Dealing With Discipline (42 page)

Sighing, Eleanor looked out the window
at the passing countryside.  If she leaned far enough to the
left she could see ahead of the carriage on the road where two
accomplished and rather dashing horsemen were leading the
way.

******

"So they're going to stay out the
remainder of the Season?"

Wesley chuckled, shifting on his horse
as it minced its steps over a rut in the road.  "They were
practically glowing at each other over the breakfast table.
 I've never seen Hugh so disgustingly happy.  I have to
say, I found the Viscountess much more attractive with a true smile
on her face."

"How long do you think it will last?"
 Edwin wondered.

Although Hugh had only confided the
barest details to Wesley, he and Edwin were more than observant and
bright enough to put together most of the story.  Edwin felt
rather sorry for Alex, who had obviously been as oblivious as Hugh
to Irene's intentions. 

"I don't know," Wesley said with a
careless shrug.  "I will say that there was something
different about the way Irene spoke and behave.  Nothing
overt, but just something that made me feel like she was thinking
more... like she'd grown up a little bit overnight.  She
always struck me as rather child-like, even though she's older than
Nell, this morning she didn't."

"Interesting."

Personally Edwin had his doubts about
Irene now that she's shown some of her true colors.  But he
also hadn't spent very much time with her and as long as she made
Hugh happy then he supposed he should be happy.  

"You seem rather judgmental for a man
who's having to take his own wife from London out of fear that she
might run away without you," Wesley observed, but there was no bite
to his words.  Indeed they were said almost
cheerfully.

Edwin still growled.
 He knew that his friend was amused by what he had taken to
calling "marital obsessions."  But then Wesley had never met a
woman he couldn't let go of and when he did think of marriage at
all he always assumed he'd make the usual
ton
 marriage to a girl of good
breeding who would bear him an heir and be responsible for his
social duties while he enjoyed himself with his mistresses on the
side.  He didn't understand either of his friend's
all-absorbing interest in their wives.  

******

The house that Edwin had rented for
them was in the most fashionable part of Bath.  It was also
quite a bit smaller than Hyde House in London, but Eleanor supposed
that was to be expected.  After all, it had been procured on
rather short notice, and they weren't going to be staying long.
 Only until the end of the Season, at which point they'd go to
visit Edwin's parents.  She looked forward to seeing Lord and
Lady Clarendon, although it still startled her to realize they were
now her parents-in-law.  After her wedding she'd received the
nicest letter from Lady Clarendon, welcoming her to the family and
expressing her delight to have Eleanor as a daughter-in-law, as
well as an invitation to visit them at the Manse whenever she
pleased. 

Wandering into the small parlor, which
was decorated in a muted pinks and yellows with accents of blue,
Eleanor admired the furnishings.  She could be very
comfortable here for a few weeks, and she had to admit she was
rather relieved to be out of London.  It wasn't until they'd
arrived that she realized how tense she'd been in the city; she
felt much more relaxed now.

"Sweetheart!"  Eleanor's mother
burst into the parlor, the butler trailing behind her looking
rather embarrassed that he hadn't been able to hold back the
Countess.  

Smiling as she hugged her mother,
Eleanor waved him away.  With a little bow of his head, the
man closed the door to give them some privacy.  

Wrapped up in her mother's arms,
Eleanor felt herself unwind even more.  She knew that her
father thought her mother had spoiled her dreadfully, and perhaps
she had, but they'd formed a very close bond as Eleanor had
approached womanhood.  When she'd been younger they hadn't
been close at all because Eleanor had been interested in more
boyish pursuits; which was only to be expected since she'd always
trailed after Hugh and his friends.  Once they'd gone off to
school and Eleanor had grown up a bit, under her mother's influence
she'd found that she rather liked being a girl as well.
 

"You look lovely," her mother said,
pulling away.  There were tears in her eyes and Eleanor found
that her own eyes were feeling rather watery as well.  "It's
so delightful to have you here in Bath with me again!  Is
there an… ah... ulterior reason for your leave-taking the city
before the end of the Season?"  Arching her eyebrow, her
mother glanced down at Eleanor's stomach.

She blushed.

"No I'm not... that is..."
 Eleanor took a deep breath.  "I wanted to come visit you
in Bath, although I was going to wait until the Season was over,
but I hadn't discussed it with Edwin yet and he found out... well,
we had a bit of a row and he decided that we would both come and
since Wesley was already coming out to Bath to see his mother, it
just seemed convenient."

"Ah yes... his ward..."
 Something like amusement tempered with worry crossed her
mother's face, little wrinkles crinkling at the corners of her
eyes.  "Well it's good that he's here to take
that
 situation in
hand, the Countess needs all the support he can proffer."
 Taking Eleanor's hand, her mother smiled and led her towards
the couch.  "Come dear, sit so that we can have a good coze.
 I've missed you so, I want to hear everything about what
you've been up to."

"Let me just ring for some
tea."

After giving the maid instructions for
tea and scones, Eleanor went to join her mother on the couch,
hissing slightly as she sat a little too abruptly, having forgotten
the sore state of her bottom.  

Eyeing her, her mother raised that
all-knowing eyebrow again.  "A bit of a row with Edwin, you
said?"

"Yes," Eleanor responded a bit
grumpily.  She'd expected her mother to be affronted on her
behalf, not amused.  Then again, her mother had always allowed
her father to handle any disciplinary measures, so she supposed
that it didn't bother her that Eleanor's husband might employ the
same ones. 

A small smile played on her mother's
beautiful face.  Eleanor almost smiled herself, seeing it.
 If she aged half as well as her mother she'd be quite happy.
 

"You know, I've found over the years
that it's much better - and much less painful - to avoid rows with
one's husband," her mother said, in the same calm manner that she'd
often imparted words of wisdom to her daughter.  "It's quite
possible to work around getting what you wish without a show of
outward defiance."

