Dealing With Discipline Read Free Page A

cousin."
    Obediently Irene allowed
Hugh's mother to lead her away, sparing him a small glance over her
shoulder, looking both intrigued and hesitant. He grinned at her
before turning and striding to the nearest group of well-wishers,
immersing himself back into his social duties.
    ******
    "Nice wedding brunch," said
Wesley.  He and Hugh had scouted out an alcove from which they
could watch the activities without having to engage in them.
  Hugh hated doing the pretty and
currently his mother was involved in showing off her new
daughter-in-law so she wasn’t there to badger him into it. 
"Very entertaining."  
    They were watching Eleanor lead Edwin
on a merry chase around the room.  For whatever reason she
seemed quite determined not to spend very much time by his side,
and he was just as determined to have her there.
 Unfortunately for him she was quite adept at starting just
the right conversation that would mean the person she was talking
to would want to engage Edwin in it, allowing her to slip away and
join another group of guests.  It would take him several
minutes to untangle himself without giving offense, and then he'd
be off after her again, his face becoming grimmer and harder with
every stride he took.
    Hugh and Wesley found it
hilarious. 
    "Son!" 
    They turned to see Baron
Standish approaching, a wide-grin on his face.  Hugh rather
liked the Baron; he was a family man, a good country man, who'd
done the best he could for his family and Hugh respected that.
Unfortunately the Baron's father had not been so responsible and by
the time the title and lands had come to Irene's father they'd also
come riddled with debt and neglect.  The man had recouped such
losses as well as he could, but a year of flooding followed by a
disease running rampant through his sheep flock had set him back
grossly.  Hugh's desire to marry Irene had come at a crucial
moment for the family and they all knew it.  Although the
Baroness seemed to resent the gratitude she had to feel towards
Hugh, the Baron treated him as another son. Both being country men
at heart they'd found they had quite a bit in common and had
already talked about cross-breeding some of their dogs.
    Standish was not a very tall man,
almost an entire head shorter than Wesley and Hugh - who were
admittedly blessed with long, lean bodies - but he was in very good
shape since he spent most of his time outdoors, often on horseback.
 He was still a fine figure of a man, other than the loss of
most of his hair.  What was left ringed the crown of his head;
despite the hints of gold and red it was obvious that Irene's
coloring came from her mother.  Fortunately, in Hugh's
opinion, her personality had much more of her father in
it.
    "I hope you don't mind me
calling you that," the older man chuckled. "I can't tell you what a
relief, and a pleasure, it is to welcome you to the family." That
honest forthrightness was one of the things that Hugh liked best
about the man; many amongst the ton would never had admitted to their financial
straits, much less expressed gratitude in public for it. Wesley
knew all the particulars anyway, being such a close friend of
Hugh’s, but many men would have too much pride to say such a thing
at all.
    "A pleasure for myself as
well," said Hugh, grinning back at him. "And I don't mind at all.
Have you met the Earl of Spencer here?" He gestured at
Wesley.
    "No, I hadn't," said the
Baron, giving Wesley a little bow. "Spencer, my condolences on your
father, I was sorry to read of his passing."
    "Thank you," said Wesley,
bowing back.  "It was a hard time for my family." He didn’t
mention that he and his father had been estranged at the time or
that the hardship, in Wesley’s opinion, was not over the loss but
over the responsibilities that came with assuming the
title.
    "You were in India, at the time, were
you not?"
    "I was," said Wesley,
seeming surprised that the Baron knew, considering that the
families were not previously