‘Yes, your grace,’ Arthur replied at once. ‘It would be an honour to serve you.’

‘Chief Secretary?’ Kitty’s eyebrows rose as she held the baby to her shoulder and rubbed his back gently. Little Arthur had wind and duly obliged with a faint burp. ‘That’s quite a step up, isn’t it?’

‘To be sure.’ Arthur held his arms out. ‘May I hold him?’

Kitty smiled as she handed the infant over and returned to her seat by the fire as her husband held his son in the crook of his arm and began to sway in what he assumed was a comforting motion. As he smiled down at the tiny face Arthur continued, ‘It’s a fine preparation for high office here in London, and it carries a salary of six and a half thousand pounds.’

‘Goodness!’

‘I thought that would please you, my dear. Now even that brother of yours might cease to look down his nose at me.’

‘Oh, I’m sure that it won’t be too long before the positions are reversed.’

Arthur recalled the years before India, when Kitty’s brother had been adamant that she could not marry a man with as few prospects as Arthur. The memory was like an open sore and he said quietly, ‘I wish I could say that the thought does not appeal to me.’

Kitty ignored the comment. ‘We are to move to Dublin, then?’

‘Yes, my dear.’

‘When?’

‘As soon as I am confirmed in office. By the end of April at the latest.’

Kitty sighed. ‘It does not seem so long ago that we moved in here. I imagine it would be nice to feel settled into a home.’

‘That day will come, Kitty. For now we are off to Dublin. I will keep this house on as I will need accommodation in London when I am here on parliamentary business.’

‘Oh.’ She looked at him reproachfully.‘Are you to be away from me, from us, often?’

‘Quite often,’ Arthur replied lightly, ‘but not for long. Be thankful I have been given a civil post, and not some military command in some godforsaken corner of the Caribbean.Then you would not see me from one year to the next.’

‘I should hate that.’

‘Well, it is not going to happen, my dear. Not now, at least.’ Arthur laid his son down in the crib.The infant was fast asleep and lay still and silent.Arthur stared at him fondly for a moment and then took his wife’s hand.‘Kitty, I am certain that this is a fine opportunity for me. Provided I perform sterling service for the Duke of Richmond, then I can surely make a name for myself. Something I can be proud of.’

‘I am already proud of you, Arthur.’

He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. ‘Thank you.’