‘This is as far as I dare,’ he called. ‘The upper branches will not support my weight.’
He looked up. ‘Tom, throw the kite down first.’
Tom obeyed at once.
‘Now place your foot on my shoulder.’
Using Lord Stanley as a human ladder, Tom descended with remarkable ease. A moment later, he dropped lightly to the ground after the boy.
‘Uncle, did you see? I climbed all the way up!’
‘Very impressive,’ Lord Stanley replied dryly, brushing leaves from his sleeve. ‘But a sensible general knows when to retreat before charging into battle. What would you have done if I had not appeared?’
Tom glanced at Charlotte without hesitation. ‘She would’ve saved me.’
‘Ah.’ Lord Stanley lifted a brow. ‘A governess and a tree-climber. Miss Lucas continues to reveal hidden accomplishments.’
Charlotte managed a smile. ‘Master Tom, that was not amusing. I nearly fainted from terror.’
Tom snorted. ‘You are not the fainting sort, Miss Lucas,’ the boy replied matter-of-factly.
She laughed softly—he was entirely correct.
But her amusement faded as she noticed Lord Stanley studying her with curious concentration, his lips pursed as though considering some private thought.
‘Well then, Tom. Miss Lucas.’ His gaze lingered on Charlotte in particular. ‘I shall expect to see you this evening. Make certain you attend.’
Charlotte could not understand his insistence upon her presence when, for the last several evenings, he had barely acknowledged her existence, seemingly far more engrossed by the polished conversations of Miss Pearson and Miss Fraser.
He was dressed for riding, which Tom immediately noticed.
‘Oh, Uncle, please may I come with you? I can canter on my pony now!’
Lord Stanley hesitated. ‘Perhaps tomorrow, nephew. Your father and I have business to attend this afternoon. It was arranged yesterday, I am afraid.’
Tom moaned, though he relented.
They returned to the schoolroom, where Charlotte succeeded in extracting one lesson from him before allowing him to spendthe remainder of the afternoon in his tree house. He returned at dusk cheerful and ravenous.
To her surprise, at last, he had begun to relinquish some of his reserve towards her.
As evening approached, Sarah finally returned, and Charlotte wasted no time recounting the conversation she had overheard while dressing for dinner.
‘She was speaking to someone called Holly,’ Charlotte explained. ‘The maid shared a room with Lucy, so they must have been closer than the others.’
Sarah collapsed dramatically across her bed. ‘Why would she leave her money behind?’
Charlotte slipped into a lavender evening gown with a high collar and long sleeves. The colour suited her complexion perfectly, though she was far too distracted to notice it herself.
‘It makes no sense,’ Charlotte said as she fastened the buttons of her gown.
Sarah dragged herself upright with exaggerated misery to assist with the back fastening before falling onto the bed once more in theatrical exhaustion.
‘Perhaps she intended to return for it.’
Charlotte shook her head. ‘With the Odd Fellows lurking about? I cannot persuade myself of it.’
Sarah grumbled as she rubbed her foot. ‘Very well. I shall speak to the maids and discover what I can. Though the old crone is working me to the bone—I scarcely have time to breathe.’
