Page 35 of Waiting for Love

Not yet, at any rate. Reg was probably right. But not yet.

He forced himself not to let his eyes seek Olivia. Holding her in his arms had nearly been his undoing. She moved with the grace of a swan. If they’d been alone…a stolen kiss…The devil! Of course not! He would never insult Olivia like that.

Giles, the tavernkeeper, clapped his hands and began singing. It was more of a shout. The carol was a horrible jumble of offkey voices and mixed-up verses. The singing trailed off, then cheering began. Jasper raised a mug and called, “Merry Christmas!” Which set off a chorus of Merry Christmases and a few cries of “to the lord and lady!”

It was all quite jolly. Gradually, the rest of the Taverstons separated from Jasper and Vanessa to move through the crowd. A word here. A question there. They were all so very gracious. The villagers would be hard-pressed to find fault, though there would no doubt be backbiting gossip behind closed doors. They were only human, after all.

Still, country gossip was one thing. The viciousness of the haute ton was another. He didn’t envy Jasper and Vanessa. Or maybe he did. Because Jasper could get away with breaking the rules. At least, that was what everyone was counting upon.

Benjamin leaned against the wall, shut his eyes, and let the noise wash over him.

Jasper made no bones about wanting to relax the stringent separation between lord of the manor and employee. He wanted his old drinking friend back. But there was a very definite boundary. The Taverston brothers had made this plain. Jasper did drag him away from Olivia the other night. Benjamin had been offered rooms in the south wing, but now they were to be taken away. And Crispin could not have reprimanded him any more clearly for the too ardent waltz than by snatching away his sister’s hand and depositing Alice in her stead.

Evidently, Benjamin had done a poor job of hiding his attraction. And even so. Even so, Jasper seemed determined to keep him. Jasper defined the boundaries and trusted him to respect them.

A body thudded against the wall and a shoulder brushed his. Benjamin’s eyes snapped open.

Crispin. Crispin unguarded, with dark hollows beneath his eyes and a weary slump to his shoulders. He held a cinnamon cake and regarded it so intently Benjamin wondered what was wrong with it.

“Captain?”

Crispin gave him a sour look. “Eat this, will you?” He tried handing him the cake. “Or I will.”

“That is not much of a threat.”

“The threat?” Crispin twisted a smile at him. “Regret. A terrible thing, regret.”

For a long, knee-weakened moment, Benjamin couldn’t reply. What was Crispin saying?

Then the man let out a sigh and let his head fall back to thwunk the plaster.

“Give it here,” Benjamin said. Crispin was not a man who sighed. But he was a man with bizarre table habits and a history of unexplainable recurring illness. This was about the cake. Not some metaphorical warning. He popped the thing into his own mouth and chewed.

“Hmmph,” Crispin said. “Good.” He brushed his hands together to rid them of crumbs. Then stiffened his spine. “Tell me about Hannah.” He spoke in a conversational tone. “She is a charming little thing. How did you come to rescue her? Jasper says her parents both died?”

He swallowed. “Of fevers. One after the other.”

“And you were not at the fort? The Company Fort? Jasper said you were somewhere in the interior.”

He nodded.

“Why?”

The deuce. When had conversation for Crispin come to mean interrogation? “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Crispin shifted to focus his gaze on Benjamin and pronounced his words very clearly, “what were you doing in the interior? With these ‘business partners’ who died of fevers?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Give me the short version.”

The hell. “We were looking for gold.”

Crispin stared. Then he looked away with a quick shake of his head.

“Look,” Benjamin said, “I know it was idiotic.”

The Company had sent out several expeditions based on tales of “yellow metal” to be found in the interior. Gold or copper. Either would have made men fortunes. None had ever been found. This was common knowledge. British investors had not been pleased.