“Because this is our private parlor,” Theo declared. “Or nursery or schoolroom or whatever you wish to make of it. Others might visit in the front parlor, but this one is for us alone.”
“And the cats,” she declared pertly, trying not to show how she felt about the notion of a nursery. “And Hog, of course.”
“Shutters on the windows then,” he agreed with laughter. “I just want these rooms to look like your London home—all neat and orderly and full of fascinating curiosities.”
A home—he was creating a nest for her to feather. Aster flung herself into his arms and covered his square jaw with kisses.
The servants hustled out.
“When the world crashes all around us, we’ll come here,” Theo whispered in her ear.
When, not if.
Twenty-nine
Satisfied that he’d given his little general a task that would make them both happy, Theo left Aster transporting her charts and cats to her new office and went in search of Duncan.
He didn’t have to go far. With his host duties over, Duncan had crawled back into his cave. Theo found him stalking his chamber in boredom, apparently counting his steps from one wall to the other.
“A cane would save a lot of counting,” Theo said dryly, picking up an abandoned walking stick and looking for a safe place to set it.
“And how the hell do you expect me to find the bloody things?” Duncan demanded. “They walk off on their own.”
“Not if you would hang on to them instead of flinging them at our heads. Did you, Pascoe, and Lochmas come to any conclusions about our Swinger problem or do we just wait for the rioters to destroy the threshers?” Theo rapped the cane’s handle against Duncan’s shoulder so he’d know where to find it.
Duncan swiped the stick and used it to find a chair. “I will become old and fat moldering up here,” he complained rather than answer the question.
“I am hiring carpenters to build a suite in the west wing. I can have them build you a boxing gym if it makes you happy. Or perhaps we can hang ropes out the window for you to climb up and down.”
The damned marquess actually looked interested in this last proposal. “Ropes might be easier than stairs. Or a platform pulley between the floors.”
“I’m glad I’ve given you something to think about. Now will you answer my question?” Theo gripped his fingers into fists of frustration. “I promised Aster a wedding journey, but we cannot go until I know the estate is safe. I have no understanding of the rioters’ arguments.”
“That’s because they’re not logical,” Duncan said with a dismissive gesture as he took a seat. “The men behind our local riots are ninnyhammers who indulge in drunken rages based on jealousies, arrogance, stupidity, and fear.”
Theo scowled. “Fine, then. Who are these monsters of depravity so I can ship them to New South Wales, or better yet, deepest Africa where they might feed hungry cannibals? Sensible Englishmen don’t need iconoclasts telling them what to do.”
Duncan snorted. “That’s what you get for burying your head in books and scientific communities. Iconoclasts! Go to my clubs and talk to those so-called sensible Englishmen and see how many believe trains will be the end of civilization as we know it. Most of them think steam is the work of the devil.”
“What do your aristocratic clodpolls have to do with our threshing machines and rioting farmers?” Theo asked, running his hand over his hair and wishing he could hide in his office with his telescopes and books. The passages of planets were predictable. Human behavior eluded him.
“Wealthy landowners who don’t want to spend money to change their ways encourage the Luddites to do their dirty work for them,” Duncan explained impatiently. “Right now, threshing machines are their target. There’s similar unrest over our mining improvements. Your glass manufactory is mysterious and thus cause for suspicion, so you’re next on their list. And if Pascoe is correct, we may be targeted out of jealousy and spite simply because we’re Ives. You haven’t made a friend in Montfort. And now that I’m no longer marrying Margaret, Caldwell is no longer inclined to stand in Montfort’s way.”
“What the devil do they care what we do?” Theo’s fury rose with his impatience. “It’s our land!”
“I told you, it’s not logical.” Duncan tapped his stick. “The uneducated and narrow-minded simply fear change. The more educated leaders resent our wealth, and fear us because we’re more powerful than they are, which threatens the control of their petty fiefdoms. Pascoe believes my support for several Whig bills has led Caldwell, Montfort, and others of their ilk to distrust us. We are, after all, aiding and abetting the despised Cit industrialists as well as supporting labor against the time-honored traditions of the upper classes. There’s nothing you can do, Theo. Browne is handling our tenants. They won’t be joining the rioters. That’s all I can promise.”
