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“Buttons is a pony. He expects little of anyone, I would think.”

“Oh, but he expects apples, Uncle,” Iris said, sliding down from her chair. “I shall go and choose my books at once.”

With that, she scampered off.

The moment the door clicked shut behind her, Laura set down her cup. “Croft?” she prompted.

“Yes.” He passed her the letter, which told her almost as much as its contents did.

“Is it good news?” she asked, taking it and unfolding it.

“He’s traced the Bristol shipping contract Alden mentioned. It runs through three shell companies before it reaches anything with Cumberlea’s name attached, but it does reach him eventually.”

“That is something,” Laura said as she read over the words.

“Croft believes the whole arrangement is meant to move money quietly out of England before the Season ends, likely to the Continent, where it can’t so easily be traced or seized,” he added, running a hand over his beard.

Laura scanned the rest of the letter, her stomach tightening as she read names she recognized. “This is what you’ve been waiting for.”

“Partly. There is still much to be figured out.” Nathaniel’s brow furrowed. “Croft wants time to follow the money properly without anyone noticing he’s looking, and I’d rather not be seen anywhere near Cumberlea’s circle while that happens. Alden already pressed me once on where my loyalties sit. I don’t wish to give him further cause to wonder.”

“So, we go home. It is a good idea.” Laura said it simply, though something in her chest had already begun to lighten at the thought of the castle’s crooked turrets, the garden she’d left half-tended, and the quiet hush of quaint country mornings.

“Truly home,” he said, smiling. “I think it’s past time, in any case. I’ve had my fill of London.”

Laura refolded the letter and handed it back. “When do we leave?”

Everett arrived within the hour, summoned by a note Nathaniel had dispatched the moment breakfast ended. The two of them had retreated to the study with Croft’s letter and a fresh pot of coffee.

Everett read over the letter a second time. “If Cumberlea means to move the money before the Season ends, that gives Croft precious little time to build anything solid enough to matter. The clock is ticking.”

“I know.” Nathaniel stood at the window, his hands clasped behind his back, watching the square below. “Which is exactly why I want distance from it now, not less. If I press too hard, Alden will notice, and whatever trust I’ve built with him these past months collapses in an instant. Better to let Croft work in the shadows while I make myself entirely unremarkable in the country, playing at cards with a six-year-old.”

“Unremarkable.” Everett arched an eyebrow. “You? The Beast of Duskwell, unremarkable.”

“I have found,” Nathaniel said dryly, “that a wife and a niece do wonders for a man’s reputation, however undeserved the original one might have been.”

“That they do. It is a good idea.” Everett’s teasing gentled into something sincere. “You’ve changed, you know.”

“Oh, have I? Am I now a bear?”

“I’m not joking,” Everett insisted. “Although that is usually my forte.”

“Go on, then,” Nathaniel prompted, turning to face him.

“Since the auction. I don’t say that lightly,” Everett said as he arched a brow, his arms outstretched.

“I’m aware.”

“I only mean…” Everett hesitated, which was unusual for him. “I watched you last night, at Vauxhall. Sitting on that bench with your arm around her, watching fireworks like an ordinary… happy man. I don’t think I’ve seen you look like that since before Isabella married.”

Nathaniel felt his eyes water, and he lowered his head.

“I only want to say that I’m glad of it,” Everett continued. “Whatever comes of all this, you’ve already won something that matters a great deal more than any reckoning with him. You’ve got to know that.”

Nathaniel didn’t answer right away. When he did, his voice had gone rough at the edges. “I know it. I think of it constantly. You more than anyone knows how strange it is to have gone looking for justice and found a family instead.”

“Exactly,” Everett said with a wide smile.