A far cry from the home he’d grown up in, but this one had something that his old home did not.
Freedom.
Henry heard the rattle of carriage wheels on the cobbles outside. William had sent the carriage for him, then. Henry suppressed a sigh.
Now he can complain about my being late.
He took his time, tweaking the already satisfactory cravat into place.
As it had been doing all day, Henry’s mind went back to his meeting with Mr Fairfax. The meeting had gone as well as could be expected, and the man was certainly keen to finalize their agreement.
Miss Fairfax, however, was certainly not.
Henry bit his lip. There had been something almost defensive in the way the woman lashed out at him. He felt almost sorry for her, especially when her father snapped at her. And there was no denying that the woman had a keen business acumen, andthatwas a rare thing to find in men or women these days.
Edward came shuffling back into the dressing room, blinking owlishly.
“There’s a carriage downstairs for you, your lordship.”
“Yes, yes,” Henry snapped. “I’m coming, I’mcoming.”
***
Dinner was, unsurprisingly, a sober affair. Katherine was married to Timothy, her writer husband, and she had her inheritance, but the rest of them weren’t so lucky. The paltry amount of money William got from the estate was funneled right back in again, paying off taxes and doing repairs and paying wages.
It wasn’t that there wasn’t enough food, not by any stretch of the imagination, but they ate just about everything that was there, and there weren’t unnecessary courses. Their mother did not join them, and they were all secretly relieved at that.
It was Katherine who broke the inevitable silence.
“So,” she said at last, “which of you boys have ladies to court yet?”
Timothy choked on his soup and shot his wife a warning look.
Henry liked Timothy – he was quiet and genteel and wrote novels for a living. Henry always admired other gentlemen who didsomethingfor a living, and Timothy was, like him, a second son.
Katherine glanced around, scowling at her brothers. “Really? None of you? Are we really going to see three-quarters of our family inheritance disappear?”
William sighed. “You married for love, Kat, and we don’t all have that privilege.”
There was more tense silence after that. Alexander cleared his throat, a sure sign that he was about to make some stupid joke to try and ease the tension.
“I’m afraid none of us have beaus, Kat, not unless you count the mysterious locket William keeps on his desk.”
They all glanced at William, who flushed angrily and shot an annoyed look at his brother.
“What locket, then?” Katherine pressed.
“It’s nothing, just a silver locket belonging to a woman I met at a party.”
“And you’re holding onto it because…?” Alexander pressed.
William rolled his eyes. “Because it has a photo of a young boy in it. Her son or little brother, I shouldn’t wonder. I got theimpression it was precious, and the clasp broke, so I assume she would like it back. When I find her, I shall give it back to her.”
“What’s her name?” Henry asked and earned himself a furious look for his troubles.
“If I knew her name,” William said, with barely disguised impatience, “I wouldn’t have to search for her, would I? Truly, I can’t understand why we’re even discussing this.”
“Can I see it?” Katherine piped up.
