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This time it was Benedict who sent her ball careening into the woods.
In her mind, Kate could still see her new brother-in-law’s mischievous smile as he had sent his mallet whirling toward her defenseless ball. She whacked at an errant tree branch, imagining it was his face instead. Only her second showing in pall mall, and yet again she was resoundingly denied a victory. If she weren’t so stubborn she might have given up the game as a lost cause, but then it happened.
He had laughed.
Her husband, the man who was the very reason she had been distracted enough to leave her ball vulnerable in the first place, had laughed as his brother maliciously sent it flying into the foliage. The sound had been enough to stiffen both her back and her resolve.
Stomping off in a huff of indignation, she hadn’t bothered to give her vexingly endearing husband a second glance, though she felt his eyes following her all the way down the grassy slope leading into the blanket of trees beyond.
Not a full minute after she had left to retrieve the pesky ball, the noise of footsteps echoed behind her in the brush. A satisfied smile split across her face at the sound. Of course he would want to make amends as soon as possible. It would be in his best interest to do so.
As the footsteps came to a halt behind her, Kate swung around on an intake of breath, prepared to soundly chastise her husband for his disloyal response to her misfortune. However, when Kate turned, she found one of the youngest Bridgertons standing there instead.
“Gregory!” His name dropped from her lips in a tumble of surprise.
He gave her a bashful smile. “Hyacinth was monopolizing Newton, so I thought I might help you retrieve your ball.”
In the blink of an eye, her irritation was gone. “That was very kind of you.” She smiled at him, and he grinned back, the infamous Bridgerton spark of mischief dancing in his dark eyes.
Suddenly, something softened in her chest, a knot of hurt that had been lodged there since she had returned to England only to be greeted by Edwina’s absence. The queen had made quick work of marrying off the youngest Sharma sister to her nephew the prince, and now Edwina was not here.
Although she was no longer the center of Kate’s universe, Kate missed her sister all the same. Edwina had been a large part of her life for so long that Kate was still learning to live without her. However, as she took in Gregory’s openly friendly expression, she realized that she now had seven more siblings to call her own. Anthony’s family was hers now too.
She crooked a finger for him to follow her. “You are most welcome to join me. I suppose you know these woods better than I.”
“Not as well as I would like,” he admitted as he jogged ahead of her, pulling branches out of her way as she followed behind. “I should like to be allowed to hunt with my brothers, but Anthony says not until I am old enough to properly hold a gun.”
Kate nodded her thanks as he pulled a patch of prickly stems out of her footpath. “I myself am quite accomplished at shooting. When you are ready to learn, I would be happy to help teach you.”
Rather than scoff at the offer, his face lit up even further. “I would like that very much!”
Gregory was a good few steps ahead of her now that they had cleared the thickest part of the woods. Kate glanced at the muddy patch of earth to her left, and a fond memory rose up at the sight. She could still hear Anthony’s laugh from that day they had fallen into a muddy, tangled heap. The sound of his laughter had been a bit scratchy then, as if he weren’t accustomed to forming the sound. He laughed much more readily now.
“There it is!” Gregory’s discovery of the elusive ball interrupted her thoughts. Kate glanced in the direction of his pointed finger. The midnight colored orb lay several meters away at the base of the late viscount’s memorial. She looked to gauge Gregory’s reaction to the site, to see if his father’s grave would upset him as it used to affect Anthony, but, if the spot did cause him any discomfort, he did not show it.
He sprinted in the direction that he had indicated, and Kate trailed in his wake, drawing up behind him as he stood by her ball, not touching it but instead looking at the words carved into the weathered stone that memorialized his departed father.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Kate asked him, “Do you come here often?”
Gregory turned to look at her. The sparkle in his eyes had dimmed a bit, but it seemed to be tempered by resignation rather than sadness. “No,” he admitted softly. “It makes me sad to think of this place.” He broke off, and the drone of a nearby dragonfly’s wings filled the silence. She saw his chest rise and fall on a deep breath. “Sometimes I feel guilty.”
