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“No,” Henrietta said sturdily. “I do not wish the girls to be 252 Eloisa

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taken care of by strangers, and I had better begin as I mean to go on.”

“In that case, perhaps I shall take Rees up in my barouche. I bought a traveling coach just before leaving London, so you and the children should be quite comfortable.”

“Of course,” Henrietta said with all the dignity she could muster. She suspected Rees would spend the trip counseling Darby on his horrible future as a married man, but she could hardly prevent that.

Henrietta gave the traveling coach a cursory glance, then walked forward to meet the horses. They were sturdy draft horses, suited to pulling a coach that looked big enough for a traveling theatrical troupe. “What are their names?” she asked Darby.

“Haven’t the faintest idea,” he replied. “I bought them just for this purpose.” He was very cheerful, no doubt welcoming the male comfort of his barouche.

Josie was brought out clinging to Esme’s nanny and yowling at the top of her lungs. “I don’t want to go! I hate London, I hate London, I hate London.” She caught sight of Darby and changed her tune slightly. “I hate Simon! I hate Simon!”

Her little face was red and blotchy, and she appeared to be going hoarse.

“We’ll go a bit faster than you on the road,” Darby said, blithely ignoring his little sister. “Everything will be ready for you when you arrive at the Bear and Owl, our first stop.”

“I have no doubt but that you will arrive before us.” Henrietta eyed the powerful horses hitched to Rees’s vehicle.

“You should be comfortable.” Josie’s howls could be heard emerging from the traveling coach. “Although you might want to make frequent stops as they seem to help settle Anabel’s stomach. Henrietta—”

But she cut him off. “I shall travel with the children.”

He bent and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I am remarkably pleased with this situation.”

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“By ‘situation’ do you mean our marriage, or your traveling arrangements?” she asked with just a touch of acid in her tone.

“Our marriage, of course!” Then, with the nimbleness that all men show in times of narrowly averted crisis, he bowed once again. “I shall await you at the Bear and Owl.”

Efficiently handed into the traveling coach by her husband, Henrietta sank onto a seat. Josie was lying in a heap on the floor between the seats, sobbing disconsolately. Henrietta could only make out a word every now and then, but mother-less could be heard and that discouraged Henrietta from inquiring further. Anabel, on the other hand, was quite happily sitting on the seat opposite Henrietta. Her little legs were sticking out straight in front of her, and she was eating a meat pasty with some relish. Her face was covered with filling. Esme’s nanny put an enormous covered basket on the floor between the seats and turned to Henrietta, who was alarmed to see distinct sympathy in her eyes. “You’ve a nice hamper of food here, my lady.”

She lowered her voice. “After Miss Anabel loses her luncheon, she’ll probably take a wee nap. And then she does get hungry. There’s toweling in the basket, plenty of nappies, and two changes of clothing for the babe.”

“Two? ”

“Mr. Darby did say that she lost her stomach many times on the way from London, my lady. Of course, he may well have been exaggerating, men being what they are.” She gave her an encouraging smile. “It’s a true shame you don’t have a nurse for the children yet.”

Bartholomew Batt said, above all, one must approach children in a resolute, firm, and loving manner. That being the case, Henrietta should do something about the sodden heap of little girl lying on the floor between the seats. The coach lurched and began to rumble up the gravel road. It was moving even slower than Henrietta could have imag-254 Eloisa James

ined. She had an idea that the horses weren’t even trotting. They were merely ambling.

Showing remarkable endurance, Josie kept sobbing. Henrietta leaned over. “Would you like to sit next to me?”

Josie raised a tear-stained face and said in a scratchy sort of way, “I want—I want—I wanta go back! I wanta go back to the nursery. I love Nanny. I wanta stay there.”

“I’m sorry. I liked Esme’s nanny too, very much. Shall we find you a nurse just like her?”

Josie gave her a look of withering scorn. “Aunt Esme said that she was one of a kind.” Tears spilled down her cheeks again. “I hate traveling. And I was ha—ha—happy at Aunt Esme’s. I hate Simon for moving us. I want to go home!”

Henrietta didn’t even know where home was. Probably Esme’s nursery, given that the poor little thing could hardly be talking about her own mother’s nursery, since the loathed Nurse Peeves of the wet garments had been in charge there.

“Please sit next to me, Josie,” she said as coaxingly as she could.