the nape of her neck. “I’m tempted to remove it.”

“I thought this dinner was to further your political ambitions to become a lord lieutenant.”

“Ah, that achievement is years away. You are here and now, vixen.”

“Hand me my petticoat.” She stepped into it and allowed him to tie the tapes at her waist. “Now for the
piece d’occasion
.” She lifted the gown that had been laid out on the bed and raised her arms so that he could put it on over her head. It was the crimson taffeta embroidered with deep red garnets that she’d had made in the ancestral Abercorn color. “Do you think the
décolletage
is too low?”

“Every female guest will think so, but I warrant every male will drink a toast to you with his eyes.”

“Please call Molly back. She’s helping me put up my hair. We’ll use my boudoir, so you can dress in privacy.”

 

As James and Louisa stood in the oval rotunda waiting to greet their guests, he murmured, “Here come the Earl and Countess of Belmore. Don’t mention that Claud is coming next month to campaign for the County Tyrone seat.”

“Why not?” she whispered.

“The earl is the present MP for Tyrone.”

Lu hid her smile behind her fan. “You are so bad.” She had done her homework and knew the Earl of Belmore was Amar Lowry, and that his wife Emily was from Kent.

The next couple to arrive was the Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry. Charles Vane Stuart was a charmer, and his wife, Frances, was a dark-haired beauty about ten years older than Louisa.

James introduced his wife to George Chichester and his wife Anna. Louisa knew their titles were Marquis and Marchioness of Donegal.

The fourth noble couple was the Earl and Countess of Caledon. Louisa had no trouble remembering the earl’s name was Alexander Du Pre, and that he was the present lord lieutenant of Tyrone.

“I’m delighted that Barons Court has a new lady of the manor,” Lady Catherine declared. “You must visit us at Caledon House.”

“Thank you for your warm invitation. James and I would love to come.”

“Lady Abercorn, it is a pleasure and an honor to meet the daughter of the Earl of Bedford. Your father was the most popular lord lieutenant that Ireland ever had.” The Earl of Caledon winked at her. “Rumor has it James married you for your father’s political influence, but now that I’ve seen you it’s clear he wed you for your beauty.”

Louisa smiled sweetly. “And here’s me thinking he wed me for my brother’s political influence. I warrant Lord John Russell will be prime minister of England one day.”

Lady Catherine bestowed a look of admiration and Lady Frances declared, “Touché, my dear. Your beauty is only exceeded by your wit.”

Louisa treated Mayor Fitzgerald with as much deference as she accorded her noble guests, perhaps a bit more, knowing that town officials revered attention.

At dinner she carried the conversation with ease. She was knowledgeable about Irish as well as English politics. She spoke of horses and racing with the men, and fashion with the ladies. She even promoted the flax mill. “Our mill is able to spin flax so fine, they can produce a hundred hanks from each pound. I warrant there is no finer linen or cambric spun anywhere than here in Northern Ireland. I intend to send some to Woburn for my mother and sisters.”

She discussed cosmetics and herbal creams with the ladies, since aging skin was the nightmare of every female living and breathing. When they spoke of their children, she listened attentively. When they hinted at her producing an heir, she smiled sweetly and changed the subject.

Louisa was knowledgeable about many subjects and answered all their questions about the king and queen of England, as well as the young heiress to the throne, Princess Victoria Alexandrina.

When she spoke with a male guest, she gave him her undivided attention, which was far more flattering than outright flirtation. Louisa had learned from her mother at an early age that every man’s favorite subject was himself.

Soft, lilting music could be heard throughout dinner, but because the musicians were in another room, it did not intrude on the conversation. After dinner she led her guests to the great hall for drinks and
swatemates.

When the hour grew late, Louisa extended an invitation to those who lived farther away than Omagh to stay the night at Barons Court. The titled couples all opted to stay, while the Abercorns’ local guests decided it was time to depart.

It was one o’clock in the morning before Louisa was able to join James in the master bedchamber.

“Our first dinner party was a resounding success, and I owe it all to you, Lady Lu. I certainly made the right choice when I chose to wed the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford.”

“The right choice to further your political ambitions, or the right choice to provide Barons Court with a perfect hostess?” she teased.

“Both, of course . . . as well as a more intimate reason. For the past two hours I’ve been anticipating undoing the strings on that red corset of yours.”

