“Same as Mr. Benson, the innkeeper,” the boy noted. “Has Higgins taken your card?”
Rob nodded, and the lad brightened, relieved that the courtesies had been met. “He will see if Papa is in.”
“Shouldn’t you be in the schoolroom at this hour?” Rob asked.
“Letty fell asleep,” the girl told him as if it were obvious.
“I don’t need a schoolroom. I’m ready for Eton. The vicar said so.” The expression on the boy’s face appeared more brave than eager, like a raw recruit’s just before his first battle.
Very bright, indeed; public school requires courage. This one seems a bit young for it.No such privilege had been given him.
The boy went on, “Marj plays with her dolls in the schoolroom. Girls don’t need education.”
“Do too, Ed. Aunt Maddy says so! You’re just mad that I am better with numbers than you.”
“Her Grace is quite correct. Girls need education as well,” Rob said, drawing their attention back.Ed. Good to know the stiff little viscount has a name.
The return of Higgins cut off any reply from the children. The butler stared down his nose at them as if they might contaminate his perfectly pressed clothing if he didn’t keep them at bay. “Miss Graham has been searching for you two. Get you to the nursery floor at once.” The little viscount gave a shuddering sigh, took his sister’s hand, and pulled her toward the rear of the house, most likely to the servants’ stairs. Marj looked back at Rob, shrugged dramatically, and waved goodbye.
Absorbed in the children, Rob missed Higgins’s words. When he turned, the butler’s frown punctuated irritation at repeating it. “His lordship will receive you. If you would please follow me.”
The butler, ramrod straight, led him up the marble stairs the children had so unceremoniously clambered down. The man’s stern disapproval didn’t waver, even when he opened a drawing room door with a flourish and announced, “Sir Robert Benson, my lord.” He cast Rob a baleful look as if to remind him to behave in such august company and to express doubt that he could do so.
It only served to make Rob stand a little taller.Stronger characters than you have tried to make me feel worthless, some of them in this very house.
The earl stood by the hearth, one arm on the mantle, eyes wary, impeccably if conservatively dressed. “You didn’t waste time coming here, Robbie.” He tapped a folded piece of vellum that he held in one hand. “I expected Eli Benson, not his esteemed brother.” His eyes grew wide as if at a sudden thought. “But it is Sir Robert now, is it not?”
“Benson will do, Clarion.” He refused to be drawn into a childish game. “Eli had business in Nottingham. I didn’t wish to wait two days. I believe he made our needs clear, however.”
“Spangler assured me you had finally claimed your bequest. Do you think the original will might promise more?” Clarion braced himself for Rob’s response.
“You met with that muckworm?”
“He presumed on me at the assembly rooms Saturday night. I must say it took you long enough.” Rob noticed he didn’t correct the word “muckworm.”
Someone else spoke over Rob’s shoulder. He hadn’t noticed that Lady Madelyn sat quietly in the corner. “David! R—Sir Robert didn’t even know about the bequest until a month ago. He needed time to come to terms with it.”
“Come to terms? Our father left him the jewel of our family holdings. What more needs to be said?” The bitterness in his voice and the pleading in Maddy’s eyes gave Rob pause. He recalled Maddy’s words about their father’s spite. “Spangler can handle the details.”
“I didn’t ask for Willowbrook, Clarion, and I don’t pretend to understand your father’s intention, but it has fallen into my lap, and I have to figure out what to do with it. Do you trust Spangler?”
The earl ignored the question. “Do with it? Live on it, of course, so you can lord it over the shire when you aren’t in London consorting with your betters.” Bitterness dripped from his words. “I saw you at a ball at the Russian embassy six weeks ago, peering around the room as if you were Prinny himself.”
Rob held his temper with great effort. He had been in London just days before Emma’s letter reached him. Rockford sent him to the embassy affair to study the security challenges there. He hadn’t noticed Clarion in the crush of people, and that irritated him for professional reasons. He bit back a response to the implication about his “betters” and changed direction. “You said you had a message from Lord Rockford.”
Clarion blinked. “Of course. I had forgotten.” He turned to his sister, “Lady Madelyn, if you’ll excuse us, Benson and I will retire to my study so we can deal with this matter. Quickly.”
The duchess rose gracefully to her feet. “I think not. The two of you are shooting daggers at one another. I should come with you to keep the peace.”
She approached Rob, extending both hands to him. He had no choice but to take them. Gripping his, her hands felt warm and reassuring. “Your father’s fete warmed me utterly. Robert Benson is the steady beating heart of Ashmead, and the people know it. It thrilled me to hear them express their respect.”
My father. Hearing those words in this place rattled him. The desire to run overtook him. Again. He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Your Grace. Your presence pleased him greatly.” The instinct to be fair pushed more words out. “Clarion’s attendance, unexpected as it was, did, too.”
He let go of her hands and pulled his gaze from hers. “No need to join us. Clarion is right. There is no point in extending what is obviously an uncomfortable bit of business. I’ll have my information from Rockford, clarify what my brother—” Rob stumbled over the word, glancing at Clarion. “What Eli needs and be on my way.”
Chapter Nineteen
The late afternoonsun lay warm on Lucy’s face when she wandered downhill from the bee yard to speak with Aaron Miller, trying to decide if the damage she found amounted to something or if she ought to ignore it. Miller slept in a room in the barn loft and might have heard something.