Rather aghast, Eleanor stared at her
mother, wondering if she was implying what Eleanor thought she was.
 "Painful?  Papa... he spanked you too?"

"More than once dear, although I've
learned to give him as little opportunity as possible."

The tea arrived at that moment,
stymying Eleanor's outrage on behalf of her mother.  Although
they looked quite a bit alike, it had always been obvious to
Eleanor that she was made of hardier stuff.  Her mother was
delicate, almost ethereal at times.  Was this why she never
protested when Eleanor's father sent her away?  As much as
Eleanor loved her father, she had never been able to countenance
his treatment and neglect of her mother.  Knowing that he
enforced his edicts to her with the same harsh measures he'd used
on Eleanor herself incensed her. 

Once the maid had left she poured the
tea, trying to get a better grip on her emotions.  She didn't
want to distress her mother after all, but she was going to have
words with her father the next time she saw him!  

"You know, I was very happy with the
match your father made for you," her mother said, delicately
sipping from her cup as Eleanor stirred sugar into hers.  She
smiled warmly.   "I've received quite a few letters from
friends in London congratulating me on my daughter's grace and
manner."

"I'm glad to hear it, but why do you
give Edwin the credit for it?" Eleanor asked a little
sullenly.

Her mother just laughed.
 "Because dear heart, I could see as clearly as anyone else
what you were headed for if someone didn't curb your behavior.
 I knew Edwin would be good for you; the men you were
encouraging weren't nearly strong enough for you.  Edwin's
very much like your father, I knew that you'd be happy with him
once you accepted him as your husband."

"You wanted me to marry someone like
Papa?"  Shock suffused Eleanor to the point where she nearly
dropped her teacup onto her lap.  The liquid sloshed but
fortunately didn't make it over the edge.  How could her
mother want that for her?  She knew that her mother was in
love with her father, but surely she couldn't have wanted the same
for Eleanor, considering how she suffered from the lack of her
husband's love.  

Her mother blinked at her.
 "Well, of course.  You wouldn't be happy with a weak
man, you needed someone who was your equal.  Of course Edwin's
an honorable man, I knew he'd take care of you and respect
you."

"I don't understand."  Eleanor's
hands were trembling so badly that she had to set down her teacup
before she spilled the hot liquid all over herself.  This
conversation was nothing like she'd expected and she felt as if she
was missing some key knowledge, something that would make it all
make sense.  "You always told me that love was the most
important thing."

"It is, but Edwin's always loved
you."

"Like a little sister!"

"When you were younger, but when I saw
the way he looked at you at your ball and the way he danced with
you..."

"That's just passion or desire, isn't
it?"  

"Well passion and desire is part of
love."  Rather concerned, her mother set down her tea cup and
gathered Eleanor's hands in her own.  They felt warm and
comforting against her chilled skin; she hadn't even realized she
was chilled until she felt the temperature of her mother's by
comparison.  "Dear heart, I know that Edwin had a bit of a
reputation, but it's often said that reformed rakes make the best
husbands.  They've sampled all they need to of the buffet,
enough to know what they want to settle down with and enough to
differentiate between lust and love."

"But he never
says
 he loves me,"
Eleanor muttered.  That had been her largest sticking point.
 Shouldn't love be acknowledged?  Assuming its existence
seemed like a short road to heartbreak.  

"That is a problem, but I'm sure he'll
come around eventually.  After all, how could he not love
you?"  Her mother smiled and squeezed her hands.  "Men
sometimes have trouble acknowledging their emotions, especially the
first time they have to express them.  I can count on my
fingers the number of times your father has told me he loves me,
but that doesn't make his emotion any less real."

"But he's always sending you away!"
 Eleanor's shock was back. 

Her father told her mother that he
loved her?  Her father who was always in London while she and
her mother were in Bath or the countryside?  While she could
accept that her father could spank her mother and still love her,
after all he spanked his children and still loved them, how on
earth could those long distances be justified?  Especially
since it was obvious how sad it made their mother whenever they
were separated?  How could that be love?

"Oh dear..." The dismay on
her mother's face matched Eleanor's own as she realized what her
daughter had interpreted as an expression of disinterest.  The
older woman shook her head.  "Sweetheart... It's not that your
father
wants
 us to be separated so often."

"Then why does he do it?  It
makes you so sad to be away from him; he was always sending us away
or leaving us and not allowing us to come to London."

"For a while you were too young to go
to London with us, and neither of us wanted to leave you alone with
just a nanny or governess.  I can't even imagine the shambles
of a house we might have come back to," her mother said with a
smile, releasing Eleanor's hands and picking up her tea cup again.
 "Then, once you were old enough... well I do enjoy London,
but I have a decided preference for Society in Brighton or Bath.
 It's slower and not as demanding.  I also have a bit of
a problem with my lungs and London is so very dirty.  The
longer I stay there the more it effects my health.  It worries
your father so when I begin to cough or have trouble breathing, he
gets rather frantic actually.  But of course he has to be in
London because he's so involved in the political scene.
 Although I think I've convinced him to begin passing a lot of
that responsibility off to someone else.  He'll still have to
return to Parliament to vote of course, but he's getting older as
well and he's enjoying our stay here in Bath, he needs to lessen
the amount of stress on himself."

Bright happiness shone in her mother's
eyes and Eleanor suddenly felt very small and confused.  The
explanation was turning her world on its head, casting a different
kind of light on all the incidents she's witnessed throughout the
years.  Her father's impatience with her mother whenever she
tried to remain in the city long, her mother's pale face and wane
looks which she had always thought were due to being sent away
rather than realizing it was the cause, and the fact that her
mother currently looked as though she was glowing with
health.