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As soon as they were situated, with Eve and her mother across from him and James, Noel unfolded some fur blankets and threw them over the laps of everyone.

“Will you look at this, mon ange?” Lady Archer said to Eve. “These are nice and warm, are they not?”

“Furs generally are, Maman.” As his coach set off, Eve gazed out the window, her face in shadow inside her cloak’s hood. “Lord Cokesbury, you didn’t need to fetch us yourself. You could have just sent the carriage.”

“Why would I do that, Miss Archer, and forgo the pleasure of your company?” Since one fur blanket lay across both his lap and hers, he was able to nudge her knee without anyone seeing. When she swung her head around to raise an eyebrow at him, he had to suppress a laugh.

“It is very kind of you to come,” her stepmother put in hastily. “I feel safer with you here, my lord.”

“I will protect you, Mother,” James asserted. “I’ve got Papa’s pocket pistol right here.” He patted his coat pocket, as if that were the most natural thing in the world.

“Good God, lad,” Noel said as the ladies expressed alarm. The very thought of him haphazardly carrying a loaded pistol in a closed carriage with his mother and sister chilled Noel’s blood. “Give it to me,” Noel demanded, and held out his gloved hand.

When James hesitated, his mother said, “Do as the man says, son!”

“All right,” James said sullenly and handed it over.

Noel checked to see if it was loaded, then handed it back to the boy.

“What in heaven’s name are you doing?” Eve cried. “He can’t be running around with a gun!”

“It’s not loaded,” Noel said.

“It’s not?” James asked, gazing at it. “But I put a ball in it.”

“Doesn’t do anything, lad, if there’s no powder.” Noel sat back in his seat. “You and I must have a serious discussion about guns later.”

“I told you we should have sold the thing,” her stepmother said to Eve in a low voice.

“It’s the only item of Papa’s left that James could have, Maman,” Eve said. “We sold everything else. It wouldn’t have been right to take that from him, too.”

God, her generosity to her family made his heart hurt sometimes. She protected her rascal brother even at risk to herself. He couldn’t help admiring her for it, no matter how much he disagreed with her approach. She really was a wonder, wasn’t she?

Somehow, he couldn’t see Margaret going to such lengths for a sibling. Then he chided himself for such a disloyal thought.

Eve cast Noel an anxious look. “Are you quite sure the gun won’t … go off somehow?”

“Quite sure,” Noel said, trying not to smile. “I hunt regularly on my estate.”

“You’ve got an estate?” James asked and gazed up at him in awe.

“I do. I’d be there now except that Mother has a charitable affair she participates in every year. We come into the city for December so she can be part of that.”

James peppered him with questions about his estate that he answered as best he could. Even the ladies asked a few here and there.

The conversation stopped as the carriage halted. “We’re here,” Noel said.

Stepping out first so he could help the ladies down, he offered his hand to Eve, who took it readily, though she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Before releasing her hand, he squeezed it, which finally garnered him a soulful look and a hesitant smile. After James jumped out and Noel helped Eve’s mother out, Lady Archer grabbed her son by the shoulder and held him back a bit, leaving Noel and Eve to go ahead together.

They climbed the steps while Lady Archer and James stood back to admire the house. Eve murmured, “Thank you for handling Jimmy. Ever since Papa died, it takes us both to corral him. We haven’t known what to do with him.”

“How could you? A lad his age doesn’t know what to do with himself. He doesn’t even really know what he wants. He wants to be a boy and a man at the same time, to get treats like a child but be considered the protector of the family. It takes a while for him to find his place, especially if he has no father.”

She nodded. “Did you know what you wanted at his age?”

“No.” He stared down at her until she gazed up at him, then added, “But I know now.”

“Oh?” she said, arching one eyebrow. “What might that be, sir?”