Chapter Fourteen
Drake
Drake and Banehad arrived back at the Wintergreen house a little before their time. Wintergreen had welcomed them inside, gave them the newspaper, and told them to wait while he fetched his daughters. “I shall not wave a red flag in front of my sister by having you with me, gentlemen. I shall be back with Olivia and Lucilla shortly.”
He was gone for no more than thirty minutes. Drake heard the front door open, and Cilla’s voice greeting the butler, giving him time to stand before she entered the room, her sister and then her father behind her.
“Miss Cilla,” he greeted her.
She dimpled when she smiled. “Mr. Drake.”
Bane was speaking to Livy, asking her if she would care for a walk.
“I would like that,” Livy commented. “We have been sitting in Aunt’s parlor for two hours and I have to walk or find something to punch.”
“She is quite serious,” Cilla said. “She hates having to sit still. She must always be up and doing. I think that is why she loves dancing.”
“I shall remember that,” Bane said to Cilla.
“Mr. Wintergreen did not need to know that,” Livy complained, but she was smiling.
“If you are ready,” said Cilla, “we can go now.”
They filed out into the hall, where the maid, Barker, was waiting, already in her coat and bonnet. The butler handed the men their outerwear and opened the front door.
“I want to know everything about you,” Bane told Livy.
“I cannot imagine why,” Livy grumbled.
He offered her his arm and a smile. “I think you can if you try, Miss Wintergreen.”
The couple set off at a swift pace along the footpath, still arguing.
“I am beginning to believe they enjoy arguing,” said Cilla as she took Drake’s arm.
“I am certain they do. I imagine they will still be arguing after fifty years of marriage. We had a couple like that in our village. If he said it was a fine day, she would insist it was about to rain, and if she complained of the cold, he’d tell her he was warm enough. And yet if anyone else criticized either one of them, the other would defend them to their last breath.”
“You take it for granted that Livy will have your brother,” Cilla commented.
“Do you think she won’t? Am I wrong to think she likes him?”
Cilla pursed her lips in a way that made Drake think about kissing—but then he thought of kissing all the time when in her company. “Livy enjoys arguing with your brother,” she said. “It is a long way from that to marrying him, is it not? Livy has sworn she will never marry. She says she has never met a man she would risk giving up her freedom for.”
“How doyoufeel about marriage, Miss Cilla?” Drake asked.
“I see my sister’s point, Mr. Sanderson,” Cilla replied. “Marriage is a gamble for both men and women, but if awoman’s choice proves to be unwise, men hold most of the cards.”
A fair point. “What would you need to know about a suitor to better inform your choice?” Drake asked. “We began the game of questions on our last walk, Miss Cilla. Shall we continue?”
Cilla glanced back and Drake checked behind them, too. Barker was trailing them by quite some distance—close enough to observe, but not close enough to overhear, if they were quiet.
“Very well,” Cilla said. “But I should like the person asking the question to be able to ask further questions on the same topic. Is that agreed?”
“Agreed,” Drake said.
“I shall go first. Do you have a mistress, Mr. Sanderson?”
“I do not,” Drake was glad to be able to give that as his honest reply. To clarify, he said. “Neither Bane nor I have ever kept a mistress, and nor do we frequent brothels.” That made them sound like a pair of saints, which was far from the truth, and an innocent like Cilla might not understand the difference between the various type of partner for physical intimacy. “I should add that I have had lovers, and I’ve also enjoyed the occasional temporary liaison.”
