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Ma’am .  I would be honored to join you .”  With that he followed Graves up the stairs to his room , leaving Elizabeth to look after them.    

 
    Chapter 5
     
    Jeremy Flynn stretched out naked on the bed, enjoying the feel of clean linen next to his hot skin.  He ’ d spent the past ten years sleeping wherever the army chose to quarter him , and more often than not , it was a narrow cot in a tent with linen that had seen better days and could use a wash.  He hadn’t had a proper bath for some time either , and being able to soak in hot water perfumed with some kind of fragrant oil had been heaven.  He had been nervous about this homecoming, but so far it had exceeded his expectations.  Of course, he hadn’t seen his father yet, but the new l ady of the manor was not at all what he expected.  She was gracious , charming and very beautiful , not to mention young .  What induced her to marry his father he’d never know, but she didn ’ t seem resentful at all about him showing up.  He assumed that the new wife would want her own son to inherit the title and the estate and expected a much chillier reception. 
    Sir Henry would be home in a few days , and that would be the true test of how things stood.  He had bought Jeremy a commission in the army when he turned eighteen, telling him it was his duty as an Englishman to defend the interests of the Realm , and he would not be pleased that Jeremy had resigned his commission immediately after Waterloo.  His fighting days were done , and now he had to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.  He never truly expected to survive this long, so the question of the future had not been uppermost in his mind.  Now the war was over , and he was a free man at last .  He supposed this might be a good time to think of marriage and a family of his own.  It would be nice to share his life with someone who hopefully felt some affection for him.
    Thinking of family turned his thoughts to his mother.  He never got a chance to say goodbye to her before she died, but he had received her last letter, dispatched to him by diplomatic pouch.  She ’ d pulled some strings to make sure he got it , and he knew why as soon as he read it.  He realized with great regret that he never knew his mother all .  Lady Mariah Flynn had not confided in her son , and he had been sent off to school at the age of seven , only to be sent to fight as soon as he finished Eton at eighteen . 
    His parents didn ’ t want him around , and once he read his mother’s letter ; he finally understood why.  Would his father want him here now , or would he send him off again to live his life elsewhere?  Only time would tell.  For the moment, he would enjoy staying in his childhood home , and tomorrow he would go visit his mother’s grave and pay his respects to the woman who had sacrificed a lot more for him than he ever imagined.

 
    Chapter 6
     
    Elizabeth waited until the footman set up the easel in her favorite spot , and began to lay out her watercolors and brushes.  She ’ d painted this view many times, but she never tired of it.  She loved the calm waters of the lake, mirroring the sky overhead and surrounded by reeds that swayed gently in the breeze, their fuzzy brown heads attracting butterflies and insects. 
    Her favorite part was the marble folly on the opposite side of the lake.  Her husband had it built for his first wife , and it resembled a miniature Greek temple with four Corinthian columns that held up the round dome, their whiteness enhanced by the vivid green of the vines encircling them , making the place look slightly wild and magical.  She could just make out the statue of Aphrodite through the gap in the columns, her haughty face and naked breasts forever perfect and frozen in marble. 
    The June morning was gorgeous ; t he sky an uninterrupted vista of azure , and the lake a blue oval reflecting the majesty of the heavens above .  Elizabeth turned her