Page 2 of An Innocent Bride for the Duke

“It is like this, Benedict. Seraphine and I have never yet managed to get around to the honeymoon we promised ourselves. It has been six years now since we married. My brother in Scotland is married to Seraphine’s sister. They have invited us up to stay with them and then take our own holiday in the Highlands.”

“That sounds very well to me,” said Benedict, not yet seeing where he fitted into this picture. “I’ve heard you both talk about a late honeymoon often enough, although you never quite get around to it.”

“No, I know. We kept putting it off until the children were a little older. I should like Seraphine and myself to have a week or two to ourselves, you see.”

“Does she not agree? Does she think the children still too young to leave? I can’t say I blame her, on reflection. It would take more than a week or two to get up and down from the Highlands, never mind any holidaying while you were there. Fanny and Ezra would have forgotten your names and faces by the time you returned.”

At this careless remark, Damien blanched.

“That would be unthinkable,” he said quickly. “No, the plan would be for Seraphine and I to go on ahead, and for the children to follow behind with their nursemaids. We would only be apart for a fortnight at most and Seraphine is amenable to that as long as we find someone we can trust completely to accompany the children.”

Benedict gave a snort of incredulous laughter.

“You cannot possibly be thinking of me!? Now that would be some real gossip for your friends at Whites – the Duke of Northwick becomes a governess!”

In response, Damien gave an even more incredulous snort.

“No, we’re thinking of Seraphine’s Aunt Beatrice and her cousin Lady Louisa. They’re both very good with children. However, I feel I cannot ask two ladies to undertake such a long journey without an escort and protector. That is where you come in.”

“Ah, yes, Lady Esher and her ward. Now, I see,” Benedict responded. “You want me to deal with innkeepers, coach drivers and horses so that the ladies can watch the children and do whatever else respectable ladies do on long journeys. Look at scenery, I suppose, and talk about good deeds and charitable works.”

“Have you ever met them?” questioned Damien. “They’ve never really been part of the fashionable crowd, although they come to London sometimes for the various hospital and charity committees Lady Esher is involved with.”

“I don’t believe so, although I have heard something of Lady Esher… Yes, I remember now. She’s the elderly widow who once chased a would-be burglar from her London house with a sword, isn’t she? Does she really need a protector?!”

“That was Lady Esher,” confirmed his friend. “Quite a character, although Seraphine would prefer that her aunt had no further occasion to take up weaponry, especially since she had such a bad case of influenza in the spring. Lady Esher won’t yet acknowledge it, but she is not yet at her full strength. If there is trouble on the road, you must take charge and not let her strain herself.”

“Is Lady Louisa made in the same formidable mold as her aunt?” Benedict asked. “As they live together, I assume they are close.”

Damien smiled, shaking his head

“Lady Louisa is six-and-twenty and more like a daughter than niece to her aunt. Lady Esher is a generous-hearted and motherly soul, but childless herself. She took young Louisa in after her parents died in a bad coach smash. They’re devoted to one another.”

“Well, they sound like exactly the sort of ladies who will have many good works to discuss in the carriage,” noted Benedict, thinking that overall the pair sounded very good, very worthy and likely very dull, even considering Lady Esher’s experience in battling intruders with a sword. “I hope they won’t mind if I sleep on the road.”

“I shouldn’t think so, although Ezra and Fanny might take exception.”

“Surely, the children will ride with the nursemaids, won’t they?” asked Benedict, slightly surprised at the idea that he might be riding with Fanny and Ezra.

“Only if they don’t like you, Benedict, and unfortunately they do. I asked Fanny only yesterday what she thought of you and she told me you made a fine horse.”

Benedict groaned.

“So, the little vixen was testing my horse skills around the garden yesterday, was she? I knew I should not let myself be drawn in by their innocent little faces when they asked for a ride.”

Damien laughed.

“I was watching and I must say you did agree to Fanny’s game with remarkably little persuasion. You’re very good with them, you know.”

“Only because I can hand them back again after an hour or so,” grumbled Benedict, although he could not stop his laughter from breaking through at the same time. “You don’t ask for small favors, do you?”

Damien only smiled back at him, eyes twinkling as though he already knew that Benedict was going to agree, regardless of his grousing.

It could not really be so hard, could it? It would only be for a week or two and there would be ladies and nursemaids enough to mind the children. Benedict would really only have to manage the logistical side of the journey and keep the party safe.

In addition, he could escape London and all its tiresome conventions and gossiping. Fresh air, country scenery and innocent companions… As well as doing a favor to his friends, the journey would likely do Benedict good too.

“You may tell Seraphine that I’m happy to oversee the journey and look after the children as well as her virtuous relatives,” he finally told his friend with mock solemnity. “Doubtless I shall spend every moment looking forward to handing the little devils back to you on the Scottish border, but I know and respect the duties of a long friendship.”