“Yes,” agreed Wrexford, “but I suggest we don’t do it on an empty stomach.”
“We can both eat and talk,” said Charlotte, impatient to hear any further discoveries. The earl and Sheffield had arrived several hours earlier. “Everyone please take a seat.”
She waited for the settling-in to cease. “I shall fix some plates and pass them around while you tell us what you’ve learned. Has Tyler had a look at the professor’s—”
“Tyler has been delayed in London,” interrupted the earl. “I expect him to arrive sometime tomorrow. However, Sheffield and I rode out earlier today and did a quick reconnaissance of Professor Sudler’s hideaway. It’s nestled in a secluded spot, ringed by fallow fields and a glade of trees. There are several outbuildings abutting the main cottage, and the enclave is ringed by a high stone wall.”
“The perfect place for someone wishing absolute privacy,” observed Sheffield tightly. He looked down into his drink. “Whatever the reason.”
He had been, noted Charlotte, uncharacteristically quiet since their arrival. Soft as the candlelight was, it illuminated the fine lines of worry—or was it fear?—etched at the corners of his eyes.
She wished to say something encouraging but couldn’t muster any reply that didn’t sound patronizing. The truth was, the evidence indicated that some very painful discoveries lay ahead.
And they all knew it.
Wrexford waited for Charlotte to be seated before breaking the uncomfortable silence. “My suggestion is that the three of us ride out very early in the morning. In my experience, a confrontation that comes when it’s least expected gives the advantage to the interrogators.”
Sheffield let out an unhappy sigh but merely nodded.
The earl looked to Charlotte. “I assume that you know how to handle a horse?”
“It’s been some time since I’ve had my feet in the stirrups,” she replied. “However, I’ll manage.”
“Pffft, you have nothing to fear, milord,” announced the dowager. “Charley was a neck-and-leather rider in her youth.”
Both boys looked up from their tarts.
“Will you teach us?” asked Hawk.
“M’lady will be busy with other concerns,” called a voice from the corridor. McClellan appeared in the doorway a moment later. “Ifyou behave, I’ll show you the rudiments.” She nodded a greeting to the others. “We’ve just arrived with the baggage. I’ve shown Lady Peake’s maid to her room, and the footmen are bringing the trunks upstairs.”
“Thank you, Mac,” drawled the earl. “McClellan knows the estate and its workings better than I do, so if you have any questions, ask her.”
“Come with me, Weasels,” said McClellan, eyeing their empty plates and jam-smeared faces. “Let us leave your elders to finish their libations in peace. I’ll show you to your quarters. And mind you, Polly, the upstairs maid, may look young, but she’s under strict orders to brook no nonsense from the two of you. Disobey her at your peril.”
“Puppies and ponies,” murmured Charlotte.
Raven and Hawk rose without protest and hurried off.
Wrexford got up to pour himself another brandy. Sheffield waved off a refill and went to stand by the fire and warm his hands over the flames.
Sympathy tightened Charlotte’s throat as she stared at Sheffield’s back, noting the rigid set of his shoulders. She knew all too well the pain of discovering that someone for whom you cared deeply had feet of clay.
Her own late husband . . .
“Actually, unless there is anything else pressing to discuss, I suggest we all retire,” said Wrexford. He, too, was watching his friend. “It’s been a long day of travel, and we need to rise at dawn.”
* * *
Mist swirled, casting a silvery sheen over the meadows beyond the stable paddocks. Wrexford handed the reins of his stallion to one of the grooms and crossed to where Charlotte was standing, awaiting the placid mare he had ordered saddled for her.
“Nervous?” he asked.
“Not about climbing atop a horse,” she answered. Her gaze strayed to Sheffield, who had already mounted his dappled grey gelding, and she let out a tiny sigh. “Hearts are fragile things.”
“But unlike fine porcelain, they can be mended well enough that the cracks don’t show.”
“That may be true,” she replied. “And yet, in some cases, the damage is lasting.”
