Charming Artemis, page 18
“I picked it.” Oh, how well Artemis knew the look of hesitant hope on the little girl’s face.
“Clever girl,” Artemis said.
Caroline grinned broadly, tender pride surging in her expression. Charlie put an arm around Artemis and gave her a side hug, whispering, “Thank you for that.”
“Who is hiding the horse first?” Caroline asked.
“Perhaps you could help one of the youngest ones,” Charlie suggested. “Aunt Artemis and I will help the others look.”
Caroline chose her two-year-old brother, Henry, to be her partner. He watched his sister with an eager adoration.
Charlie and Artemis gathered the others, nearly all of whom were under three years old, into a clump of childish glee. Alice, one of the older children, at likely five, set herself beside Charlie, watching him, utterly besotted. Artemis held Julia in one arm and the ebony-haired Isabella in the other. Charlie held Kendrick, with little Robert and William tucked up against him.
“No peeking,” Charlie told the lot of them. “Close your eyes.”
Alice did so immediately. None of the others seemed to understand what he was telling them.
“Have them cover their eyes with their hands,” Artemis suggested. Her nieces and nephews had been able to do that at this age, though perhaps not for long stretches of time or with any degree of reliability.
Charlie demonstrated with exaggerated movements. They watched him intently, doing their utmost to copy him. Artemis’s armfuls were too little to comprehend much of it and wouldn’t have the least idea what Caroline and her brother were up to.
The little boys watching Charlie from the floor were entranced. Repeated attempts at mimicking his actions dissolved into giggles. Robert stood and put his tiny hands on his uncle’s eyes.
“Cover your own eyes, silly,” Charlie said.
William, sitting on the floor still, giggled and pulled himself to his feet, joining his cousin in the effort to cover Charlie’s eyes.
Caroline and her brother returned in the midst of the silliness. “Did you see where we hid the horse?”
“We didn’t,” Artemis assured her.
Caroline looked down at her little brother. “Don’t tell them where it is.”
He shook his head.
Getting up with so many little ones underfoot and in arm took some doing, but they managed it. After only minutes, the reality of how young most of their brood was became quite clear. They hadn’t the first idea what was happening or what they were looking for. Caroline, good sport that she was, simply laughed at her little cousins’ antics. Henry was very good about not revealing the hiding place of the toy horse.
But Alice, still clinging to Charlie’s side, was growing frustrated. “I want to find the horse. The boys are being bad.”
“Not bad, dear,” Charlie said. “They are just too little to understand the game.”
“Then why are they playing?” she asked.
He met Artemis’s eye. She managed not to laugh out loud at the exasperation in his eyes.
“Hers is a point well made, Charlie. I cannot wait to hear what your answer will be.”
“You are no help.” But he smiled at her.
Eventually, Charlie found the horse hidden beneath a chair. He then hid it, and Artemis discovered it beside a long table. The littlest ones lost interest by the time Caroline found and hid the horse once more. The two nursemaids who’d been in the room in case of just such a defection, were quick to gather up the tiniest of the cousins and whisk them away, no doubt to the nursery.
Charlie bid them each an individual farewell. He was so tenderly sweet with them. Not one of these children would ever wonder if someone cared for them.
Only she, Charlie, Alice, and Caroline remained in the large and impressive portrait gallery. The older of the two girls set out to hide the horse. Alice sat on Charlie’s lap.
“Do you think I’ll find it this time?” she asked.
“I think you might,” he said. “If I don’t find it first. I am a very good seeker.”
“I’ll find it,” she said eagerly. “I know I will.”
Caroline announced the horse well and truly hidden, and they all opened their eyes to begin the hunt. Alice ran around, searching beneath every chair and under the sparse bits of furniture. Sweet thing, she wanted so badly to emerge triumphant.
Artemis knelt in front of the child. “You keep searching, love. Caroline and I will convince your uncle Charlie to look for it on the far side of the room.”
“What if the horse is over there?” Alice asked.
Artemis met Caroline’s eye. The older girl shook her head. To Alice, Artemis said, “I am certain it isn’t on that side of the room. You look over here.”
Alice bounced a bit, eyes darting around with excitement as she took up the search in earnest.
“I’ll tell Charlie to look over there,” Caroline said.
“Excellent idea.”
While Alice searched near the windows, Caroline turned to Charlie. He, of course, would have overheard every word they’d said. Still, he played along, allowing Caroline to pull him by the hand to various pretended hiding spots.
“I can’t find it,” Alice said, frustration and disappointment heavy in her voice.
“Go help her, Caroline,” Charlie said.
“But you’ll escape and find the horse.” Poor Alice looked near to tears.
Artemis didn’t wish for Charlie to be forced to reveal that he’d been playing a role the entire time. “I’ll stop him,” she declared and rushed over, making a show of blocking his path.
Charlie laughed and pretended to try to get around her.
“I’m holding him back, girls.” She could hear giggles behind her. “Look quickly before he escapes.”
