Page 48 of The Favourite

“Not really,” he said after appearing to consider the matter. “I usually pick them on looks, not personality.”

“Men typically do, or so I’ve heard,” she responded, before biting her lip. She ought not to have said that, of course. Sneaking another look at him, she found he was giving her a long considering look. Oh, gods.

“You are certainly growing a good deal bolder in the conversational arena,” he commented. “Not that I’m complaining. May I take this as a sign your fear of me is dissipating, wife?”

“I was never actually afraid of you,” she replied quickly. “It was simply a fear of the unknown.” He inclined his head, as though acknowledging this was perfectly natural. Suddenly, Jane knew she had to change the subject and quickly. “Anne seems a caring sort of girl,” she said hurriedly.

For a moment, he looked thrown by the change in subject, then he shrugged. “Ah, yes? That is good.” He looked from Jane to Wat, who was piling more logs on the fire. “Though, I do wonder if it is customary for a wet nurse to bring her own infant along with her?”

Jane shook her head. “I hardly know,” she said. “But what could it possibly signify? If Anne is happy to tend to both, then mayhap it will benefit Celestia. Anne assures me that she—well—that she would not struggle to provide nourishment for both babies,” she finished awkwardly.

“She would not leave her own child, milord,” Wat put in apologetically. “I offered her plenty of coin to foster it out with a local family, but no amount would budge her.”

“I think that does her maternal feelings credit,” Jane said firmly. “If she had so readily abandoned her own child, how could we depend upon her nurturing instincts?”

Alisander shrugged. “It makes no odds to me, so long as her methods prove efficacious.”

“Very well, then, Anne and Bertrand shall accompany us back to Aphrany,” Jane pronounced.

“Bertrand?”

“That is her child’s name.”

He considered this a moment. “She does not affect to shorten it, in any way?”

Jane regarded him with some exasperation. “Not that I am aware. Has that question some relevance?”

“But of course, it has, my dear Jane. For example, I could not countenance harboring a child called Bertie under my roof, not even for an instant.”

Her brows snapped together. “Upon my word, for a heretofore bachelor, you have decided views upon the naming of children!”

“Certainly, I do,” he agreed. “It is as well to know such things about oneself from the outset. If you assure me that she will never address the infant thus, then I agree to appointing her.”

“Very well,” Jane answered sarcastically. “You have my assurance on that score.”

Wat coughed and straightened up from before the hearth. He gave them a quick bow and hurried out of the room about his thousand-and-one duties.

“I can never tell when you are teasing me,” Jane admitted. “Tell me, how much of your manner is affectation and how much in earnest?”

“Out of one hundred? The proportions would be seventy, thirty,” he replied promptly.

“At all times, or merely on this particular occasion?”

“Seventy, thirty or thirty, seventy, depending on the circumstance.” Jane suppressed her sigh. She ought to have expected nothing less, she supposed.

“By the by,” he asked casually, “which are you leaving in charge of the house: Beth or Ayleth? Please bear in mind that the other must accompany you back to Aphrany, at least temporarily, as your maid.”

Jane blinked. Ayleth had trailed upstairs behind her and Anne and the children earlier but had not accompanied them into the nursery. Instead, she had drifted off back to her attic room. “I do not think Ayleth is in the right frame of mind to run a house. She is … still mourning the loss of my sister. She has taken it hard. Beth seems the better choice.”

“Does she?” He looked surprised by her conclusion.

“Well, I think so, but if you disagree ...?”

“No, I am perfectly willing to concede to your superior opinion. Mistress Beth seems capable enough to keep house, though she would likely have made you a better maid than Ayleth. Still, you can always replace her once we reach the capital.” Jane opened her mouth but did not get the chance to argue the point for he was already carrying on. “Wat has reappointed a few former post-holders from the village. They were let go when your sister assumed the reins to the estate.”

Jane was startled. “He has been busy.”

Alisander nodded. “Beth should be ably assisted in keeping the house running.”