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“I have only to consult with you on that matter, and it shall be done according to your will,” Beatrice replied without missing a beat. She laid a hand on his arm, appearing amenable and waiting for his law to be handed down.
***
To any who did not know Madam, she would look to be the picture of deference. Ha! “You wish to consult with me about such matters?” Arthur snorted. “That horse has long since bolted.”
“Your Grace.” He fought a smile as he could feel Madam’s nails digging into his forearm. Why he should smile when his salty little lemon cake was veritably sinking her claws in him—
Whose salty cake?his bear wondered.
“Madam?” He looked at her expectantly and took her hand, raising it to his lips.
That’s new!his creature chortled.
His lips touched the back of her hand. And Lady Frost blushed.
She slipped her hand from his grasp with less alacrity than he would have expected. “Speaking of horses bolting, I daresay your brother, Lord Swinburn, would not hesitate to welcome your help with his tasks.”
“Come along, Arthur,” Ben said. “Let us leave this in your wife’s capable hands.”
Madam’s voice rose as she addressed the cohort, as confident as if she did this every day of her life. Perhaps she had; perhaps Castleton had given her authority over his lands and staff. He and his bear snorted in unison at this unlikely scenario. Given she had so many siblings, had she been put in charge of them? That was likely to happen to a girl. This house, as large as it was, burst at the seams with the addition of only three cubs; Goddess knew how thrice that number would fare. And how badly had Ben and Charlotte and the cubs fared over the last years? How much time passed since they’d left their residence in Court? Who had dared treat the cubs poorly?
“Was it Humbert?”
“Who, now?” Ben asked.
“Was it he from whom you escaped under cover of night?”
They reached the barn, big enough to shelter ten horses and sturdy enough, though it did appear to be sagging inward from the sides.
“Oh, Humbert. No, we had not got to that extremity.” Ben handed Arthur the hammer and nails as he turned to collect a massive ladder leaning against the main door; he tucked it under his arm with as much exertion as he would a cricket bat. “It doesn’t matter. We made a choice, as dramatic as it was, much to Tarben’s delight. Holy Freya, he is so like Charlie—”
“Do not turn the topic.” A pain in Arthur’s chest threatened to take over his entire body, to expand—explode—into thesentio. It urged him to offer comfort where it was needed, to shelter his family in its protective embrace. He fought it off as he would an invasive predator.
“Do not dwell on the past. Always your problem, so broody,” Ben chided and led the way into the barn. He turned with a grin. “Not that sort of broody, although Her Grace had a look in her eye the other evening. And this morning as well.”
“White marriage,” Arthur reminded him and cast an eye over the interior. The roof was in fair enough nick, but the beams appeared to be held up by wishful thinking and the inevitable cobwebs.
“Ah, yes, of course. For the best, I imagine.”
Now what was that supposed to mean? He was well able to turn a female head did he so choose. He attended every Season Georgie forced him to, shaking off the females if anyone was inquiring. Had they not made their pact, it would likely be the case with Madam as well. “It is, in fact, more in the order of a cordial affiliation.”
Ben headed for the furthest beam, which proved to be the most tenuous. “What’s that when it’s at home?”
“The exact terms are under negotiation, and I would not be so crude as to discuss them behind Madam’s back.” Arthur took off his coat and threw it unheeding to the ground.
“Ah, discretion, the better part of valor.” Ben set the ladder in place and handed Arthur one of the hammers. “Now. We’re to ensure the beams and such are secure, as there is concern for the barn’s denizens.”
The place was noticeably free of equine occupation. “You cannot mean the bloody cat.”
“Or cats,” Ben corrected. “She or they may be the culprits behind the offerings on your wife’s doorstep.”
“And so we are to make a palace for them out here?”
“We are indeed. Off you get, affiliate cordially with this hammer, if you please.” Ben laughed and ran up the ladder before Arthur could swat him as he deserved.
***
Footmen tended to the drive, raking the gravel and weeding the verge. They had come with every tool and implement necessary to resuscitate a crumbling manse, inside and out. Brosnyn supplied the names of those best placed to help in the house and was impeccably respectful of Mr. Conlon’s dignity. The entire cadre were eager to serve and in many cases suggested their tasks.