Kate stepped closer to him, her eyebrows drawing together in concern. “Why would you feel guilty about coming here?”
“Because I don’t miss him as much as they do.” His eyes were serious as he contemplated the man who never had the chance to raise him. “It’s difficult to miss someone you never knew. Of course, I do miss him though,” he hastened to add, his eyes snapping from the memorial back to her.
“My mother died when I was very young,” she told him then, the sympathetic tone of her voice indicating she knew exactly how he felt. “I don’t remember her, but I feel the emptiness her death left in my life. I didn’t feel it as keenly as my father did, but I felt it all the same.”
Gregory look confused. “I thought Lady Mary was your mother.”
Kate smiled at the mention of her mama. “My father married her when I was very little. She’s been the only mother I have ever known, and she’d never treated me any differently than she has Edwina. She’s always treated me as if I were her own. I don’t think I could have loved my own mother any better.”
“Anthony has been the only father I’ve ever known,” Gregory said, his eyes softening as he thought of his eldest brother. “I’d like to think the way I love him is the same way I would love my father if he were still here.”
Kate’s eyes suddenly felt very misty as she considered how well Anthony had raised and loved his youngest siblings. “And you love him very much don’t you.”
“Of course,” Gregory replied, as if there had never been the possibility of another answer. “Although,” he added quickly, “I’m very glad he’s married you.”
“Why is that?”
He shrugged, his action indicating that the answer was obvious. “He’s so much happier now.”
A lump of emotion clogged her throat, but she was saved from answering by the sound of a far off bark. Gregory’s head jerked in the direction of the house where Hyacinth was undoubtedly enjoying the company of a very fat corgi. Kate could tell by the look of longing on his face that he would much rather be rolling around in the grass with Newton than standing in the woods here with her. “Thank you for helping me find my ball,” she said by way of dismissal.
“Aren’t you coming?” he asked as he began to move back toward the thicket that led to the house.
“Not yet.” She picked up her ball and set down both it and the mallet on the bench nearby. “I think I’ll stay for a moment.” She saw the hesitation on his face, and waved him away with a laugh. “Please don’t let me keep you. Newton needs both you and Hyacinth to distract him properly. Otherwise who knows how many more pall mall balls he’ll run off with?”
Not needing any further prompting, Gregory told her he would see her at dinner before tearing off through the woods in the direction they had come. Chuckling at his enthusiasm, Kate sat down next to her discarded mallet and simply sat for a moment in the peaceful silence of the woods.
Her eyes traveled from the fading lilacs at the base of the stone column up to the deeply etched words. She read them to herself again.
IN LOVING MEMORY of 8TH VISCOUNT EDMUND BRIDGERTON
She thought about the 9th viscount she had married. How he had tried for so long to live up to his father, to be both a parent and a sibling at such great cost to himself and his happiness. His family loved him, of course, but they would never truly understand his sacrifice.
Kate knew though. She understood perfectly.
“You would be so proud of him.” She said the words to the empty air although she knew the man she spoke them to would never hear them.
“Kate.”
The sound of her husband’s voice startled her out of her reverie, causing her to jump slightly off the wooden seat. “Anthony!” She held a hand to her chest to calm the startled beat of her heart.
He was coming towards her now. The last rays of the sun filtered through the trees overhead, playing in streams of golden yellow across his brown hair. He somehow looked even more handsome than usual in the late afternoon light.
“How long have you been there?” she asked as he came to sit by her side.
He sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “Long enough.” His answer came out on a whisper. He said it so softly that the sound was almost carried away on the wind, but she managed to catch the words. There was another beat of silence before he spoke again. “Thank you.”
He didn’t specify what he was thanking her for, but he didn’t have to. She knew.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for loving my family too.
Her hand reached for his the same instant his reached for hers, both meeting perfectly in the middle. She didn’t say anything. They were beyond words now.
The gentle squeeze of her fingers told him all he needed to know.
He wasn’t alone any more.