Again Eleanor's fingers stroked across the piece, although the compliment from Grace felt remarkably different than from the other women's this evening. There were still undertones, but not the kind that said she was complimenting Edwin more than she was Eleanor. Something lurked beneath Grace's words but Eleanor wasn't quite certain what.
"A present for tonight," Eleanor said. She smiled rather ruefully, wondering if Grace attached emotional importance to jewelry... she'd seen some of the pieces her friend had accepted from her various beaus. "They match my eyes."
"They do indeed," Grace murmured. She sidled closer, lowering her voice. “Are you with child?” Her tone indicated that she thought there must be some significance to the jewelry. It also sounded rather envious.
“I don’t think so…” Wonderingly, Eleanor splayed her hand across her abdomen. There had been so many things to think about that she hadn’t thought about it since her last menses. Which would be due any day now.
Did she even want Edwin's child right now?
Part of her said no, another part of her emphatically said yes. So, as usual, she was confused. Delightful.
"What's it like?" Grace's low musical voice broke through Eleanor's thoughts. She had moved even closer, to ensure that not even the men standing next to them would overhear what they were saying.
"What's what like?"
"Being in a marriage that's not a travesty."
Eleanor didn't know how to answer her friend. Indeed, she'd never seen Grace looking so completely vulnerable. Did this have something to do with Lord Brooke being in town? She had heard the gossip that neither the Lord or Lady were showing any signs of leaving London; she didn't think Grace would give in and bow out during the Season, so that left it up to Lord Brooke. Yet she couldn't really say whether or not her own marriage wasn't a travesty, it all depended on Edwin's feelings towards her.
Certainly if she loved him and he did not return that affection than that would be a travesty for her. And so far she had no i
dea.
"It's time to return to our seats," Edwin said with a smile, turning back to the ladies before Eleanor could formulate a response. Immediately a smooth social mask shuttered Grace's eyes and she simpered up at Lord Warpoole as he held out his arm. Eleanor had never seen the like and she suddenly had to wonder how much of Grace's flirtations were an act. Edwin’s hand pressed against the small of Eleanor’s back, rather possessively. "Come, sweetheart."
Mulling over the mysterious implications of Grace's question, Eleanor allowed her husband to sweep her back to their seats.
******
When they returned home Edwin gave his wife a kiss before she went off to attend to her nightly toilette and he retreated to his study. He felt in dire need of a brandy. The rest of the opera hadn't gone any better than the first part, although the opera itself had been magnificent. Eleanor had been thoughtful and distracted after the first intermission and he wondered what Grace had said to her.
Although he did not want to try and dictate his wife's friendships, he didn't particularly think that Grace was a good influence on her. The Lady had been rather wild since her marriage to Lord Brooke and most of the ton did not find her acceptable company. Indeed, sometimes it amazed him that she was invited anywhere considering her utter disregard for the social conventions. Yet gossips loved scandal; inviting Lady Grace Brooke anywhere was sure to cause some minor flutter, whether due to her behavior or her latest amour. Especially since, for whatever reason, Lord Brooke didn’t insist that she be ostracized.
Definitely not the kind of influence he wanted his wife to have, and yet she'd been friends with Grace almost as long as she'd known him.
He wondered that Lord Brooke put up with it. After meeting the man at Hugh's wedding, he and Wesley had run into him several times at White's and had sat down to a drink and a meal with him. He didn't seem the kind of man to tolerate the behavior his wife indulged in, and yet nothing had ever been done to stop her.
It was a mystery, but when he'd queried Eleanor, he'd discovered that she didn't know much more than he did. Only that Eleanor assumed it had something to do with Grace’s father arranging the match. Eleanor claimed that Lady Grace was a romantic although Edwin couldn’t quite picture it.
Perhaps the two were completely incompatible. Not a problem he and Eleanor had, he thought with a small smirk as he readjusted himself in his chair. They proved their compatibility nightly. He sighed as he relaxed back into his seat. After a night of sitting at the theater it was a relief to be reclining on his favorite armchair with its well-worn cushions.
Still, he mused, it's not as if there weren't plenty of incompatible marriages within the ton. But the wives still managed to produce an heir for their husbands before embarking on their various extramarital activities. Grace was a rather glaring exception. Why did Lord Brooke allow things to go on as they had?
Perhaps once he and Edwin became better acquainted the other man would confide in him. Not that it was any of Edwin's business, but he couldn't help but be curious. Or perhaps Wesley would find out first; he had been spending a fair amount of time with Lord Brooke now that Hugh was on his honeymoon and Edwin was spending his evenings in with Nell.
Glancing at the clock, Edwin decided his wife had had enough time to ready herself for bed. Tossing back the last of his brandy he got to his feet, and then paused to open one of the draws on his desk, examining the contents with a thoughtful eye. Picking up a small glass bottle, he held it up to the light and then closed the drawer.
After all, it was rude not to utilize Wesley's wedding present at some point. Nell didn't even know what he'd given them.
Whistling happy, Edwin tucked the bottle into his pocket and went off in search of his wife.
Chapter 7
Standing in front of the full length mirror in their bedroom, Eleanor examined her body. She'd dismissed Poppy in order to do so, as this wasn't something she felt comfortable having a maid around to witness. Staring at her stomach, she ran her hand over it and wondered if there might be a baby growing in there. Certainly she and Edwin engaged in intimacies often enough that it must be possible.
The question of a baby had arisen in her mind more than once, but often she pushed the idea off to the side, not wanting to worry about whether or not Edwin's passionate interest in her might alter once she was with child.
Perhaps that would be the true proof of his affections... if they waned after she provided him with an heir.