He said, as they walked together, “It was advantageous for all of my steady companions that Lord and Lady Duncan were kind and made a place for each of us in their home.” He smiled as he said, “I recall quite easily how many meals were set twice in an evening, when we were growing boys and starving for more than food to fill us. Most of us were in danger of being unfairly displaced by those we thought to trust and could not. They meant to claim our peerages as their own. That being said, I speak with some authority in saying each of us would wish to know more in life than what we lost.”
“Naturally, you would,” Lady Downer affirmed.
They were nearing the church, so Richard said, “You must pardon me. I am to report directly to the church office to receive my instructions for the day. I imagine Sir Hunter has a list of tasks for me to address. Enjoy your day.” With a bow of parting, Richard walked in the direction of the rector’s office near the back of the church.
“There you are!” Sir Hunter exclaimed when Richard was admitted to the office with a knock at the door.
Richard glanced at the mantel clock. “Is this not the place and the time upon which we agreed?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“It is,” Hunter said with an answering grin. “I thought you might be delayed by Lady Emma Donoghue.”
“Why should I be?” Richard asked with a shrug. “The last time I saw the lady, she had partnered with Lord Duncan in a game of cards. I understand she has joined friends to finish her recuperation.”
Hunter studied him and so Richard made a point of appearing casual. “I had hoped that...” Hunter began.
“The lady requires time not only for her bruises and cuts to heal, but also to learn to trust people, in general, again,” Richard claimed. All of which was absolutely true.
“Perhaps in the future,” Hunt suggested.
“This is not about me today,” Richard said in a boisterous tone, in order to change the subject. “Today, I am to see you walk the plank for the last time.”
“We have shared many happy moments,” Hunt declared, “especially on that rickety dock on my father’s land. How very often we ended up in the water! It is impossible to count.”
“You have repaired that structure and more on the property you inherited,” Richard declared. “I am honored to call you one of my best friends. Surely my longest-standing friend.”
“We both suffered with the loss of our parents. I am glad we had each other as boys and now as men. You were the brother I never had,” Hunt declared.
Richard slid his arm around his friend’s shoulder. “And you were the brother I never wanted.”
“You dog,” Hunt said with a laugh.
Richard asked, “What do you require of me today? I am to be your fetcher and retriever. After all, I am a ‘dog.’”
Hunter glanced to where his valet carefully lifted his cravat scarf to avoid any wrinkles. “You should retrieve the ring from my uncle’s inside pocket and then rejoin me here. The ceremony is to start in a bit over half an hour.”
Emma had dozedon and off during the journey to Buckinghamshire, while her two companions had slept more soundly than she thought possible in a moving carriage, but she supposed men’s constitutions were different from those of women in more ways than one.
She should be concerned about sharing a house, or rather a “lodge,” as Lord Beaufort termed it, with two strangers, but she held few choices. These two gentlemen were associates of Lord Orson, and Emma had come to depend upon the man, likely more than she should. “Who else am I to trust?” she asked herself.
Emma wondered if she had ever been as attracted to a man as she was to Lord Orson. For a moment, she studied, first, Lord Beaufort, and then Lord Graham. Beaufort’s features were perfection. Dark blonde hair and a fair complexion, in an Irish fashion. Dark brown eyes. Nearly black. Moved with the ease of an animal.
Instantly, an image of a lion pacing back and forth in a cage caught her imagination. “The Tower of London,” she murmured, though she wished to shout the return of a memory, for she had begun to fear such would never happen, and she would be required to begin again with creating friendships and experiences.
In the memory, she had been surrounded by members of her household staff, and they were at the Tower of London, visiting the menagerie. She had paid for their admission. Her maid? Was the woman walking beside her in the image her maid? Emma was not assured, but she thought it was so. “Her name?” she breathed the question. Emma wished she could remember the woman’s name, but the lady walked beside her and she had a frown displayed upon her face.
Why was the woman frowning when the others were laughing and smiling? Had her maid disapproved of the adventure or had something happened that day which had the woman’s disapproval all over her face?
“You are frowning deeply,” Lord Graham observed from his corner of the carriage.
Lost in her musings, Emma had not realized the man had awakened. Whereas Lord Beaufort’s features were as if they had been sculpted by God’s fingers, Lord Graham’s were carved out by God’s thumb. Not as beautiful. Yet, strong and steady and equally as compelling. Even the ugly scar marking the man’s cheek did not destroy his appeal nor the smoothness of his light olive complexion. He possessed chestnut-colored hair and mesmerizing hazel eyes and a strong Scottish chin line, which spoke of the strength of his character. “I had a memory return,” she admitted in a whisper.
Lord Graham sat straighter and in apparent interest. “Something that would identify your attacker?” he asked.
Emma frowned, but she could not prevent the gesture. “I do not think so,” she murmured as the image danced through her mind a second time. “I was at the Tower of London. There were a dozen or more people around me, all laughing and pointing to the different displays. I cannot tell you their names, but I seriously believe I knew them. They were my household staff.” She paused before adding, “I believe it was their half day off.”
“Did you fear them? Fear any of them?” Lord Graham pressed.
“I am relatively confident I did not. Though I could not view my facial expressions, I felt the happiness we shared. I believe I paid for their admissions,” she confessed.
