Footsteps crunched twigs. He and Kunigunde drew apart just in time.
“Come on, lovebirds,” Marjorie said. “We’re all waiting.”
Graham took Kunigunde’s hand and hastened back to the carriages. Marjorie, in her Balcovian portraitist ensemble, entered the first carriage with Chloe, Elizabeth, and Jacob. Kunigunde and Graham joined Tommy and Philippa in the second carriage. The trunks were all packed up in the third.
He did not let go of her hand as the wheels began to turn. He never wanted to let go of her at all.
“You’re still staring,” she whispered.
“Now that I’ve seen you in your uniform, I’m imagining taking it off,” he murmured back.
She elbowed him. “Shh, your family will hear you.”
“So you’re saying…if theyweren’there in the coach with us…”
“Philippa and I can take a hack from here,” Tommy said with a wink.
Kunigunde’s cheeks darkened with embarrassment and she slid down into the corner of the carriage. “You can’t see me. I’m invisible.”
“You’re in bright purple-pink,” Philippa said. “I can’t see you because your coat has blinded me.”
Kunigunde shot up. “Amaranth is a lovely color. A royal color. My favorite color.”
“Can you imagine facing an entire battlefield of soldiers dressed like that?” Tommy stage-whispered loudly. “Boney wasn’t running away from theircannons.”
“It’s the hats.” Philippa poked at the tall bearskin cap on the floor. “Those should frighten anyone off.”
Graham picked up the hat. “It weighs as much as a bearcub. How does anyone fight whilst balancing a two-foot-tall pelt on their heads?”
“They don’t wear them into battle.” Kunigunde took the hat from him and placed it on her lap protectively. “It’s part of the official ceremonial dress for Royal Guardsmen.”
“Since this isn’t a ceremony,” Philippa said, “doesn’t that mean you aren’t required to wear it during this mission?”
Kunigunde stared at the bearskin hat in her lap, then quickly placed it back on the floor. “Pity.”
Graham grinned at her. He couldn’t help it.
That his siblings got on well with her was an understatement. Tommy wouldn’t make a costume for someone she didn’t approve of. Jacob had adored Kunigunde ever since she’d stolen an antbear for him. Chloe, ever since that day huddled above the House of Commons. Kunigunde and Marjorie had conspired together on multiple secret projects…that Graham knew about. And he half suspected what Elizabeth liked best about their long rests at inns was the chance to fence with Kunigunde until nightfall.
She waspracticallya Wynchester. Essentially, apracticingWynchester.
Having her here next to him—joining his family as though she were one of them—filled him with a sense of rightness.
He hoped she felt it, too.
Surely Kunigunde would see that taking action to help those in need was better than standing guard next to those who needed no help at all.
And if that didn’t work…she must see that she and Grahamdidwork. On their long journey, the Wynchesters had switched carriages any number of times, to mix up the passengers and keep conversation lively. But Tommy and Philippa always stayed together—and Kunigunde chose any carriage with Graham in it. Surely Kunigunde agreed that theirs was a possibility worth exploring. That eight days—good God, how were there only eight days left?—were not enough.
He wanted forever.
31
The trio of carriages pulled to a stop in front of a wide two-story house with tall white columns and ivy climbing the wrought iron around the windows.
It did not look like the home of a greedy, cruel monster with no heart. But Kuni supposed exteriors did not always match interiors, and blackguards did not always realize they were blackguards. The palace did not make the prince.
Trees flanked both sides and the rear. There was not enough land to mimic an aristocrat’s sprawling estate, but the plentiful trees prevented any view of one’s neighbors, which gave the illusion of being on a grand property.
