“But Miss Rowe—Norbert’s legs are crossed in desperation, and I’ve stayed at this inn at least a thousand times!” The very bored and crochety Felix was pouting at his freedoms being curtailed by what he saw as the unreasonable selfishness of his sisters. “And I’ve walked Norbert in those woods alone at least a hundred! Besides, I shan’t be alone, as I shall be with Norbert and Mama always lets me!”
“Do I look like your mother?” The siren circled a finger around her lovely face with a smile that only made it lovelier. “And do I have your mother’s express written permission to allow you to go offunchaperoned?” She patted her clothing to hunt for the imaginary missive. “Because you are not leaving my sight without it, young man, so you might as well stop arguing.” She ruffled Felix’s hair affectionately with another breathtaking smile that only made Harry want her more. “You know that I am a thousand times more stubborn than you are, so you also know arguing with me is pointless once my mind is made up. If Norbert isthatdesperate, he can use that patch of grass over there while you both wait for me.”
“But the woods here are a haven for rhinoceros beetles and the rare pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly!”
“Which we shall go hunting fortogetherjust as soon as I have settled your sisters.”
“But Miss Rowe, it will be dark soon!” Felix stamped his foot, and instead of telling him off for his petulance, she cupped his cheek in sympathy.
“In which case, we shall get up as the sun rises and go hunting for them extra early so you shan’t miss them. I should imagine those woods will be buzzing with life at dawn and you, me, and Norbert will have it all to ourselves.”
Credit where credit was due, the vixen had the patience of a saint with those children and had miraculously managed to conquer them into their somewhat chaotic version of submission all week. Six days of incessant travel and hours and hours cramped in his carriage with the little savages and that bloody enormous dog and she still managed to smile at them each evening when they finally arrived at an inn.
He didn’t have a clue where she found the resilience, but he was beyond grateful that at least one of them had it. The closer they got to Plymouth, the harder it became to keep going, and despite the massive promotion awaiting him there, he had a sneaking suspicion thatthe only reason he followed the damned coach in the first place was because Miss Rowe was in it. Something about her presence gave him the strength to put one foot in front of the other each day—which he was grateful for—but also kept him awake at night in the worst possible way. The very definition of a double-edged sword and one he hoped he wouldn’t end up falling on.
“Uncle Harry will grant me permission to walk Norbert alone, won’t you, Uncle Harry?” Felix shot him a pleading look. “I won’t go far, I promise.”
“Don’t drag me into this. If Miss Rowe says that you cannot walk Norbert without a chaperone, then you absolutely cannot.”
“But it isn’t fair!”
“Neither is your incessant whining, nephew, so desist.”
There wasn’t a hope in hell he was going to undermine the governess. Not when she was doing a much better job of managing the three little Machiavellis than he ever had. Unbelievably, she’d even taught the little scoundrels some lessons on the journey which had, miraculously, gone some way toward keeping them entertained. Harry knew that for a fact because his wayward eyes frequently wandered to her inside that carriage. And, even as he castigated his continued lack of willpower each time he caught himself watching her, just a glance in her direction was enough to lift his bleak mood for a while.
As Felix stamped his foot and pouted some more, Georgie smiled her thanks at Harry for his lackluster intervention and, as it always did when she bestowed a rare smile his way, something peculiar happened in the vicinity of his heart.
Heaven help him.
Harry heaved his saddle from his horse and carried it into the stable himself rather than hand it over to the waiting ostler as an excuse to escape Miss Rowe and her unwelcome allure.
Then, even though he was as dead on his feet himself after nine hours of riding, he decided to brush the horse down himself too, rather than follow her into the inn and pine futilely some more. Yet still, to his chagrin, he pined anyway.
Then there was blasted Plymouth!
They would be there tomorrow, so that level of dread was high. He had barely set a foot there since Elizabeth. Although his loathing of the place had started before she had turned him into a pitiable laughingstock. Before her, he only ever returned if the admiral ordered it or whatever ship he was on sailed there. Since his grandfather and parents had passed, Flora only ever managed to get him to come nowadays after so much incessant nagging that he ran out of excuses. It was so much simpler to allow Flora to believe that his broken heart made it difficult to return when the truth was that Plymouth, and most especially Cawsand, always reminded him too much of all the chaos he had been so relieved to escape for the navy. But those awful memories were still there waiting for him now. Those and the whole heap of fresh, chaotic hell that would come from readying the bloodyBoadicea.
Lord, how he loathed blasted Plymouth!
“Felix!” Of course only Miss Rowe’s voice could snap him out of his self-pitying reverie. “Felix, whereareyou?” She was outside in the stable yard and heading his way. He knew that because his nerves danced at the proximity. “Is Felix in here with you?”
With great reluctance, he paused in his brushing to answer so that he could shutter all the need in his eyes before he looked at her. “No.” Braced, he turned and tried to appear like a concerned uncle rather than a drowning man who desperately wanted to cling to something that looked alarmingly like her. “The last I saw of him was in the yard a few minutes ago. Sulking.”
She got a pretty wrinkle on her nose whenever she was perturbed that begged to be smoothed with a kiss. “If that boy has disobeyed my express instructions and taken that dog out alone, I shall not be responsible for my actions!”
She disappeared back into the yard again to call for the boy, only to return after a few minutes, looking worried. “I’d go out hunting for him but there are woods in every direction, so I have no clue which way the wretch has gone.”
“It’s only been a quarter of an hour so he can’t have gone far, and he’s tired and Norbert is bound to be starving, so I doubt they’ll be gone long.” As this, however, seemed to be one of those irritating situations that he, as a diligent uncle, could not ignore, even when drowning in a pit of irrational despair, Harry tossed down the brush to follow her back outside. “You go this way and I’ll go that.” He pointed to the two areas of woodland on either side of the road. “Norbert will need a tree to do his business against, as heaven forbid that useless mutt ever lift his leg without one, and he’s been cooped up in a carriage for three hours so he’s bound to need the nearest.”
They immediately parted ways, which suited Harry just fine. The less time he spent in Miss Rowe’s intoxicating presence, the better. He spent twenty minutes searching in his allotted woods, which turned out to be more a small copse than a forest, and then returned to the inn, convinced he would see the contrite scamp already there with Miss Rowe and a flea in his ear. But she wasn’t there either.
He checked inside, and when nobody had seen hide nor hair of either of them, nabbed Simpkins to help. As they arrived in the stable yard, a rather panicked Miss Rowe returned.
“Any sign?”
Harry shook his head. “I’ve searched every inch of that little wood and there is no sign.”
“I ventured as far into the other one as I dared.” She pointed to it. “I went at least a half a mile in, but it is too vast for one person to search effectively and it’s too dense and uneven around the river to maneuver with ease.”