“We should steer the drunkards toward Montfort. I’d think his tenants ought to be ready to rise up in arms given how he treats them. I can’t keep hanging about, waiting for disaster to strike.” Theo winced, remembering Aster telling him he tended to act before thinking. She was right.
“So, don’t. Go to London. Present your astronomical papers. Visit Aster’s family. William can stay here for a change and lead armies, if needed. We must go on as if all is normal.”
This was his new normal, Theo realized glumly. “I never wanted your responsibilities. I don’t have the right brain for them.”
“I can’t ask you to be me,” Duncan said with what almost sounded like regret. “We’ll just have to muddle along as we can. Tell me, do you love Aster? Does she love you?”
Theo blinked at this unusual change of topic. “I have no idea. It’s not as if anyone ever taught us what love is about. I enjoy her company, and I think she’s what this place needs. Is that not enough?”
Duncan rubbed his stick thoughtfully back and forth across the floor. “I can’t say for certain. I just feel as if there needs to be something stronger than like to compel a woman to stay when the odds start stacking against her.”
That’s what Theo feared too, but he wouldn’t admit it to Duncan. “Any woman who has learned to deal with Lochmas has to be strong. She’ll stay,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel.
Duncan nodded doubtfully and they left it at that, although worry hollowed a deeper hole in Theo’s gut. If he refused to believe in Aster’s astrology, then he had no right to believe foolish superstition about Ives men always losing their women.
***
Hearing Theo’s familiar boot steps on the uncarpeted corridor later that evening, Aster hastily pushed up from the charts she’d spread across the bare floor of her new office. The day had been a busy one, as she’d feared, but she’d stolen these last few hours for her work.
She petted the cats and left them in the snug nests she’d prepared for them out of old drapery and pillows. She suspected Theo wouldn’t want Tiger kneading his head any more than she wanted Hog panting in her face.
She hurried across the hall to their new—shared—bedchamber.
Theo had thrown his elegant coat on a chair and was sprawled in his shirtsleeves on their new bed, hands crossed behind his head. He seemed to be studying the embroidered canopy she’d dug out of the attic for the old four-poster she’d had carried in from a guest room. He didn’t glance up at her entrance but apparently recognized her footsteps as she had recognized his.
“Are those planets amid the blue blossoms?” he asked.
“They are now,” she said in satisfaction, lying down beside him and gazing upward. “I’m not certain what they were intended to be, but I added a few stitches. I wasn’t aiming for accuracy, just effect.”
“I’m impressed. Your talents are many. I should show you what each planet looks like and let you paint the ceilings. Or the walls. Or do you know how to tell workmen to do such things?” He turned on his side and propped himself up one elbow to gaze down upon her.
Aster stroked the lines
of weariness on his bristled jaw. “Just tell me what you wish, and I can find someone to do it. That part is easy. Family and tenants and keeping your enormous household accounts and that sort of thing . . . will take some practice.”
“Just knowing you are here is enough right now.” His fatigue seemed to dissipate with her stroking, which cheered her immensely. She liked knowing he needed her. She hated to add to his burdens. “I’ve worked on my charts some more.”
He tensed again. “Do I want to hear about it?”
“Remember I told you I saw danger in the part of commerce but accomplishment in the form of allegiance?”
“And remember we laughed at the possibility of my family working together?” he retorted. “And commerce can mean anything.”
“Not when it’s on your chart. Your only commerce is the manufactory. And when it’s in my chart as well, then it almost has to mean the manufactory is in danger. The problem is . . .” She hesitated, then almost whispered, “A Mars transit to both our moons is squaring Saturn. It’s not just the manufactory in danger this week, but our home— the Hall. That’s why I see all these knives in all our charts. Because we’re all in this house when the heavens align against us.”
