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She sighed and started toward the apothecary. A week ago she would have said that she would accept help from the devil himself if it brought back her father and saved them all from ruin. She might have known the devil would take her up on it.

Chapter Seven

“Cressida!” She jumped, startled out of her thoughts, and looked up to see Julia Hayes hurrying toward her. A smile bloomed on her face at the sight of her friend, and she turned to meet her. “What were you doing with him?”

Julia’s tone took her by surprise. “Major Hayes? He passed me on the road and offered me a ride.”

Julia took her arm and turned away, casting a dark glance in the direction her brother had gone. “I thought he would have the sense—” She sniffed, and started down the street, pulling Cressida with her. “If only he’d go back to wherever he’s been hiding these last five years.”

Even though she might have wished the same thing, Cressida was shocked to hear it from Julia. She hadn’t seen her since word of the major’s return had spread, but she had assumed Julia would be pleased by her brother’s reappearance—by the fact that he wasn’t actually dead, at the very least. “Why do you say that? Aren't you pleased he’s returned?”

Julia shook her head. “It would be better for everyone if he hadn’t.”

“But he's your brother. . . ”

Julia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes. I'm sorry to be so short-tempered.” She made a visible effort to shake off her ire, and smiled. “I should have said I’m so pleased to see you! How are your sister and your grandmother?”

“Both are well, thank you.” Cressida looked over her shoulder; the major was long gone. It occurred to her that this was a golden opportunity to ask someone she knew and trusted about him. “I’m very glad to meet you, too,” she went on. “I wanted to ask you about Major Hayes⁠—”

Julia's smile faded. “Whatever for?”

“He came to call on us the other day,” Cressida replied, leaving out any mention of his first visit. No one needed to know about that. “He said he’d come to help search for my father.”

Julia stopped dead and gaped at her. “What? Why? Does he know your father?”

“Not at all. But he was asked by Colonel Pickering, whom Papa had gone to see, to offer his aid in looking for Papa.”

This was clearly news to Julia. “Pickering?” she repeated. “Who is he? How would Alec know him?”

“Colonel Pickering is a commissary officer Papa knew in the war. Papa was hopeful the colonel might recommend him for a position he wanted.”

“Oh. The army.” Julia still looked puzzled, but then her expression grew grim. “Then that’s why Alec’s come home! Has the army known all along where he was, I wonder? After the things they told my mother. . . ” She broke off and pressed her lips together.

Cressida hesitated. “Should I not trust him? Callie thinks I'm mad to hesitate, no matter what. . . But it is what we wanted, having someone sent by Colonel Pickering to discover where Papa’s gone.” It was unsettling to realize how much she had hoped Julia would put her worries to rest, and declare Major Hayes trustworthy and the victim of terrible lies and injustice. The notion of someone riding to their rescue and locating her errant father was appealing, even if Major Hayes himself shredded her nerves. If Julia defended him, her decision would be that much clearer.

Looking troubled, Julia shook her head. “I don’t know. I simply don’t know him anymore. Before. . . ” She glanced around and lowered her voice, and they resumed walking, leaning their heads close together. “He was a bit wild, like any young man, I suppose, although I was a girl at the time and thought him simply brilliant. He was so dashing and so daring, always in the thick of trouble but so much fun. Every girl in Marston was mad in love with him. He fell in love with Marianne, and we all thought he would marry her.”

Cressida blinked in astonishment. Marianne, Mr. Hayes’s widow? The major had been in love with her? But she was so gentle and mild.

“Then Alec went into the army, and while he was gone, Freddie fell in love with her and she with him. When Alec came home, there was a horrible row. He said awful things. Freddie of course just listened, as he always did, and then Alec went back to the army.” Julia paused, her throat working. “Before—before Waterloo, we always heard such grand reports of him as an officer, how fearless and capable he was. Twice he was mentioned in Wellington's dispatches for his bravery, to my father's immense pride. But then. . . ” She dashed one hand across her eyes. “How could a man disappear for five years and let his family think him dead—and worse?” The bitterness crept back into her voice. "It killed my father. He was ill when Alec left, and the news that Alec was missing and presumed dead was devastating enough. But then, to hear what he had done— The shame killed Papa, I know it. And now Alec's simply reappeared, without one word of explanation or contrition, and I cannot forgive him for it. He seems to think we've been waiting for him to come home and all will go on as if nothing has changed."

“He must have a reason,” said Cressida slowly. She wasn't precisely defending the major, but put that way, his disappearance sounded uncomfortably like her own father’s “expeditions.” Except for the bit Julia had left out, the part about treason. Surely that demanded some sort of explanation.

Julia scoffed. “Not one he’s condescended to tell us. He’s upended everything, and only Mother is happy about it. The rest of us don't know what to say or do around him, and he seems wholly untroubled.”

“Perhaps if you tell him. . . ” Cressida thought of her father again, who never seemed to understand how much his absences upset the family routine. Of course, her grandmother was just waiting for him to reappear, and she would act as if nothing had changed. More than once Cressida had been obliged to swallow her own impertinent remarks after one of Papa’s expeditions. “Perhaps he hasn't yet realized how his return affected everyone,” she said lamely.

“My mother told us not to confront him. She’s been revived since we received word he was still alive and well, and would banish me to live in the stables if I don’t pretend I feel the same.” Julia caught herself and smiled contritely. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to listen to me ramble on about sordid family matters.”

Cressida flipped one hand. “As if you haven’t listened to me complain in my turn! Who can one complain to, if not to one’s friends?”

Julia laughed. “Indeed! But you asked me a question, and I fear I cannot answer. Once upon a time, there was no one like Alec for achieving the impossible. He thrived on it, in fact. Only let Freddie or Will Lucey say a shot could not be made or a horse could not be ridden, and Alec would risk his neck to do it. Father used to call him unstoppable. Five years ago I would have sworn he could do anything he undertook, and that you could wager your life on his word. But now? I don’t know, Cressida.”

Cressida sighed. This was certainly complicating her view of the major. “Thank you, Julia.”

“If you decide you cannot trust him, you could always write to Colonel Pickering again and express your disappointment.” Julia looked grim again. “No doubt Pickering will be able to guess why.”

Cressida said nothing, knowing she wouldn’t dare do that.