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Then one day he’d opened the drapes and found he wasunableto clearly perceive the far horizon. What followed had been two years of swinging between fear of the outdoors and a fascination with the limits of slowly improving distance vision.
Since his return home, nothing with Robbie had happened quickly, and as he’d noted, little progress had been made without multiple setbacks.
“You weren’t sure you’d be able to leave the garden,” Nathaniel said, collecting the cards. “That’s understandable.”
Though, God help Robbie, what if he’d become lost in the fog?
“I was doing my usual pacing of the perimeter walk one autumn morning, and the mist was so thick I could not see the manor itself as I passed the garden door. I opened the door, knowing that if you or Treegum were lurking at a window, you could not see me tackling that challenge. The privacy was…sublime.”
Robbie was awash in privacy. He had acres and eons of privacy, but he’d wanted yet still more, and ironically, the out-of-doors had provided that.
“You opened the garden door.”
“We don’t keep it locked. I don’t recall making the decision to open the door. I just did, and beyond it lay…” He completely ignored the cards Nathaniel dealt, his expression enraptured by a memory only he could see. “A soft, white nothingness. The quiet was wonderful, the peace.…I took a step through the door and the fog welcomed me. I didn’t go far, I could still smell the garden, but I traveled a new world that morning, Nathaniel. A new universe.”
Entirely by himself, when he could have fallen to the ground in a shaking fit at any moment and in a place where nobody would have thought to look for him.
“And you’ve been making that same trek on foggy mornings ever since.” Nathaniel picked up his cards and found another hand that could prove advantageous. He sorted out two cards for the crib and waited while Robbie did likewise.
“I went a little farther each day, and it’s as if I was traveling not only to the river, but also back to my boyhood. To the time before the accident, when I was mostly happy and healthy. My feet still knew the way, and the river is so beautiful on a misty morning.”
When had Robbie ever called anything beyond the walls of the Hall beautiful? Nathaniel was torn between rejoicing that his brother had taken yet another step toward freedom, and terror, because with freedom came horrendous risks to every member of the household.
“I’m glad you’ve found a reason to leave the garden, and Lady Althea has promised to warn her staff and tenants away from the river early in the day. She’ll find someplace else to walk at that hour, so you needn’t worry that she’ll come upon you again.”Though please God do not venture near the water.
Nathaniel would save that admonition for when the discussion was less fraught.
Robbie arranged his cards, the light in his eyes dimming as if an overcast had rolled across a sunny sky.
“I don’t suppose we could buy that patch of land by the river, could we, Nathaniel?”
Now I’m Nathaniel.“The timing is delicate, given certain considerations with which I’ll acquaint you, but her ladyship might be agreeable.” Though where would this end? Robbie’s penchant for investing had made them wealthy, but buying half of Yorkshire wasn’t a solution if they hadn’t the staff to look after all that property.
Robbie tossed out a card. “What circumstances, Nathaniel?”
“I’ve ordered an enormous load of stone for extending the garden walls out to the orchard. The stone itself as well as the expense of transporting it and raising the walls will be significant.”
“And you’ve also purchased seed for planting, a new plough, and a new seed drill. I know. That’s all well within our means. What else?”
Nathaniel had debated whether to mention the notes to Robbie, but this conversation took the decision from him.
“I expect we are about to be blackmailed.” He searched through the cards in his hand and found that he’d once again discarded the wrong ones into the crib and tossed away a significant number of points with them.
“Blackmailed?” Robbie’s usually serene gaze narrowed. “By whom?”
“I was hoping you might have some ideas.”
“Lady Althea, what a pleasure to welcome you to my humble home.” Lady Phoebe Philpot, a-twinkle in diamonds and malice, offered a shallow curtsy after the butler had announced Althea to the guests gathered in the formal parlor.
“The pleasure is mine,” Althea replied, returning the curtsy at a depth intended to be so unassailably respectful as to convey amusement. “I do apologize for Mrs. McCormack’s absence, and on such late notice. She was desolated to miss tonight’s gathering.”
As luck would have it, Milly’s digestion truly had acted up that afternoon, and Althea’s companion had remained at Lynley Vale, drinking weak tea and trying to look crestfallen.
“Spring is a time for indispositions,” Lady Phoebe replied, taking Althea by the arm. “Perhaps that’s why you haven’t yet removed to London? My mama was prone to the worst rheumatism in spring. When I was a girl, we never went south before mid-April.”
Her ladyship wore a pleasantly curious expression while implying that Althea was old enough to suffer rheumatism.
Althea donned a similarly bland smile. “Don’t you find the same old London gossips and scandalmongers tedious year after year? Perhaps that’s why you yourself bide here in the countryside rather than go racketing south. I vow there is nothing more distasteful than people who cannot mind their own business. Mayfair during the Season boasts more than its share of such souls, don’t you agree?”
