Returned to the neighborhood and the close contact he'd always had with the Belmonts. The thought obtruded violently into his musings. "What regiment is he in?"
"Seventh Hussars," Theo replied.
"When did he buy his colors?"
"A year ago."
The Seventh Hussars would probably know nothing of the affairs of the Third Dragoons. A young man in the Seventh Hussars would know nothing of Vimiera. His regiment hadn't been part of that expeditionary force, and Fairfax hadn't been in the army then, anyway. Unless he'd heard something… but why would he have? He'd know nothing of the past of the present Earl of Stoneridge. Even if he'd heard rumors of the scandal of Vimiera, he'd not associate them with Theo's husband. And it was such an old story now, superseded by so many other scandals.
He glanced at Theo, still sitting with her arm around her sister. Her face was set, that firm jaw unwavering. How would such a straightforward, bold creature view a husband tainted with the charge of cowardice? It wasn't difficult to imagine the answer, and it chilled him to the marrow. He told himself again that there was no reason why the dishonorable past should ever rear its head, but he wished Edward Fairfax to the devil.
"How long will it take him to journey from Spain, sir?" Emily asked, her voice much stronger now, although she was twisting his handkerchief convulsively between her hands.
A man weakened by pain and loss of blood would make slow progress unless he had comrades who would look out for him and ensure he found transport in carts and wagons across country until they reached the coast and a naval ship.
"It's hard to say, Emily. Anywhere from a week to a month."
"That's an eternity," Theo muttered, her mind uncannily following Sylvester's along the route of a severely wounded soldier making shift through war-torn Spain. "Come, Emily, we'll walk back to the dower house and talk to Mama. Does she know about this?"
Emily shook her head. "She was out when Lady Fairfax called. Lady Fairfax didn't want to tell me the news without Mama, but she was so upset, she couldn't keep it to herself."
"I can imagine." Theo rose briskly. "I don't know how long I'll be, Stoneridge." Without a backward glance she hustled Emily into the hall.
Sylvester raised an eyebrow at her departing back. Since their wedding she'd been using his first name quite naturally, but it seemed that with the intrusion of the outside world, old habits reasserted themselves. He would have liked to go with them to the dower house, but Theo obviously felt the Belmont women were sufficient unto themselves.
The reflection left him feeling strangely empty and lacking in some way after the hours of intimacy they'd shared in the last two days.
"What's it like?" Emily asked abruptly, half running to keep up with Theo's hasty stride. Her own future, until this morning so certain and secure, had been abruptly threatened, and the question arose naturally from her own turmoil. "Marriage, I mean. Was it… I mean… is it…"
"It's lovely," Theo said, rescuing her sister from the morass, well aware of what aspect of marriage was concerning her. "But I imagine it helps if one of you knows what's what." She linked her arm through her sister's, saying intently, "You'll find out soon enough, love."
"Oh, but poor Edward!" Tears thickened Emily's voice again. "To have only one arm -"
"Edward will do very well," Theo interrupted, refusing to allow her sister to pity Edward. The one thing he would hate would be pity. "And when it comes to lovemaking, I can assure you one doesn't need two arms. Think of Lord Nelson… one eye and one arm didn't put Lady Hamilton off."
"Oh, you can't think it would matter to me!"
"No, I don't. And Edward will make the best of it, you know he will. And you'll help him to do so."
She spoke with brisk reassurance to forestall another bout of weeping, and in her heart she believed that her old friend wouldn't allow his disability to ruin his life, but she ached to be with him as she thought of how he must be feeling at the moment, so far from the people who would rally round him and give him the strength to come to terms with his injury.
Elinor was waiting for them as they entered the house. Clarissa had told her of Lady Fairfax's visit and Emily's headlong rush to the manor to find her sister. It was a pity that Theo's honeymoon had been disrupted, and with such wretched news, but Elinor knew that Theo couldn't have been kept in the dark about her best friend's tragedy.
As she'd expected, Theo was pale but dry-eyed, supporting her sister, who looked ready to collapse and did so as soon as she saw her mother. Elinor took her into the drawing room, ensconced her on the sofa with smelling salts and a tisane, then firmly ushered Theo out of the house.
"Go back to your husband, now, dear. You'll come to terms with this in your own way, and there's nothing more you can do for Emily that I can't do equally well."
"No, I know." Theo ran a hand through her hair, pushing her fringe off her forehead. Her eyes were clouded, and there was a tremor to the usually firm set of her mouth.
Elinor took her in her arms. "Oh, Mama," Theo said, her grief and anger at the injustice of it all ringing in the simple word. Her mother simply held her, stroking her hair, until Theo pulled back and offered a small, tremulous smile. "I'll manage now," she said, and Elinor knew she would.
"You should talk to Stoneridge about it," she suggested. "He was in the army; he'll know how people manage to cope with these injuries."
Theo frowned. "But he doesn't know Edward. He couldn't possibly know anything about how Edward will be feeling."
"But he will wish to know what you are feeling," Elinor said gravely.
Theo's frown deepened. Sylvester was very good at taking charge of things, and very good at making things happen, witness the fact that she was now Lady Stoneridge. But somehow she couldn't imagine weeping on his shoulder, sharing her innermost feelings with him. She could laugh with him and make love with him, but she didn't think she could cry with him.
Theo walked slowly back to the manor. Perhaps she shouldn't assume that Sylvester could not understand the Belmont grief. She'd married him so that they could all stay together, and in her heart of hearts she knew she expected him to make the effort to become a Belmont. After all, she could never become a Gilbraith. He had taken over the Belmont inheritance, and it was his duty to make himself one of them. But how could he if she didn't include him in the family concerns?
Edward wouldn't have to become an honorary Belmont when he married Emily. Fairfaxes and Belmonts had existed side by side in the Dorsetshire countryside for three generations. There was no competition, no rivalry, no bad blood.
Ah, Edward. Tears welled abruptly, and this time she let them flow. She turned off the driveway, pushing her way through the shrubbery, heading for the rear of the house. She ran down the hill toward the stone bridge over the stream. Her plait thumped against her back, the divided skirt she'd worn for the friendly challenge in the long gallery fluttering around her ankles.
Sylvester saw her from the library window. His instinct was to follow her, and he had one leg over the windowsill before he thought better of it. If she'd wanted his comfort, she could have come to him.
He turned back to the ledgers detailing last year's estate affairs, but he couldn't concentrate. Theo's pale face with the dark smudges of her freckles and her distressed eyes wouldn't leave his internal vision. What kind of man was this Edward Fairfax to inspire such love and friendship from a woman who, Sylvester knew, didn't give lightly of herself?