“ ’Tis said that
anticipation heightens the pleasure.
” Lu allowed him to help her remove her crimson gown, which she carefully hung in the wardrobe. “Savor your anticipation a little longer, James. I must go and check on my young raven.”

His gaze licked over the provocative corset and lingered on the curve of her breasts. “The word
ravenous
is derived from ravens. Ravenous is exactly how I feel.”

“Then perhaps I should sleep in my boudoir tonight.”

“Don’t cocktease.”

Louisa smiled.
That’s exactly what I was doing.

 

The following day, after their guests had departed, Louisa wanted to take Tara back to the park. “She perched on the valance above the window last night. She must have flown up there. Perhaps she’s ready to spread her wings.”

Tara perched on the pommel of Louisa’s saddle as they rode out to the park. As she dismounted, James advised, “Put her facing the wind. Birds prefer to take off and land that way. Facing windward helps keep their feathers unruffled.”

“Where did you acquire all this knowledge? I think you are
fey
.”

“A misspent childhood, rambling with the leprechauns, I warrant.”

She perched Tara on a branch, facing into the breeze. Then they moved back from the tree to observe. They exercised patience and sure enough, after a while, another raven swooped onto a high branch.

James murmured, “I believe it’s the same male.”

The birds exchanged a few
caws
, and Lu held her breath as the larger raven made his way down to the lower branch. As before, the two birds bobbed their heads in communication. Then the male flew up to a high branch and waited.

Tara stretched her wings, flapped them a couple of times, and flew up to the branch where the male raven sat. “I told you she could fly,” Lu whispered.

After the birds sat together for a minute or two, the male flew up and circled about the tree, cawing loudly. “All she needs is confidence,” James murmured.

Again, Louisa held her breath, willing her young raven to fly.

Suddenly Tara took off into the wind and joined her companion. They flew in a wide circle over the tree. “Oh, how brave she is!” Lu cried.

Her young bird flew onto a tree branch then flew to the ground beside Louisa. “No, no, Tara, you mustn’t come back to me. I want you to be free.” Lu was so disappointed she wanted to cry. She looked at James hoping he could make it right.

“Have faith and a little patience, sweetheart.”

Just when Lu thought it was hopeless, her young raven began to caw and joined the male in his flight. She and James stood with their faces turned to the sky as the pair of ravens flew higher and higher. “He gave her confidence to be free. It’s a miracle!”

James slipped his arm around her. “Every
crature
needs a mate. We all crave love.”

 

When they returned to the house, Louisa was delighted that she had once again received two letters—one from her mother and the other from Georgy. “I shall read them right away so I can reply to them before dinner. I have lots of things to write about.”

Her mother’s letter was filled with news about Lu’s brothers:

Lu smiled as she read her sister’s letter. It was all about Georgy:

Lu sat down at her writing table. Her mother’s letter was easy to answer. Georgy’s, on the other hand, posed a problem. She wondered if she should admonish her to be careful, or scold her for her discrimination over titled suitors. The latter might be hard to swallow, coming from the Marchioness of Abercorn. In the end she did neither. Instead she urged her to come to Ireland and told her that she missed her.

 

After dinner, Louisa remembered the unpacked crate of paintings in the gallery. “I never did see what art you bought in England. I’d like to see them and have them hung before mother visits.”

She watched James open the wooden crate. “How many are there?”

“Only two, but the subjects are extremely lifelike.” He lifted them from their packing and handed one to Louisa.

Her eyes went wide in surprise. “Edwin Landseer painted this.”

“Yes, he painted both of them. I saw his work at Woburn. I loved the portrait he painted of you with your horse. So I visited his studio in London and purchased these two. I particularly like this one titled
Shoeing.
And how could I resist
Arab Tent
portraying the white Arabian mare and her colt?”

“Oh, James, the colt looks just like Sultan! Edwin truly is a genius.” She blushed. “When he was painting my portrait, I developed a girlish infatuation for Edwin. Not long after, my feelings changed completely.”

James laughed indulgently. “It’s amazing how one week we can develop a fatal attraction for someone, and before you know it, the appeal vanishes into thin air.”

Ah, that happened to you, I warrant.
Lu was immediately ashamed of her thought. “You have very good taste in art. These two paintings should be hung side by side.”

 

When they entered their bedchamber, Lu was in a restless mood. She undressed and donned a black silk nightgown. “For some reason I feel like dancing tonight. When I lose myself onstage, it frees my mind to soar about and ponder things so that I see them more clearly. I wish you could play for me.”