Chapter Ten
Benjamin and Duncanentered Macalhey House together. Mr. Patterson greeted them, but both men refused the offer of drinks and a meal. “Mrs. Gabriel reports the young lady ate from the plate sent up to her and spoke to the child’s wet nurse, my lord.”
“Such is good to hear,” Benjamin acknowledged, but he directed Duncan towards the stairs. “Are you well enough for the stairs, sir? I should have thought…”
“I am not about to run up them,” Duncan responded, “but I can manage a set or two.”
Benjamin stayed at Duncan’s side, prepared to assist, if required. Privately, he hoped Duncan could convince Miss Whitchurch to accept assistance.
“In here, sir,” Benjamin said when they reached the first of the guest quarters.
“Could not carry her farther?” Duncan teased.
“I could if it had been necessary, sir,” Benjamin defended himself.
“I have no doubt.” Duncan grinned knowingly and tapped on the door.
“Come,” her voice called out.
Benjamin followed Duncan into the room. His heart knew gratitude to view the lady sitting in a chair and enjoying a cup of tea. Her dress was crumpled, but her pride was on full display when she rose to greet him, executing a perfect curtsey.
“It is good to view you up and about,” he said. “You worried me greatly, Miss Whitchurch.”
“I do apologize, my lord. I assuredly did not mean to impose on you,” she said with downcast eyes, which irritated Benjamin more than words could express. One of the things he admired about her was her strength of character.
Benjamin said, “I brought Lord Macdonald Duncan to claim your acquaintance. I spoke previously of Lord Duncan’s role in my life and that of both Lords Orson and Beaufort, as well as Mr. Hartley, when we last met.”
“Of course,” she said with another curtsey. “A very magnanimous gesture, my lord.”
“Just a means to honor my late wife,” Duncan said with a slight frown. Duncan never enjoyed the praise bestowed upon him for his service to Great Britain or to his sons.
“Please, let us sit together.” Benjamin moved a chair to a place before her for Duncan, while Benjamin sat slightly behind Duncan on the edge of the bed.
Duncan, as was customary, claimed the lead. “Our Lord Thompson has spoken of you to me previously of how you two first met in the rain, and both Beaufort and Orson were complimentary after taking your acquaintance.”
Miss Whitchurch blushed. “It was assuredly a blessing when I took Lord Thompson’s acquaintance on that rainy day, nor would I have ever managed the three hours’ walk back to my room today without his lordship’s kindness. I am quite ashamed to have caused Lord Thompson so much trouble.”
“Trust me, Miss Whitchurch, Thompson is likely the most selflessof my sons,” Duncan declared. “As such, Thompson has asked me, in my role at the Home Office, to assist you. I understand your call upon the Lyon’s Den today was to locate your sister. Might you consider confiding in me?”
She glanced at Benjamin before saying, “My first instinct is to deny your offer, my lord, but my father would say I should not deny any true offers of assistance, simply to feed my pride.”
“Your father sounds like a man I would be pleased to know,” Duncan responded in that particular tone that always elicited trust and cooperation. “Might I know his name?”
“Mr. Rutland Whitchurch,” she said with a lift of her shoulders in preparation for a shrug, but she did not execute it.
“I fear I have not had the opportunity to claim Mr. Whitchurch’s acquaintance, but my assistant, Mr. Hartley, says his father spoke highly of him,” Duncan said as he led the lady into placing her trust in him. Benjamin had viewed Duncan doing so previously, but he had never properly appreciated Duncan’s skills before this day.
“My father would be humbled by your kindness, my lord,” Miss Whitchurch said as tears misted her eyes.
“Might you tell me how you and your sister came to London?” Duncan asked softly.
Her tears remained, and Benjamin rose briefly to hand her his handkerchief. “In December last year, I received a letter from my father, who is not a letter writer, so you can imagine my apprehension upon receiving it. In it, he explained how he and my mother had been removed from his position, and they had moved into my late maternal grandfather’s house in the village. They had been ordered by Lord Betts to remove themselves from the vicarage my father has lived in for nearly twenty years.”
“Which Lord Betts?” Duncan asked.
“Lord Harold Betts in Hampshire,” she supplied.
Benjamin noted the slight snarl of Duncan’s nose. Betts andDuncan often butted heads in Parliament, but Duncan made no comment beyond asking his next question. “I am assuming your father’s letter has something to do with your presence in London. Might you explain, Miss Whitchurch?”