“So all your hard work goes up in flames this week?” he asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Planets do not predict doom and gloom. I’ll hear no more about it. Instead, tell me how you found all this flummery.” He gestured at the bedcovers. “We have carpets and matching drapery? And rather impressive dressing tables.”
Aster nearly wept at his dismissal of her fear, but admittedly, there was very little he could do even if he believed her. With a sign of resignation, she returned to stroking his hair. “This house has vast, uncharted depths, and no one has thrown anything out in centuries. It’s just a matter of exploring and asking the servants. They’re the real secret to everything. Molly has an eye for good fabric and knew exactly where to find what, even though she’s only been here a few weeks. And I kept Mrs. Smith so busy, she didn’t have time to tipple.”
“Remarkable.” He pressed kisses across her cheek. “I’ll have to start thinking about installing a valet next.”
“I have a few ideas about a valet as well,” she said while all that temptation loomed over her. She wanted to wipe away her predictions as much as he wanted to wipe away the burdens he carried—and they’d learned a very good way of doing so.
“Will your ideas wait until morning?” He didn’t give her time to answer but covered her mouth with his.
Aster was absolutely positive that valets could wait until morning. She wasn’t certain her other news ought to wait, but she allowed Theo to charm and seduce her rather than add to his burdens.
***
It was remarkable how much easier it was to face a gray day when Theo had a woman to wake him with kisses—one who didn’t insist on repairing her hair or asking for jewels before he tumbled her between the sheets again. He almost felt like a new man when he sprawled in utter satiation across soft linen on a mattress as fluffy as a cloud, with his wife’s heavenly breasts crushed into his ribs.
“I read your mother’s journal,” she murmured into his shoulder.
Theo let that slide right by him. He’d given her the journal, after all. He’d expected her to read it.
“She’s not on the Malcolm family tree, so I don’t know if she really had a gift for prescience,” she rambled, seemingly aimlessly.
Too replete to move, Theo summoned ancient memories. “Her family lived in the Americas for a long time, but her father inherited a title and brought his family back here.” Theo knew he should get up and go over the ledgers with Browne this morning, but newlyweds ought to be given some leisure, he decided.
“Along with prophesying about angels falling from the heavens, your mother predicted a summer of very bad weather that would bring tragedy and danger to your family,” Aster whispered. “I cannot say I yet understand Uranus, but if I’m calculating its effect correctly, we are both now sitting on the part of catastrophe. Your mother’s journal agrees.”
Theo winced. “Both of us?” That was his real fear—losing this piece of heaven at his side. He didn’t want to go back to the dull days of living with his sweaty brothers in a decrepit hovel. Aster’s colorful world delighted him—Aster delighted him. So much so that he probably ought to get up before he ravished her again. “I thought it was just commerce we affected,” he said in derision.
“I told you, our home is in danger, which necessarily includes the entire family.” She pinched him for his disbelief. “Even the twins are my family now. Perhaps we should head for Scotland and not come back until the danger is past.”
“Will that help?” he asked in idle curiosity. “Are we the danger? If we leave, will everyone else be safe?” He had no objection to an excuse for heading north and escaping the estate burden, although his brothers might have something scathing to say about it.
“Together, we are part of the danger, yes,” she said reluctantly. “But we cannot stop the weather—or prevent tragedy—by leaving. I’m sorry. I can’t be more clear than to say the Hall and the manufactory seem to be the focus.”
He growled irascibly and hugged her closer. “I don’t care about your damned charts. I just want it understood that whatever we do, we do together. I will not have you leaving me as you did your family because you fear you’re the problem.”
She nodded warily. “It was easier when it was just me,” she said. “It is very hard to protect everyone and still do my duty.”
“Then worry about hiring servants,” he suggested. “That’s easier than wondering if we should hire an army to surround us.”
“I’ll need to have the rest of my things brought here,” she said, apparently ready to be diverted. “Do I close up my home and bring my servants here? I will have to find a new home for my cook, if so.”
