Home. Joshua felt a surge of contentment when he spied familiar landscapes and paths.One night in London had been enough. The gossip about Perry had been extensive and ugly. Some, Joshua was sure, exaggerated, but most probably did not. The gossip about his female cousin Melinda had been even less complimentary. The woman had actually sought, in his name, an audience with the court to dissolve Joshua’s marriage. Through several intricate channels, Melinda had enlisted her gullible male companions to seek a divorce for Joshua based on Elizabeth’s barren state and his absence. That she’d done this behind his back, using his patronage to do so, made him fume.Had Elizabeth heard these rumors and believed him complicit? He gritted his teeth and hoped he hadn’t come home too late. The more he heard, the more discomfited he became. Always the same response to his return, emphasizing the questionability of the welcome he would get when he arrived at Arundale Hall. Men his father had known were sly in their insinuations about Joshua’s marital state.
