“I’ll join you,” he murmured as he crossed the room and picked up a crystal decanter that sat on a mahogany side table, “but I believe I’ll have a brandy instead.”
Kate watched as he poured himself a drink, then swirled it absently in his hand. It was at times like these that she found it so difficult to keep her heart out of her eyes. He was so handsome in the late afternoon. She wasn’t sure why; maybe it was the faint hint of stubble on his cheeks or the fact that his hair was always slightly mussed from whatever it was he did all day. Or maybe it was simply that she didn’t often get to see him this time of day; she’d once read a poem that said the unexpected moment was always sweeter.
As Kate gazed upon her husband, she rather thought that poet might be right.
“So,” Anthony said after taking a sip of his drink, “what have you two ladies been discussing?”
Kate looked to her sister for permission to share her news, and when Edwina nodded, she said, “Edwina has met a gentleman she fancies.”
“Really?” Anthony asked, sounding interested in a strangely paternal sort of manner. He perched on the arm of Kate’s chair, a relaxed, overstuffed piece of furniture that was not at all in fashion but well loved nonetheless in the Bridgerton household for its uncommon comfort. “I should like to meet him,” he added.
“You should?” Edwina echoed, blinking like an owl. “You would?”
“Of course. In fact, I insist upon it.” When neither lady commented, he scowled a bit and added, “I am the head of the family, after all. That’s what we do.”
Edwina’s lips parted with surprise. “I—I hadn’t realized you felt a responsibility toward me.”
Anthony looked at her as if she’d gone momentarily insane. “You’re Kate’s sister,” he said, as if that should explain everything.
Edwina’s blank expression remained fixed on her face for another second, and then it melted into a rather radiant delight. “I have always wondered what it would be like to have a brother,” she said.
“I hope I pass muster,” Anthony grunted, not entirely comfortable with the sudden outpouring of emotion.
She beamed at him. “Brilliantly. I vow I do not understand why Eloise complains so much.”
Kate turned to Anthony and explained, “Edwina and your sister have become fast friends since our marriage.”
“God help us,” he muttered. “And what, may I ask, could Eloise possibly have to complain about?”
Edwina smiled innocently. “Oh, nothing, really. Just that you can, at times, be a touch overprotective.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he scoffed.
Kate choked on her tea. She was quite certain that by the time their daughters were of marriageable age, Anthony would have converted to Catholicism just so that he could lock them in a convent with twelve-foot walls!
Anthony glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “What are you laughing about?”
Kate quickly patted her mouth with a napkin, mumbling, “Nothing,” under the folds of the cloth.
“Hmmmph.”
“Eloise says that you were quite the bear when Daphne was being courted by Simon,” Edwina said.
“Oh, did she?”
Edwina nodded. “She says the two of you dueled!”
“Eloise talks too much,” Anthony grumbled.
Edwina nodded happily. “She always knows everything. Everything! Even more than Lady Whistledown.”
Anthony turned to Kate with an expression that was one part beleaguered and one part pure irony. “Remind me to buy a muzzle for my sister,” he said drolly. “And one for your sister as well.”
Edwina let out a musical laugh. “I never dreamed a brother would be as much fun to tease as a sister. I’m so glad you decided to marry him, Kate.”
“I didn’t have much choice in the matter,” Kate said with a dry smile, “but I’m rather pleased with the way things turned out myself.”
Edwina stood, waking up Newton, who had fallen into blissful sleep next to her on the sofa. He let out an affronted whine and toddled to the floor, where he promptly curled up under a table.
Edwina watched the dog and chuckled before saying, “I should be going. No, don’t see me out,” she added when both Kate and Anthony stood to escort her to the front door. “I can make my own way.”
“Nonsense,” Kate said, linking her arm in Edwina’s. “Anthony, I shall be right back.”
“I shall be counting the seconds,” he murmured, and then, as he took another sip of his drink, the two ladies left the room, followed by Newton, who was now barking enthusiastically, presumably guessing that someone was going to take him for a walk.