Page 30 of Waiting for Love

Crispin smiled with something like relief and relaxed. “How very pleasant!” He flirted back with equal irony. “I was unaware that such were the plans for tonight, but if we are pushing aside the chairs in the music room, I would be delighted to satisfy you as to the trustworthiness of your informants.”

“Oh,” she breathed a sigh. “I am sure that with just a bit of your…attention, I would be more than…satisfied.”

Crispin gaped. Miss Jamison gasped. And Benjamin nearly choked with laughter. Crispin was actually blushing.

“Now, Crispin,” Alice said briskly, “pleasantries aside, I want to ask you a few things. I assure you, this won’t hurt.”

“Blast.” Crispin rubbed a hand across his eyes. “You win. Jasper warned me you are trying to light a fire under Haz. And you were likely to probe for something to work into some Whiggish speech to tempt him to speak out again.” He frowned. “You may ask whatever you wish. That doesn’t mean you will receive an answer.”

“Good. I often find it more instructive which questions are not answered.”

“Ruthless,” he muttered.

She proceeded to ask him a series of pointed political questions about Castlereigh and Liverpool. Had he heard that Granville Sharp had died, and didn’t he agree a monument ought to be put up? Then she touched on the Irish question, and even on what he thought of the government providing subsidies to the families of infantrymen fighting on the peninsula instead of those in the militia. Crispin responded with short factual answers, never venturing opinions. Any question that included Wellington’s name, he refused to answer at all. Benjamin watched the exchange as fascinated as if he were at the theater, not only the topics, but the way Alice probed, and Crispin parried.

When the carriage rolled up in front of the church, she settled back with a contented expression. “Thank you, Crispin.”

“I will not say it was my pleasure. And I intend to claim the dance tonight as recompense.”

Alice smiled a genuine smile. “Good. Olivia will be pleased that you’re not disappearing right after church.”

“I said I would not!” He put on an air of indignation. “I said I will stay at least through Christmas supper.”

An early supper, to replace both luncheon and tea. Jasper had again insisted Benjamin and “his ladies” attend. After the family celebration, Jasper would have to be the earl. Villagers and tenants would come wassailing, and he would receive them and distribute warm punch, chestnuts, and cakes. It was the sort of thing Jasper excelled at, though it had fallen to Benjamin, Mrs. Hardy, and Peters to lay in the supplies.

“Yes, Crispin,” Alice said. “But Olivia only believes half of what you say.” Then with a bit of reproach, she added, “It hurts her when you go away like you do without even a goodbye.”

Crispin muttered something no one could hear. The carriage stopped. They all clambered out into the wind and the cold, and hurried into the church.

Benjamin, Hannah, and her nanny took their now-accustomed places near the back. The Taverstons filed into the family pew in the front. With Alice, they filled it.

The rector was an uninspiring preacher. One would think a clergyman could come up with something more rousing in honor of the day. Bored with the message, which he knew by heart, and rather than concentrating on prayer as he ought, Benjamin observed Olivia, which he ought not. Whether it was merriment or simple contentment, even when wearing half-mourning at Christmastime, she glowed. He swore her light never dimmed.

When Hannah grew fussy midway through the long morning, Miss Jamison took her out. They had arranged, in case of such, for the carriage to take them back to Chaumbers and then return. For the rest of the service, Benjamin was alone. He should not have minded, but his solitude made watching the Taverstons, packed together on their bench, all the more painful. He envied them, and envy was a dangerous emotion.

The service ended and they returned to their carriages. This time, it was Vanessa who joined them rather than Alice. She and Crispin conversed much more amiably, exchanging news about old army friends. Tension slowly lifted from Benjamin’s shoulders. It was not until they arrived at Chaumbers and exited the carriage that the tension returned. Crispin touched his arm and said, “If you have a moment, there is something Jasper and I would like to discuss. Will you join us in his study?”

What could be so important on Christmas Day? Nothing good.

“I can come right away if you wish.”

“It isn’t that urgent.” Crispin gave one of his unreadable smiles. “But why don’t we meet there in an hour. Before supper. Just in case the weather clears, and I disappear.”

*

Benjamin could not hold onto his melancholy when he entered his apartments and found Hannah, prettily dressed in a new yellow frock that Miss Jamison had stitched for her, singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs. Miss Jamison coaxed her along, laughing, as Hannah sang “When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night.” Most of the words were intelligible. Hannah truly was a bright little lass. He gave her a kiss, then turned to the nanny.

“I have to meet with the earl before supper. If I am not back on time, please come with Hannah to the dining hall.”

“Yes, Mr. Carroll.”

While they continued singing, Benjamin went to his dressing room-cum-office and exchanged his neck cloth for a fresh one. He settled down to review notes he had taken on the farmers’ opinions of which crops had done well the past few years, and which hadn’t. He didn’t expect to debate estate matters on Christmas Day, but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.

He hoped it was something to do with the estate. He couldn’t think of anything else that they might wish to discuss. Not unless it was Olivia. He’d managed to convince himself he’d imagined Jasper’s suspicions, but then, he might have raised Crispin’s. Seated at that card table, he’d practically fawned over her.

With a quarter hour to spare, he made his way over to Jasper’s study. The door was open. He wasn’t sure whether he felt reassured or even more concerned when he heard all three brothers inside, laughing. He knocked on the door frame and entered. The laughter abated slowly, then they all turned to him. He felt he was walking into an Inquisition.

“Sit, Benjamin,” Jasper said, indicating a chair that had been dragged in from elsewhere. Benjamin sat. “Firstly, there is this.” Jasper leaned across his desk and passed a slip of paper to Crispin who handed it to Benjamin. Benjamin lifted the seal and unfolded the paper to find a bank draft for twenty-five pounds.