“Good. You can ask her assistance and then do what you do,” Clarion said with a hand gesture that covered a universe of meaning. “Make lists. Evaluate options. All that.”
“Am I not needed here?” Eli asked.
“We’ll manage. I will be at the hall, enjoying summer in Ashmead with my children. And Benson, while you are in London, you can post adverts regarding the dower house. You can also pay an unannounced visit to our bank and do a quick audit.”
Worded like that, the trip to London sounded like proper use of Clarion’s steward. Both Eli and the earl had learned the value of keeping a close eye on the books.
“If we hear from the courts in Manchester, I’ll need to know immediately,” Eli said.
The earl’s lip twitched into a self-deprecating grin. “We’ll send word. I think I can manage that.”
Eli sat back to finish his ale, his mind already making lists and rearranging tasks.
*
When Rob andLucy invited Fanny and the ducklings to accompany them on their return to London, Fanny accepted, happy for time to get to know her brother better. Besides, London would be an education for Wil. Clarion elected to stay in Ashmead with his children, and Amy begged to stay at the hall with Lady Marj. Fanny agreed with Clarion’s encouragement. Brynn Morgan, she’d been told, worked in the capital as well, so he and Maddy would form a sort of caravan with them, enabling a bit less crowding in the Benson carriage. A third carriage would bring maids, nursemaids, and the baby.
On the designated morning, she stood dressed for travel next to Lucy in the stable yard of the Willow while luggage was loaded. There appeared to be some sort of delay, but it didn’t last long.
A familiar gig tooled into the stable yard, and Alfred ran over to greet it. The sight of Eli Benson striding across with his ever-present valise bulging with papers came as an unexpected pleasure. She watched him stop to speak with Brynn and Rob while the ostler took his bags, anticipating his company, but her heart sank when he moved toward the other carriage.
Rob came to hand Lucy, Fanny, and Maddy into his carriage. “You ride in Morgan’s, young Wil,” he said, “but, mind you, my brother plans to work all the way to London. He will not be good company.”
Wil grinned. “I know him, Sir Robert.”
Rob leaned in. “But you won’t have to listen to the ladies, either. Think of that.”
Lucy chastised him on behalf of all women, accepted a smacking kiss, and climbed in. Soon they were rolling down the coaching road toward Nottingham, where they would turn south.
Fanny watched out the window as the other carriage moved to follow. “Do you always travel with so many outriders?” she asked. She’d spotted Reilly, now a part of Rob and Lucy’s household, and two others who’d served as guards on their trip from Manchester. Rob and Brynn rode beside the carriages as well.
Lucy peered out the window and pursed her lips for a moment before answering, “No, actually. Usually just Rob and one other.”
“I confess he asked us to move up our return. He wanted Brynn along as well,” Maddy said. “Men worry. I wouldn’t fret.”
After what happened in Manchester, Fanny decided to take it as a comfort, not a cause for anxiety. Eli had come. All would be well. She didn’t pause to question that thought.
She smiled, sat back, and closed her eyes, to entertain herself as she always did. How might she cast Maddy in her story? She was a bit young, but she had the bearing and strength of character to serve as a model for the hero’s mother—or his very independent aunt. Fanny could just visualize it. As to Lucy, the heroine’s best friend would have just her personality—loyal and smart with a dash of spice.
After Rob rode up alongside and spoke to them through the window to check if all was well, Fanny turned her thoughts to her current hero,The Elusive Earl. Elements of Rob and Clarion circled and merged in her mind—physical prowess, protective passion, authoritative air, decisiveness. Of course, she had settled on blond and blue-eyed for her fictional earl.
Satisfied, she let her mind wander. It went where it often did, to Eli. She hoped they might rearrange seats when they stopped overnight. She hoped for a chance to talk to him.What work is so important he keeps at it in a moving carriage? And what role might he have in my story? The hero’s younger brother?The thought left her dissatisfied. He was that and more.