She glanced back at them. Caroline took Alice’s hand and pulled her toward the apparent hiding spot.
“They are darling little friends, aren’t they?” Charlie spoke quietly. “Caroline was the only grandchild for quite a while. She was often lonely.”
“It is so hard to be a lonely child,” Artemis said.
“Yes, it is.”
She looked at him once more. “Were you lonely, too, Charlie?”
The laughter that had been in his expression only a moment earlier disappeared. Heaviness pulled at his brows. Sadness hung in his eyes. “All my brothers were away at school. My father had died. My mother was in deepest mourning. I often felt entirely alone.”
“I wish you’d lived closer,” she said. “We could have been friends, and neither of us would have been so alone.”
He set an arm around her waist. “We could have launched paper boats in the Trent and played on the old stone bridge.” He set his other arm around her. “We would have climbed trees and caused endless mischief.”
Artemis set her hands on his chest, watching as a smile played across his lips. “I would have liked that.”
Charlie rested his forehead against hers. “We could still do all those things, you know.”
“Even the ‘endless mischief’?” she whispered.
His voice as quiet as hers, he said, “Especially the mischief.”
“What sort of mischief do you have in mind?” Her heart pounded so loudly she could hardly hear her own words.
“I have a few ideas.”
“She found it! She found it!” Caroline’s voice called out.
Charlie pulled back. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from unexpectedly enjoyable husband to fun uncle. He rushed over to his nieces, taking the game up once more.
Artemis took a moment to breathe and regain her equilibrium. He was proving a surprise. A wonderful, confusing, delightful surprise.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Father’s friends had declared Mater a genius. Charlie was beginning to suspect they fell somewhere near that themselves. Their advice regarding his difficulties with Artemis had proven remarkably efficacious. The time he’d spent with her playing games with their nieces and nephews the day before had been encouraging. They’d recaptured much of the friendliness they’d enjoyed while her family had visited Brier Hill and some of the ease they’d had at the final inn on their journey to Lampton Park.
She’d looked happy. There’d been no arguments or resentment. And she’d let him hold her. He’d thought about kissing her. Heaven knew he’d thought about it. If not for Caroline interrupting the moment, he might have tried. It was likely for the best he hadn’t. He was aiming for friendship. He was working toward a future in which they could have some happiness. Pushing beyond that too quickly would likely have proven disastrous.
The family gathered on the back terrace after breakfast the next morning. Stanley and Marjie had arrived late the night before, and everyone was anxious to see and visit with them. Their little boy was enjoying crawling about with his cousins.
Charlie took a seat beside Mater, something that hadn’t often been possible since the arrival of Father’s friends. They clearly enjoyed her company, and she was seldom seen without at least one of them.
She watched him fondly. “How are you faring?”
“Better,” he said. “I don’t think Artemis hates me any longer.”
“Oh, my boy, she never hated you.”
Bless her maternal optimism. She likely couldn’t imagine anyone hating any of “her boys.” And she likely wanted to believe that all the brothers got on well with everyone.
“I can see you do not believe me.” Far from offended, she smiled all the more. “I daresay when you met at the house party we had here, you both found each other intriguing and confusing, handsome and clever. I would wager neither of you had the first idea of what to do with those feelings. She, as beautiful as she is, with her large dowry and significant connections, has likely endured a constant stream of insincerity from those looking to befriend her for the benefits they would receive. I have no doubt she has learned to treat others with that same insincerity as a means of protecting herself. And you, being a younger son, with a very loyal and open heart and the opportunity to surround yourself with sincere friends, didn’t know how to respond to someone you could tell was playing a role.”
Charlie shook his head in amazed surprise. “I think Mr. Layton and Mr. Barrington were correct.”
She tipped her head. “About what?”
“They told me that you are a genius.”
She laughed. “What an odd thing for them to say.”
Charlie eyed her more closely. “Is it true you had a passion for mathematics when you and Father were first married?”
“Ah.” Understanding dawned. “I have always had a passion for learning new things, but mathematics was, for me, the most intriguing.”
“Why did you never tell me?’ he asked. “All the times I’ve spoken of my mathematical interests, you gave no indication that you shared the same.”
She took his hand and held it as she had often done. “You have struggled to feel you have your own identity in this family. Every interest you expressed over the years had already been claimed by someone. I couldn’t bear to take this one away from you as well.”
“But I am happy to know we have this in common,” he said. “It does a fellow good to know he shares a trait with a parent. Gives him a sense of connection, like he belongs among his own family.”
“You are so essential a part of all of us,” Mater said. “I hope you feel that.”
“For my part, I hope Artemis feels that. She’s been lonely.”
Mater looked out over the gathering. “I have not seen her this morning. Have you?”
“Not since I came down for breakfast.” He rose. “I’d imagine someone has though.”
But when he asked those gathered there, the answer he received over and over again was no. Only when he posed the question to Mariposa, his most outspoken sister-in-law, did he get more information than that. “An invitation to join all of us was sent to her, but she has refused it.”
