About three quarters of an hour later, when she strolled into the breakfast room, she was surprised to see Rothwell and Con had accompanied Louisa and Charlotte. Eleanor was almost sorry for Rothwell. He had been delighted when Grace and Matt had named their boy Gideon, only to discover it was not after him. Gideon was also the name of their grandfather. Not only that, they all called Kenilworth Con, but never called Rothwell Gideon. “Good morning. What brings the two of you here this early?”

“Lords,” Con said, taking another piece of toast. “We have an early vote. If I wanted to break my fast with my wife, it had to be here.”

“The same.” Rothwell drained his cup of tea and poured another one.

Matt sat at the head of the table with Gideon and Grace sat at the foot with Elizabeth. Eleanor took her regular seat in the middle of the long table. “Do either of you know Lord Montagu?”

Con shook his head and swallowed. “Not well. He’s much closer to Turley and Fotherby.”

That was good news. Fotherby had married Henrietta, and he was in Town. They would be at the Easter dinner. Eleanor took baked eggs from a platter one of the footmen brought, as well as a piece of rare roast beef. A rack of fresh toast was set before her, as well as a pot of tea. Theo and Mary dashed into the room ahead of Madeline and Alice, and more toast and tea were brought, as well as what each of them liked to eat.

“When will the boys be back?” Mary asked about their brothers at school.

“Walter arrives today,” Grace said. “He has a meeting at the Foreign Office right after Easter. And Phillip arrives tomorrow.”

Eleanor glanced around the table. They would have to add another leaf if Rothwell and Con dined with them again. His five-year-old twins waved at her, but Hugh forgot he had food on his fork and it flew to the middle of the table.

He gave his father a contrite look. “Oops.”

Con scooped up the piece of scrambled egg from the table. “I must believe he will eventually learn to empty his utensils before waving them around.”

Eleanor struggled not to laugh.

Beside her, Madeline held a serviette to her mouth.

Constance, Hugh’s twin, sighed heavily. “I will teach him.”

That was apparently too much for Mary, who dropped her face in her hands to hide her laughter.

“Come along.” Matt stood and took Gideon’s hand. “Hugh, Constance, Alexandria, Elizabeth, it’s time to clean up for your lessons.”

They waited for the door to close before breaking out into laughter.

“That was so funny,” Theo said, then glanced at Mary. “You are not supposed to laugh. It will only encourage them.”

“I know.” Mary went off into a peal of giggles. “I couldn’t help myself. The way he looked at Con and said ‘oops’ was so droll.”