“No, let us leave your house for our escape,” Theo said, relieved to be discussing the mundane and not the impossible. “I like the idea that we have a place in London we can visit anytime we like. You may want to keep a skeleton staff there, and we can bring additional servants with us when we go up. I know Duncan has a townhouse, but it’s large and in one of the older parts of town. I think he rents it out.”
Her smile of delight erased all other concerns.
“I didn’t want to seem demanding, but I like Town. So it will be lovely if we can visit. Perhaps we can go up soon and choose what to send here.” She frowned again. “I wish I knew if it was better if we were not here this next week.”
He ignored her reference to the planets and pretended she spoke of practical matters. “If the weather lets up, I’ll go out tonight and see if the moons of Saturn are visible. Once I have my paper ready, I can arrange to meet with the Astronomical Society.”
That got Theo stirring. He leaned over and kissed his perspicacious bride. “Command your troops, general. And I’ll command mine, and soon, we’ll have this war won.”
Theo’s confidence carried him through the tedious accounting session with Browne—who truly did carry the numbers in his head but couldn’t write them down if a gun were held to his brainpan. Theo transcribed the information and handed it off to Jacques to put into the ledgers in proper form. Someday, he supposed, the amounts might even have meaning. For now, he felt fortunate to have them written down for reference.
“Are you keeping Lady Azenor’s London house?” Jacques asked a little too casually as Theo was preparing to leave the office.
Theo froze, not completely willing to discuss their plans for occasional escape yet. “Of course, why?”
“She said I should spend more time in London making myself known among the theater community, and I realize she’s right. I thought if I had a place to stay, I might learn my way around better.” Jacques bent over the ledgers, trying not to look too eager.
Theo did his best not to pull his hair. He needed Jacques here, with Duncan. And he wanted the town house for himself and Aster. But
that was his selfishness talking again.
With a sigh, he agreed. “I’ll talk to Aster. It’s a small place. I don’t know if she’ll wish to spend much keeping it open.” He hoped that was restrained enough not to insult Jacques, who really did need to set out on his own. “I hadn’t realized you were interested in theater.”
Jacques flashed one of his grins. “Lady Azenor knew without my saying a word. Your lady is a bit spooky.”
“In a good way,” Theo reluctantly acknowledged. He still didn’t believe in the zodiac, but Aster had inexplicable insights he was coming to accept. “You should tell the twins to let you know when their mother is in town. She might introduce you around.”
“You should have Duncan open the townhouse,” Jacques suggested. “Their mother is more likely to be polite if we offered something in return—like a place to stay or an occasional dinner. Now that we have a woman in the family, we can entertain more.”
“If only we didn’t have to stay here to be certain the family fortune isn’t pillaged and stolen,” Theo said dryly. “You talk Duncan into selling the London tomb and buying something more fashionable. I have to go count turnips.”
Despite his discouraging words, Theo was still feeling remarkably optimistic as he rode out to discuss new barn roofs and try to decipher Browne’s questions about the upcoming fall harvest. All he could do was gather information to take back to Duncan, who was probably walking the floors and smashing windows by now.
If they could pry Duncan out of the house so he could discuss these things with the tenants and other landowners, life would be simpler. But his brother had hidden in his chair through the wedding, then refused to join them in the stable party. The marquess didn’t appear prepared to meet with anyone but family yet.
Pondering tying up his brother and flinging him into a carriage to cart about the countryside, Theo progressed through the remainder of the day’s tasks.
He stopped at the tavern on the way home, just to wet his thirst. He knew Duncan often came here to talk with the men in town, but Theo hadn’t a clue what they discussed and wasn’t committed to learning. He was still pondering tying up Duncan and hauling him around. Duncan had, after all, promised Browne that he’d meet with the other farm managers so Browne needn’t do so. But the inability to ride up on his big stallion—lord of all he surveyed—was no doubt painful to Dunc’s pride.
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