“Refused?”
“Sí.” Mariposa did not speak in disapproval or judgment, simply confirmation. “She has insisted she not be asked again.”
That was unexpected. She’d been so much more at ease amongst them of late. Had he made less progress than he’d thought? Surely he’d not imagined her softening the day before. Yet, she was refusing the hospitality of her new family members.
“I suppose I had best go discover the nature of her objections,” Charlie said.
“The ‘nature of her objections’ might be the prospect of all our company at one time,” Mariposa warned. “We are many, and we can be overwhelming.”
That wasn’t entirely untrue. But the enormity of this family was not going to change. If Artemis was unwilling to endure that, she’d never find her place among them. That rift would eventually either tear Charlie from his family or would become a chasm in their marriage.
Was he never to be permitted to hope without it being so quickly snatched away?
He made his way back toward the terrace doors. His feet took him past one of Father’s friends, Mr. Fortier, who stopped him.
“Excuse-moi, Charlie,” he said. “A moment, please.”
Charlie nodded, indicating he should say what he wished.
“You will, I am most certain, receive ample advice from the Gents. Your father would wish that of us, he not being here.” Mr. Fortier had very kind eyes. And something about his soft-edged French accent made his words even more gracious. “I will take a moment to suggest you approach your sweet wife with patience. Making assumptions tends to land one in greater difficulties.”
It was a good reminder, really. “I will,” he said.
“And I must warn you, should you injure the feelings of your doux ami, Mr. Layton will likely murder you. He has shown a very paternal fondness for her.” Mr. Fortier looked amused enough that Charlie knew his life was not actually in any danger.
“I consider myself amply warned.”
Mr. Fortier motioned him along. Having friends of Father’s nearby wasn’t the same as having him there, but it was proving helpful just the same.
With the reminder to be patient in his thoughts, he made his way to his bedchamber.
She was inside, sitting on a chair facing the window. She was fully dressed for the day, though she had a blanket spread over her lap and still wore her nightcap. Artemis never appeared anything short of perfection. Was she ill? Surely she would have said as much rather than simply saying she refused to join the family.
“Everyone’s wondering where you are.” It was not the most elegant opening, but he wasn’t certain where to begin.
“I know my company is highly sought after, but I am certain they can endure my absence for a day.” That tone was all too familiar. Artemis was on her high horse again.
But why?
“I understand the sisters-in-law plan to make their way to the vicarage in an hour to create charity baskets for some of the struggling people in the parish. They could use your help.”
She shrugged a shoulder, still not looking back at him. “They’ll manage without me, though they will certainly suffer for the loss of my company.”
Be patient. Don’t assume the worst. It was an easy thought to have, a harder one to follow through with when she was enveloping herself in the cloak of arrogant theatrics. It is a shield, not a window. He repeated the duke’s declaration, reminding himself to not assume the worst in her.
“The entire family is currently gathered on the back terrace. I should very much like to spend time with them. Heaven knows I’ll have few opportunities now that my home is in Cumberland.” She needed to see that this was important. He crossed to the window to face her. “Could you not—” Every drop of fight evaporated. She looked utterly miserable. “What’s happened?”
She turned her head a little away. “You’ll laugh at me.”
He hunched down in front of her. “When have I ever laughed at you?”
That brought her gaze to him, both dry and accusatory. “‘Miss Shamcaster’?”
Lud. She’d heard the name he used to call her.
“You cannot tell me with any honesty that that moniker was meant to be anything other than mocking,” she said.
He set his hand atop hers, where it rested on the chair arm. “I wish I could tell you I’ve grown wiser and more mature of late, but it is a sad truth that Jonquil men are doomed to unending idiocy.”
She didn’t pull her hand from his, which he hoped was a good omen.
“Do tell me what’s upset you,” he said. “You are so seldom truly overset. It worries me to see you upset.”
“Do you promise you won’t ridicule me?”
He threaded his fingers through hers and held her gaze. “You have my word of honor.”
She sighed and pulled off her nightcap. A riot of absolutely chaotic curls shot out in all directions. “Rose isn’t feeling well, and I wanted her to rest. One of the maids helped me dress, but not one of them would know how to tame this monstrosity. I can manage it to an extent myself, but it’s particularly bad today.” Her next breath shook. “I can’t join your family looking like this. They would all laugh at me. I couldn’t bear it.”
Artemis seldom allowed herself to seem vulnerable. This degree of fragility was heartbreaking. And yet, her emergency was something he was actually equipped to help with. He was never the right person at the right time. This was an opportunity he did not mean to waste.
He stood, keeping hold of her hand, and nudged her to her feet.
“I won’t go down there like this, Charlie. I won’t.”
“I have no intention of insisting you do.”
She eyed him doubtfully. “What do you intend to do?”
He knew his expression held a fair bit of mischief. “I intend to fix your hair.”
