“But you…surely you don’t actually agree with all this?”
Lord Bancroft shrugged. “My years in politics have fully prepared me to convince others of things that I myself do not believe in. I assume that will be amenable to the both of you.”
He said it with a tone of warning.
Augusta nodded. “Yes, I will allow it. You need not fear my disdain, Lord Bancroft, for you already have it.”
It took a moment for the insult to land, but when it did, LordBancroft frowned and turned to Sebastian. “Has she always been like this?”
Sebastian looked at her then, and her heart did the funniest little thing.
“Yes,” he said, and she could have sworn that there was just a hint of pride in his voice.
Lord Bancroft sighed. “Well, at least we know she has a voice. Now let us find a way to use it.”
*****
Five hours later, as the sun cast a purplish glow across London, the four of them held in their hands a piece of parchment whereupon Augusta’s fate - and the fate of all the medical women of England - was printed in Ginny’s neat handwriting.
Augusta felt elated. Sebastian looked as though he might be ill.
“The deed is done,” Lord Bancroft huffed. “And I, for one, would like to never hear of this again.”
“That will be impossible,” Sebastian said. “For you will be with me in the crowd on Saturday.”
Lord Bancroft’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. “Have you lost your mind, Brightwater?”
Sebastian shook his head, still slightly pale as he looked down at the parchment. Bless him, he had not said a discouraging word the entire time.
“I shall need someone with me to ensure that things do not get out of hand in the main crowd. Augusta will be behind the stage for much of the rally, but I do not want anything to happen on the other side of it that might compromise her safety. You shall be my right-hand man. Then - and only then - will we call everything evenly split between us.”
Lord Bancroft looked as though he was about to offer a scathing retort when Ginny piped up.
“Yes,” she said, “Besides, I shall need you to write to me about the event. I want no detail spared.”
Whatever protest Lord Bancroft had died in his throat as he looked over at her. “Write to you?”
She nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately I shall be going north for the holidays on the morrow, so I will not be able to hear it from Auggie firsthand. It wouldn’t matter anyway - I want to hear about it from the perspective of the crowd. Therefore, I shall need you to take note of every single detail and write to me.”
This appeared to work some sort of magic upon Lord Bancroft, who looked down at his hands like a chastened schoolboy.
“Alright, then. I shall be your eyes and ears, then.” His voice turning steely, he added to Sebastian, “Andthenwe shall be settled.”
Sebastian nodded. Augusta could see some lingering resentment from her husband against his friend. She also knew that, one day, it would disappear. The pair went back too far, and had too much good blood between them to truly split. Besides, a part of her had come to appreciate the presence of the gruff cad over the past few hours.
She still did not like him, but she did feel that he brought a special brusqueness to the whole endeavor that would have been sorely missed, and he had, in times past, made Sebastian terribly happy. Therefore, she would have to concede that he was here to stay.
Lord Bancroft stood, sighing dramatically. “Well, I ought to go and make my own plans for fleeing the city this weekend. I suppose the lot of us will be stuck up north together like refugees.”
This earned a small giggle from Ginny. Lord Bancroft suppressed a smile which, at its full, likely would have looked as though he had caught the proverbial canary.
“Miss Greene,” he said, more softly than Augusta had ever heard him speak. “Shall I walk you to the door?”
Ginny nodded as she stood, grabbing her bonnet. “Yes, I ought to go and finish preparing for my travels.”
Just before they left, she gave Augusta the tightest hug that the pair had ever shared, and Augusta felt that she had truly found the greatest friend in the entire world.
“You will be as spectacular as I have always known you to be,” Ginny whispered.
